~ Halloween 2009 ~

The Evolution of our Pumpkin!

I thought Lennah would enjoy carving her first pumpkin - I was mistaken. I thought she would love to stick her little mitts inside and pull out all those pumpkin seeds - wrong! After making sure her fairy wings were on, she proceeded to draw the faces she wanted me to carve. I think she was surprised at the "eau du pumpkin", that seemed to seal the deal. She was having none of this messy job! It was now all up to me. I think with Lennah's direction, our pumpkin turned out okay!

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Here are the kids in their respective costumes. Lennah as Rapunzel Fairy, Charley as our monarch butterfly, and my bad boy biker, Nathan

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We had a great Halloween weekend, full of many firsts for both the girls. Lennah attended her first Halloween party at figure skating. She carved her first pumpkin. Both the girls trick or treated for the first time, and saw their first fireworks show. I found myself (and I think Nathan too) getting right into the holiday and enjoyed myself immensely.

~ Toilet Paper ~

I know I've been deliquent to the nth degree when it comes to my blog. But, here are a couple of photos of the girls to tide everyone over. I still have my sister's visit and Jasper camping trip to post, as well as Lennah's hockey saga, which continues. Keep checking, I'll some more for everyone soon enough!

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Doesn't she look so innocent? NOT! We happened upon Charley after she'd disappeared for some time. This is the perfect example of why we've come to putting the toilet paper way, way up high where little "Corns" can't reach it. But she had fun, and we're almost finished using that brand new roll up!

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~ Mom's Visit to McBride ~

I finally got a chance to give Mom a tour of McBride on Monday. First stop, the Whistle Stop Gallery and Beanery coffee shop. As we walked out of the train station this is what we viewed. I have never seen an entire rainbow! We witnessed not just one end, but both. Sadly, we were unable to see the pot of gold!

Next stop, Dunster. This is Mom outside the train station.

Then we were off to the West Twin Old Growth Recreation Trail. It's a 1.5km trail through an old growth forest. It was amazing and so beautiful. Hard to believe it was just along the side of the highway.

Next on our tour was Horseshoe Lake, with it's birdwatching gazebo.

My Mom came for her first of many visits (hint, hint) to McBride this August. She made it up on the 22nd, just in time for Lennah's 3rd Birthday party, that post to follow. We had a very busy 4 day visit. After the birthday on Saturday, I hosted a very successful Undercover Wear party - you're welcome Mom! Then, as you can see from the photos, we kept ourselves busy touring around the immediate area. I didn't even mention that the whole household came down with a cold while Mom was here - sorry 'bout that! We're so glad you could make it up to visit us Grandma.

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~ White Rock ~

Grandma with the girls at the White Rock

This would have been a great photo of Charley without my behind as the backdrop!

Charley's first steps in the ocean. Dontcha just love those booties? Thank you to Nana.

Here we are in the actual ocean, not just the rivulet into the ocean.

Awww, squishy in the barefeet.

On my last visit to the coast this September, Mom and I took the girls to the ocean at White Rock beach. It wasn't Lennah's first visit to the ocean, she went to Crescent Beach when she was about 8 months old with Nana and Auntie Ju. But it was Charley's first time. We had a lot of fun. We walked the promenade all the way to the Rock, past it to the pier and back for fish and chips lunch. The kids played for about a half hour in the water and again, they went home sans pants and shoes in their panties and diaper!

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~ Library Card ~

This one is for Nana! I'm proud to report that Lennah has 'acquired' her first library card this week. We attended a Mother Goose program at the McBride Public Library on Tuesday which prompted Lennah and I to sign up for our memberships. Here's a photo of the first of many books Lennah will no doubt read and digest to their full literary potential!

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~ Puddle Jumping - Chapter 2 ~

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You can see in the background the temptation - PUDDLES!

It all started out innocently enough, or should I say tame?

I'm not sure who was having more fun - Nathan or the girls?

Pruney Feet! Both the girls rode home sans pants, socks and shoes!

We've finally ventured out to see some of the surrounding area here in McBride. The girls and I have been here since mid July and I haven't seen anything but the town itself. So, Nathan took us to Holmes River about 10 minutes out of town. The falls, while small, were very pretty. But, as you can see the girls and Nathan had a ton of fun in the mud puddles.

