HALLOWEEN

Wow, carving pumpkins is not the way I remember it as a child. I couldn't wait to carve my pumpkin, get the guts all out and pick out all the seeds. I can remember feeling great disappointment if the pumpkin I had chosen lacked seeds and guts because then when my mom cooked the seeds we wouldn't have very many. My kids are not fun pumpkin carvers. I love them dearly but everyone has his or her own weaknesses.
First off Brayden starts gagging, seriously gagging, from the smell when the stop came off. He hadn't even put his hand inside the pumpkin yet and he was done. I had him go run downstairs and get a mask to wear and forced him to touch the pumpkin. I'm not proud to admit the frustration got to me and after a while I did most of the guts and let him scrape the rest out with a spoon. This was supposed to take the morning not the entire weekend.
Madison seemed fine with it. She wasn't excited but she wasn't gagging either so I'll take that as a success compared to Brayden. Sydney wasn't gagging but she really wasn't impressed. Even when I prepped her for a picture she couldn't help but curl up that lip in disgust. Finally Ryan took over and got to work so we wouldn't be there all day.
Where did I go wrong?

This year it seemed like Halloween went on forever. 6 days before Halloween our Ward put on a Halloween party which was a lot of fun. The kids got all dressed up and we spent our Friday night pretending it was the real deal. There was a magician, a dance party room, a haunted hallway, food and a trunk or treat. The kids scored loads of treats and we all went home happy.
The next night Ryan and I went to our first ever Halloween party hosted by friends of ours. We aren't too into the costume scene so it was a little intimidating at first but I think we pulled it off. We even brought a festive snack with us to wow the crowds.

By the time the real Halloween came we were more then ready. The kids had a lot of fun at school and I took Madison to the mall for some indoor trick or treating fun. We went with friends and had a great time. That night after dinner we drove into town and hit up a couple blocks of good old door to door trick or treating for the very first time. I know this might seem like we are bad parents never having taken our kids door to door before but remember we were gone for 5 years and they don't do Halloween in the Philippines. I feel like I'm a legit parent now that my kids have had their first real Halloween experience. We scored so much candy that it'll last us until it rots and we were out just long enough for me to remember that next year the kids costumes need to fit over snow suits. I hope your halloweens were just as fun as ours!

Pre Halloween Snow

It seems that there usually needs to be one good snow dump before Halloween. It always looks so beautiful afterwards, everything so white and untouched. It almost tricks me into thinking I enjoy winter. The kids get so excited and so I go and pull out all their winter gear for them and they suit up cheerfully. Each and every time I see my kids all bundled up I think of the Robert Munsch book "I Have To Go" so I ask them if anyone needs to pee before they go outside. They dash outside and dive right in immediately wrecking that untouched beauty but making up for it with their giggles.
Madison is the first one inside. I'm not sure if she takes after me and is seriously unimpressed with anything cold or she's just Filipina and doesn't have thick enough skin yet but after that first brief play in the snow I'm sure she's done for the season.
Brayden and Sydney are out there forever loving it. I remember when winter was fun and the cold didn't effect me. When did I loose that? How do I get it back? But if I got that back, who would stay nice and toasty warm inside with Madison?

Party Time

Brayden has never had a friends birthday party before. For the first 2 years we did the fun family birthday parties and then for the next few years we celebrated Filipino style. We'd have families over and do a cake with ice cream and kids would run around outside but it's a little bit different. The first year we had only just moved back and when you have the cousin selection Brayden does we opted for a family party. With all the cousins I'm sure it felt like a friend party, we just had to feed all thse parents as well. :) The year after that we had only moved up to Calgary a few weeks before and so Brayden didn't have any friends to invite yet so we tried to make up for it but it was hard because we didn't have any cousins to support the cause. A bummer of living away. Thankfully Kait and Matthew came to our rescue that year and celebrated the pirate party with us. So yes, this year, Brayden got his first real friends birthday party. We had 8 - 9 years olds running wild in the house and Brayden LOVED it. They played shoot the zombies, ate pizza, had a scavenger hunt, whacked a pinata and ate ice cream cake.
I don't like to get sappy too often on my blog but it's a great thing watching your child have fun doing 'normal' things that he hasn't been able to do before. I have loved the experiences we've had and wouldn't do a thing differently but I'm so grateful that we have found such a great community to settle in and call home. Our kids (along with us) are meeting great people and making some good friends to help them through the dramas of life. I know it was just a birthday party but for me it seemed to be a whole lot more then that.

He Keeps Getting Older!

