A weekend to remember

We had a very busy weekend. Kenny's parents came to visit us from Manitoba. It was great to see them again as we had not seen them for over a year. The kids really enjoyed seeing their grandparents again!

We spent a night in Kelowna at the Manteo Resort. We rented a 2 bedroom villa there. It was so amazing... 4 levels high, full kitchen, laundry, 2 huge bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, playground, pool, lakeview! We were stunned by how awesome it was. And really, if you get 2 or 3 couples together and stay there for a few days, it would be really affordable too.

Anyhow, while the boys and Grandma and Grandpa played in the pool at our resort, Kenny took me to the Il Divo concert for my birthday. It is not usually our kind of music, but we really like them. They are the most powerful quartet we've ever heard. And hearing it live was indescribable! We sat there with our mouths hanging open in awe for most of the night. What an awesome birthday gift.

Kenny's parents had to fly home yesterday morning but the party continued. My parents came down to celebrate my birthday. My mom made us supper and a delicious chocolate mousse cake. We also watched Ethan play his first soccer game (pictures of that to follow in the next blog). It was really nice.

Now it is back to work, back to reality. Time to do some laundry, clean the house, take the dog for a walk and hit the gym. Here are some pictures of our weekend. Hope you enjoy!

Visions of Madonna

Funny story to brighten your day:

Our family was driving through a neighbourhood in Salmon Arm the other day. It was a fairly new part of town so we were checking out all the new houses. All of a sudden Brayden shouts,

"Ahhhh! I did not need to see that!"
(he covered his eyes with his hand)

"What was it?" I wondered

"There was a lady in her backyard... but she was only wearing her shorts and her breast protectors!" He replied

"Breast protectors???" I asked "Do you mean a bra?"

"Oh yah, whatever that's called!" He said.

We laughed hysterically! Suddenly, the visions of a lady in her bra were replaced by visions of Madonna wearing her steel, pointy cupped bra (at least those were the images in my head... not sure what the males in the vehicle were invisioning)!

I had never thought of a bra being a protector for my breasts. But perhaps it is. I mean at least for me, a bra (particularly a push up bra) protects me from the forces of gravity and from the onlookers who may comment, "oooh, that lady has definately nursed a couple of babies."

On that note, it is time for me to go shower and put my upper body protection on!

Tis the season for babies

As many of you know, I am a doula. I assist women through labour and birth. It is the best job in the world (besides being a mom)! I decided to become a doula after my first birth went so horribly.

35 hours of labour, 2 1/2 hours of pushing, episiotomy which turned into the rip from hell, baby went into distress, my blood pressure dropped to deadly levels, they had to cut Brayden's scalp while he was still inside of me just to check his blood and make sure he was ok, etc, etc, etc. Basically, it was one intervention after another and I felt like I had no clue what was going on or what the right things to do were.

So, I wanted to help other women have a better experience. I have been a doula for 2 1/2 years now and it has been so great. I have learned a lot about helping women and about birth. Typically, I do about one birth a month, but lately it's been pretty sparse. The babies were no where to be found. Until now.

I have been super busy with 3 clients. Funny thing is they are all due within a 15 day period! AHHH! Not only that, but I had 2 other ladies wanting to hire me for the same time frame. I don't like saying no but really, I am no super woman!

These last few days and weeks my mind has been thinking about birth, my mouth has been teaching about birth and my heart is excited to watch 3 more babies come into this world. My cell phone is now attached to my hip (I am currently on call for another doula's client since that doula has pink eye and can't go into the hospital).

I think I may be lacking sleep for a few weeks at the end of April/beginning of May... ahh, but it's all worth it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Good Friday

Today was an awesome day. I awoke at 6:30 am. We had been up until 11:30 pm the night before so I was not feeling ready to get out of bed. Our plan was to go to the sunrise church service this morning. I was feeling tired, I knew the boys would be very tired, and Kenny was still unconscious. I made the logical decision to go back to sleep.

Then a gentle, tender voice spoke, "This is Good Friday. It's the day I sacrificed my life for you. Could you sacrifice an hour or two of sleep to remember me?"

Of course! This is what I live for as a follower of Jesus. He died on this very day so I could live a life of freedom. It's so easy to get sidetracked by my life sometimes that I forget about the price He paid for me.

Anyhow, after my epiphany, I jumped out of bed, baked fresh muffins and got the family ready to go. It was an awesome time! About 200 people hiked up a hill (or mountain as some prairie people might call it). At the top of the hill we all sat on the ground and had a short service to remember that day when Jesus died on the cross for us. The sun was beating down on us and the sky was clear blue. Perfect weather! After that we all went back down the hill and had a brunch together. It was so fun.

Kenny had to work today because on Good Friday there is nothing people would rather do than buy furniture... can you hear the sarcasm in my typing? I think he sold one chair, that's it! Anyhow, the boys and I decided that today would be a great beach day. It was about 23 degrees outside which made for a perfect day to play on the powdery sands of our river. I still can't believe that we were on the beach on April 6!

Here are some pictures of our day. The first one is of the awesome sunrise that greeted me this morning after my epiphany. The second one is of the service on the hill. The third is of the boys at the beach.

I hope you all had as wonderful a day as we did.

Snapshots of our week

These past few days have been interesting. Ethan got pink eye, Brayden had another raging fever of 103 degrees (puking included), and both Brayden and I got strep throat. Honestly, I must have had strep throat dozens of times as a kid (hence the lack of tonsils now in my throat) but it was never as bad as this was. I'm sure the older you get the worse illnesses are. The doctor said Brayden had a much worse case of it than me, but Brayden barely even noticed that his throat was sore!!! Oh the injustice of it all!

Besides that, we have been doing well and enjoying life. Here are some pictures of our comings and goings.


We went to my parents place on Sunday. Our gorgeous golden girl Bailey loves going to the cottage!


Ethan and Brayden received a couple of hats that used to be my Grandad's before he passed away. Ethan loves wearing them (he even wore it to school yesterday). It's really cute.


Brayden always makes a fire when we are at my parent's house. He is a major pyro! Look at that water! Aren't my parents lucky to see that every day??


My dad, Kenny and the boys digging a hole for the weight that will hold down the new dock! The boys loved helping!


The boys also went in the hole!


Brayden's Karate class (he is the little guy on the far left). Brayden was testing for his yellow belt... and he got it! He is so proud!


Brayden doing "step sparring" with a classmate



Brayden bows to his Sensei before receiving his yellow belt.



After receiving his yellow belt



Kenny found the world's longest arm hair the other day (it should match some of his nose hairs)!!


Ethan was so brave getting those awful eye drops for his pink eye. It wasn't even a liquid, it was some sort of ointment... yuck!


Kenny gave Brayden whisker burn on his face the other day. This was Brayden's way of dealing with it (he tends to exaggerate things just a tad)!!