Geocaching

What a blast today was! Family time together, the great outdoors, beautiful scenery and a wonderful time! Today started out pretty lazy chilling out and relaxing! After brunch we all decided today was going to be Geocaching day. Geocaching is worldwide and to sum it all up it is one big treasure hunt! People have hidden items all over the world and put the coordinates down so that others can find them! For more info go to geocaching.com it is a great way for families to spend time together and not have to spend any money! We decided to start with the first geocache on the list!

It was a little drive and a little hike in the snow and the woods but when the kids found it they were so excited! Most of the Geocaches have hints and it was needed for this one! Hidden within a log there it was! After a short hunt Sienna found it! Inside the camo box were many different items and the whole purpose of Geocaching is if you find something you can take it and then you leave something behind. For this one we took a little deck of cards and left a toy tiger! After the excitement on to the next one we went! The part that is the most fun is the anticipation and excitement of the find! The kids Dave and I were off again!

This find was really tough but well worth it! In different caches they have travel bugs (pic of one above) These travel bugs go place to place all over the world! With this travel bug we typed in the code and discovered that it originated from Arizona! Now that is cool! Seth managed to find this cache under a pile of snow stuck inside a dead log! In this one we took the bug and left the cards! I think even though the hunt and the find was wonderful and we are looking forward to doing it again the fact that all five of us could get outside and get some exercise and truly spend quality time together was the best part of all!  To find a lot of these caches you have to work together, and as a family we did just that! It was also quite nice to see how beautiful Fort McMurray really is! When you are stuck in all the hub bub of the town you can forget to look around! With these geocaches most are hidden in the woods or in a secluded place so in the midst of the hunt the beauty really appears! We all look forward to next weekend when we have decided to go on a 4 mile hike to retrieve another Geocache!

Brooke's Blog

Its is Brooke we are having a lot of fun but one of my friends were home sick.so mom set up a blog for me so. i had ice cream for breakfast it was good because we didn't get it last night because there were a lot of people daddy invited a lot of his friends for dinner. and i am very happy because i had it.

Seth's Blog

Today i had ice cream and poptarts for breakfast but i am starting of think it might of not been all that healthy. [joke]anyway Alberta has been awesome but a girl named Emma won't even let me near my own girl friend



Paige because she has known her longer and apparently i am hogging her and keeping her all to my self.

Sienna's Blog

I have met so many friends here but i really miss Bella,Beth and Shaula. OMG i went skiing for my first time and now i am in level 1 and i had so much fun at the ski hill but i didn't get any pic's. I have changed so much i have grow so much and have got A's and B's but there's one problem (I am turning into a baby!) i have been playing with baby toys and now i talking to baby's its strange.
 luv u and miss you!.

Sibling Fun

Today was a wonder plus 10 out and the kids and I decided to take advantage of it! I have no daycare kids until Tuesday so what a better time than today to spend some quality time with my beautiful kids! We had a late start as we all slept in and loved every minute of it! So after lunch with the snacks packed and water bottles collected off we went. We did not really have an initial plan all we knew is we wanted to explore and find a cool park. And we did both! We started at a park close to home we discovered one day while driving around! The kids were so excited and today was the day. I walked around with the kids as they tried out all the cool equipment. The kids have been to many parks but with this one it was quite funny to watch them as it was like they had never seen anything so amazing! Little rock climbing walls, swinging saucers, turning teacups it was funny. As I walked around with my camera in hand it was such a pleasure to watch as all the kids seem to be having so much fun! Although they are little they always have stress and worry and for a few hours it was nice to see them just be carefree and happy without a care!

Playing was the only thing the kids had on there minds. As a mom who struggles with being close to the kids this day was monumental for me. For the first time in a really long time I was proud of how OKAY the kids really are although today started out to just be a fun day with the kids it turn out to be just what I needed as a woman, a wife and more importantly a mom! As the time wore on the kids were wearing on each other. Brooke and Sienna started to argue and then Brooke had a melt down when she fell off a swing into a very large puddle. Trying to comfort a child is tough when your laughing. Brooke is six and when she fell into the puddle she was crushed (but it was funny to everyone but her) so the only thing I could do was try to hold back the laughter and tell her that she was ok it was just water and then she finally stopped the meltdown when I told her it looked like she peed her pants from her feet up! All was well again! After a little while at the park we decided to go find a trail so we could go explore. Well long story short after mommy got lost we stumbled upon a beautiful trail that overlooked part of the city! The kids finally got off my case for getting lost and a hiking we did go!

All in all it was a great day! Spending time
with kids today proved to me thing's are okay the kids are okay! While on our little hike the wind kicked up quite a bit so it was cut short aside from the wind Brooke was starting to freak out because she thought there were bears ( which there are) but she thought they would come out of the woods and get us! All I can say is she is six and there was no reasoning with her so back to the van we went! During the hike I realized just how out of shape I really was. Going down hill was no problem but coming back up well that was the proof I needed that I need to exercise. Puffing and panting we made it up and off to find something else to do we went!

And after stopping for a treat and a slushie at Mac's guess where we ended up ........................................


back at the same park. They loved it so much even in the now very chilly wind back to the park again to play! Sienna has really grown into a beautiful and sweet girl! She has her moments as every pre teen does but I am very proud of her and what choices she is making! Although her and Brooke still lock horns they are finally becoming closer and more loving to each other!

The kids decided they wanted to tell everyone what they were thinking in there own words so they have now started bogging themselves! Don't forget to check them out! Tomorrow is back to school and routine resumes. My thought for today is Fort McMurray is only as bad as I want it to be! 