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~ Lennah's Room ~

After Lennah started discarding all the pillows onto the floor, Charley stopped to take a rest.

It's still a work in progress, but here's a sneak preview of Lennah's "big girl" room that I've been working on since she was still in her crib. I've had the bedding for about a year and a half, the drapes, bedskirt and mirrors a year, you get the picture? I still have to hang her mirror and ballet print that she got for her first birthday, but I think it's coming along quite nicely.

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~ Puddle Jumping ~

Last Wednesday after all the rain we had left nice BIG puddles in my Mom's complex. Lennah, Charley and I we going for a walk when we discovered the "puddles of fun", we did an about face to put on some welly boots! As you can see the girls had a fantastic time. Lennah was wet up to her neck and we had to dump out the boots at least 4 times. She ran and jumped and galloped and leap-frogged and pushed her sister around. I think the seniors in my Mom's complex had as much fun too. A number of people stopped by to comment on how much fun Lennah was having, others drove by waving with big smiles on their faces.

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~ Truck Got Smucked ~

If you look closely you can see where the Ford Taurus is impaled on my trailer hitch. He attempted to drive away, the car was in reverse while we were talking to him, but because of the trailer hitch, he was unable to go anywhere!

I took this photo aiming straight ahead, the way my truck had been parked! He moved it over approximately 3 1/2 feet.

On top of, and resting beside my Mom's Jimmy.

On Sunday night as Mom and I were watching the news in our PJ's when a crash loud enough outside the livingroom window to literally scare us off the the couch could be heard. Neighbors came as far away as three and four houses down the street. One thought a BBQ had blown up! No, it was only a Ford Taurus that had crashed into my truck, pushing it into and ontop of my Mom's truck. My 8000lb diesel truck was pushed sideways that far!!! Thankfully no one, including the driver was hurt. Between my Mom and I, we've got approximately $10 000 worth of damage to our vehicles. Just when I was getting ready to head home to McBride and settle in to our new digs. Oh well, we'll be there next week some time.

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~ Canada Day 2009 ~

Breakfast at the FireHall

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Boat trip to Rainbow Falls

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Back in the Lower Mainland while Nathan is overseeing our big move to McBride, warranted some "fun in the sun". My Mom, the girls and I spent Canada Day with my sister and her family in Harrison Hot Springs this year. We had pancake breakfast with the firemen at the FireHall, along with a ride in the firetruck! Grandma was all set to take Lennah and Eric along on the ride, until Lennah realized Mommy wasn't going with them. So, I had to go along with the kids (poor me! LOL).

Then we all piled into the boat for a quick boat ride to Rainbow Falls for the day. BBQ on the beach, dinghy ride for the kids and another boat ride to get all three girls to nap. We came back in for pizza before Mom and I left to return home.

We had a great time, thanks to the Letourneaus!

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~ Happy 1st Birthday Charley ~

The Birthday Girl showing off the last of the crab crawl.

Yummy spaghetti, birthday dinner.

I'm ready for that cake now!

She's getting that "Fox amble" down pat - just like her Daddy. Charley's walking up a storm, she's getting around awfully quick now. In just under two weeks she went from furniture cruising to almost running! She's also talking a little bit. She says Daddy, doggie, duckie, Uh oh, Hello and sometimes Mama.

Showing off her party dress. I bought this dress for Lennah's birthday and unfortunately she didn't get much of a chance to wear it as she wasn't walking and kept getting tangled up in it. I couldn't wait to put it on Charley as soon as I knew we had another girl!

The big sister putting on a puppet show.

Here it is! My second cake - that I made. I tried making an angel food cake and I didn't realize that it wasn't fully cooked through when I pulled it out of the oven, so it collapsed - raw inside. Oh well, carrot cake it was and it turned out great!

The girls certainly seemed to enjoy it. Lennah even lapped up her plate!

We celebrated Charley's first birthday with our Takla Family. Sandy and Steve were there with Sandy's parents showing up for a visit all the way from Chilliwack! We even got on the webcam to show off Charley's walking skills to Nana and Nona. And we spoke to Grandma and Auntie Sheri by telephone. We're looking forward to getting together with our friends when we get down to the coast at the end of the month.

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