I am so ready to pause life right now. I love this stage. Why do they have to get older?
Brayden turned 9 today. He doesn't look any different, it's just another day older but last night I tucked in my eight year old and today I'm looking at my nine year old. *sigh*
Auntie Kait and Uncle Matthew came over and we did a joint cake since Matthew had just celebrated his birthday a week ago and we missed it. Brayd picked his meal and I slaved on his cake all day. Well not really, his request was a simple one *insert humble brag here* just a two tiered chocolate cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles. No big deal. We put special home made lactose free chocolate icing for my sister which tasted like it had lactose in it, lots of delicious lactose.
His family evening was a success. He got some great stuff, felt special and had fun. What more can you ask for?
Happy birthday to my one and only boy. I love you for so many reasons but just to name a few:
*You are so forgiving. When we get upset with you and maybe over react you are always so eager to forgive and forget.
*You are so kind and patient to kids of all ages. It doesn't matter who we have over, you play with their children and make them feel welcomed!
*You're turning into a great worker when you go out with dad.
*Your freckles. I just love those freckles.
You're pretty awesome Brayd and I'm sure proud of who you're becoming.

Happy Thanksgiving

I would just like to take a minute to wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving. I have an enormous amount of things to be thankful for and so I will save you all a big speech and save it for another time. However, one thing I would like to be publicly grateful for this season is for my friend Valene who taught me how to make these adorably festive treats this weekend!

Last Camping Trip of the Year

I love getting away for the weekend. It's not that I don't love my home or the people around but there is something refreshing about breathing in that nice clean mountain air.
This past weekend we went camping with some friends of ours. Our last camping for the year and I was a little nervous with it dropping below 0*C in the evenings. The plan was to leave late afternoon Friday but some complications came up and we got a pretty late start to our trip. We left Airdrie just before dark with some very excited children in the back seat. We had never driven the winding gravel road up the mountain at night before and the headlights kept playing tricks on me, making me think there was something in the trees as the shadows from our beams as we passed by. At one point Ryan mentioned that he thought something was just ahead of us but because of the turns in the road we couldn't see far enough ahead. I brushed it off saying it was just the lights from the truck and just as I finished saying the words there was something in front of us kicking up some dust. As we got a little close we could see that it was massive and had a huge antlers. We were chasing a moose in our truck and it was keeping a steady lead in front of us as we were going about 25/30km/hour. It was so amazing. The kids were "oh and ah" - ing and I was shocked at the speed this thing was going along with his size. The moose finally found a spot clear enough on the side of the road and darted off to the left ending the chase. It was the coolest thing.
We arrived well past bedtime and quickly got the kids settled in bed before relaxing by the fire.

Thankfully we stayed warm enough in the trailer and woke up to minimal frost. After breakfast the boys went out for a dirt bike ride while us women stayed with the kids and let them play in the creek and explore the area. With it being so late in the season there weren't any other campers near by and Banks didn't have anything tempting him to wander so he stayed relatively close by without us having to worry about him bothering anyone else. Banks likes to stay close to the kids for the most part anyway so he followed them wherever they went exploring.
Brayden and Sydney each took turns riding on their little dirt bikes. We had the perfect spot for it, there was a little clearing with some little hills to ride on and some tire tracks left in the mud that acted as a trail.
One thing I love about camping is the food. I love making snacks and so we came ready with puffed wheat squares, rice crispy squares, and other treats. We pigged out on the snacks enough that no one was really hungry for lunch so because we were camping we just decided to skip that meal and went for a nice walk up the road. We kept plenty warm enough as we kept moving and urging the kids along. It was so beautiful with all the fall colours and the calm weather. We found a nice bridge where the kids spent quite a bit of time just throwing rocks into the creek and I enjoyed how quiet it was. They collected sticks on the way back to camp which Brayden used a hatchet to make us a little fire wood.

After our walk the dog was exhausted and let the girls crawl all over him while I got dinner started. For my birthday I got a cast iron dutch over from Ry and the kids and I was excited to use it for the first time. Other then when Ryan and I were Ma's and Pa's on trek I had never used a dutch oven before. I've seen other people using them but only observed. I was set on making my family a real meal without using the kitchen in the trailer. I had cajon seasoned chicken, potatoes and green beans and so I placed the chicken and potatoes in my dutch oven and let them cook. As soon as my chicken was done and the potatoes were almost done I threw in the green beans and let them cook in all the juices. It was delicious! We couldn't get enough. I love it when the kids want seconds!

The next morning I made cinnamon buns cooked to perfection using my dutch oven and put the rest of the day in motion. We went for a nice joint family walk exploring the area. It was so nice and quiet and a great way to spend a Sunday morning. After our walk we relaxed around camp before cooking lunch and packing up camp. I will definitely be doing some more fall camping next year!

Karate Chop

Tonight was Brayds first Karate class. Ever since he watched the movie Karate Kid and discovered he was able to kick himself in the face, Brayden has been interested in learning Karate. Ryan and I have talked a couple times of putting Brayden in a martial arts class but with us being so transient we hesitated to spend the money on something we didn't know he'd be around long enough to finish. Since we've finally settled and put down some roots the time had come to enroll Brayden in something other then Cubs. We were told of a Karate class that a couple of his friends were attending and went with it.
With it being his first day he doesn't have his white outfit yet so he's pretty easy to see but in case you have any doubts, Brayden is the one in bright orange doing his thing.