Park Hopping

On Fridays the kids only have half days at school so now that the weather is nice I try to get them out as much as possible! With Brooke having her friend over for a sleepover outdoor activities were the way to go to burn some energy. Fort McMurray has so much to offer with play grounds and scenery that finding something to do does not require much thought! I am actually getting around pretty good on my own now. Up until January I only went out if Dave was home and was able to drive us! Everyone that lives here always picks the same time to go out and run errands it is insane traffic especially around five traffic quite often leads to grid lock! But now that Dave works and I have no choice  but to drive as the kids need to be taken to and from school everyday! So back on topic the kids and I picked up Brooke's  friend Jayda and off to the park we went! With all the snow that we have got everything is now melting and very muddy! Getting a car wash anywhere in town is $1.00 per minute so muddy is not good.

After we hit a few parks and about 1000 mud puddles (Brooke found everyone) we thought posing for pictures for everyone to see would be a great idea. Well okay it was just my idea but what were the kids gonna do I was driving! Spending time together has really started to take priority. We are a family living in the same house but we all seem to have separate lives! There is a long list of thing's that I hate about Fort McMurray but the one thing that I love is that as a family we are so much closer! Because there is so many people out here that are just here to work it is nice to know that the community tries really hard to focus on kids and activities for them throughout the whole year. Where in Ontario kids are now preparing for March break here in Alberta the kids have spring break and it is not until April. Their break co insides with Easter so they have a 2 week break hopefully winter is finally over and the kids and I can enjoy each other and the great outdoors. Fort McMurray has beautiful scenery which makes living here a little more peaceful. 

 

I think in hind sight moving to Fort McMurray is one of the smartest thing's we have done! Every night Dave comes home not every two weeks, my sweet girl Sienna has made a lot of friends and her self esteem is soaring which is what we had hope never mind the fact that at school she is doing wonderful and we couldn't be more proud of her despite her pre-teen attitude. Sienna is growing up and it is a pleasure to watch.

As for Brooke well what do you say  hmmmmm ....... well she is six, spoiled, kind hearted and beautiful but she is still quite a handful! This last illness has really make her a different child. We still have not many answers as to why her belly pain was so bad but none the less she is Brooke and life would not be as wonderful without her! Seth came home from school today quite upset apparently there is a girl in his class Emma who feels that his chose of girlfriends is wrong so she is making spending time with Paige difficult for him!  Oh to be nine again and all the turmoil that goes along with it! We talked and he feels better but all I could think about when we were talking is "I wish I had stress and problems like that" ode to be a child again! If we could go back in time with the knowledge I now have WOW the thing's I could have done!

This and That

Our little terror Nikki

Sienna and Nikki

Our angels Orca and Keiko

Just can't get over how grown up she is getting

This is where six sits until we return home. I have caught her there as I drove around the block three or four times and there she sits!

Family room converted into daycare

Our spare room is now playpen extravaganza

Our stairway (didn't wanna leave anything out)

Our Livingroom

Our dining room and kitchen

Brooke's bedroom

Sienna's room

Seth's Room (nice bed makin)

Our house 6 bedroom 3 full baths, fenced in backyard, garage, my goodness I am a lucky person!

Our little social butterfly

So this is how Brooke spends most of her time when she is not in school -- Brooke has become a real social

butterfly! Tonight she has another sleep over with one of the many friends she has! Last weekend she had her very first sleepover. It is hard to imagine my baby is not a baby anymore! It is a tough pill to swallow but there is no cure for time it keeps going no matter how much we wish we could stop it!

Catching up

 

Thursday today - Seth and Sienna have a ski trip and Brooke gets a hot lunch! Brooke has decided that now that I am running a day care that she needs to be in the center! My big girl apparently wants some extra attention. Sometimes I am pretty hard on her because I forget that she is only 6 she is so smart and definitely does not act six. I am in a way glad that she feels she needs more attention we cuddle more talk more and she is always by my side! My little girl is all mine and I don't mind saying so! Sienna has hit a preteen wall I thought I had a little more time! he is developing in her body and her attitude! She has always been messy but now she has practically overnight grown into a slob! A wonderful girl whose now concerned more with looks hair and boys! Where is my shy quiet little girl! Growing up is tough but I have concluded it is much tougher on the parents! Seth is Seth he has a girlfriend named Paige she is really sweet and Seth does not mind telling everyone she is a twin! Report cards are coming out next Friday I used to be worried and now I am really excited! All three children are thriving in school! Report card day is now a time of celebration.


As I have already stated I have now opened a day home! I am quite enjoying it! I have 4 children that come! 3 girls Serena who is 18 months, Madelyn who is 15 months, Brooklyn who is 14 months and JJ who is the only boy poor guy who will be 8 months! The downstairs of our new home has been converted into a play room and our spare room has been converted into a nursery! With 4 young children I tip my hate to parents with multiples! Jon and Kate kudos to you! Although very challenging I feel like I am finally doing something that is truly making me a more patient and loving person not only with my daycare children but most importantly my own. The adjustment has been tough but I am enjoying the ride! Before the daycare started I was fostering puppies for the S.P.C.A 7 of them. We had them for over a month seven little border collie pups their mom died and we fostered them since they were 2 1/2 weeks old and now they are up for adoption! We kept one of them we named her Nikki she is a little spit fire but we love her! We joke and say we kept her because no one would adopt her she is so bad. But she is just a baby in time we can hope!