deWolde Daily

Snow - finally!!

2012-01-15T16:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, we finally got some snow! We were so hoping that it would come during Christmas holidays but it didn't. We were beginning to wonder if this might a 'no-snow' year! But it did come. So, out the kids went! It was a very wet snow which meant it was good for making things but very heavy for shovelling (a good husband job, I think!) They are forecasting some more to come later this week. We're hopin'!

Kendra's snowman, which looks pretty good until . . .

you see her beside it and realize that it is a very mini-snowman! Still a pretty nice one though!

Owen doing his part to help out his dad shovel the driveway.

Jocelyn just trying to figure out what all the fuss is about but eventually quite enjoying herself!

Gingerbread houses

2012-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

As I've done in the past years, I invited my neices and their kids over to make gingerbread houses. I started this when it was just Kendra and Sydney and now it has grown to 11 kids (actually 12, but Lindsey and Kevin were in Edmonton so Gavin didn't get a house. Next year!) My mom was here this year and she made most of the houses the day before and we also had Auntie Sylvia come to lend a pair of extra hands. Karla appreciated this as her little man was only 1 week old. We were glad that she was able to make it out the door with her 4! This was also the first year for Courtney to participate with her little guy Finn. We even managed to get the end picture with all the kids and their houses! See you all next year!

Sydney and Kendra looking very serious about their creations.

Jocelyn didn't quite understand the concept of putting candies on her house when it looked like much more fun to just eat the candies!

Owen had a definite plan for his house: Put on as much icing as it could hold and then cover all that icing with jellybeans and gummie bears - the candies that were his favourite!

Carson being quite particular about how his candies were arranged.

Hudson getting a little help from his mom.

The whole crew (L to R): Finn, Judah, Owen, Addison, Kendra, Hudson, Sydney, Bryce, Berlin, Carson, Jocelyn.

Wise men and sailors

2011-12-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

This past week was full of Christmas activities and programs for the kids. These were two of the favourites from the week. First, Kindergarten was not part of the whole school musical that ACS put on last week, (which was amazing!) So, the Kindergaren class put on their own little Christmas program in their classroom. Each child had a part in the story and a little 'verse' that they recited. They did a wonderful job telling the Christmas story and singing their songs for us!

Owen was one of the 3 wise men. Doesn't he look wise!! :)

Kendra also had several different Christmas activities in the last little while but her dance recital was a highlight for her. She attends Everybody Dance Now studios and is in a Ballet/Jazz class. This is a little quicker than the straight ballet class from last year, which suits her just fine! The theme of the recital was 'Tropical Christmas'. Her class of dancers were all dressed up like little sailors. They looked pretty cute!

Our 'sailor' did a fantastic job dancing! We were very proud of her!

Birthday #2!

2011-12-05T21:34:00.000-08:00

It was time for another birthday in the deWolde household with the youngest member celebrating her 2nd birthday! Wow - I can't believe that it was already 2 years ago when she arrived, just in time for Christmas! Here are a few shots of our day!

The morning pose - Happy Birthday peanut!

As a good older sister and brother, Kendra and Owen were more than willing to help Jocelyn open her presents, read her cards and figure out her toys for her!

I went with a 'Farmyard' theme for her cake as she loves anything with animals right now and the sounds they make. (Thanks howdini.com for the tutorial!)

A fun day! Now on to Christmas!!

Happy 5th Birthday!

2011-11-23T20:47:00.000-08:00

Today was Owen's 5th birthday. Oh, the excitement in the house for the past few days, waiting for this day to arrive. Really, is there anything bigger than turning 5 years old? and having your birthday fall on your kindergarten day? and having a party afterschool? (Do you think the 5 year old was tired by the end of the day?!)

The morning began with opening a few presents from Mom and Dad. Lego had been on his list and he was VERY excited to see this!

Still one of his favourite things to do is to play with his cars, so a racecar cake was requested. I had made him one a few years ago, but didn't want to do the same thing again. So, off to the internet to find a different one. This is what I found. I pretty much followed the instructions exactly as they were on the website.

Then after school, it was party time in the gym. There were 9 boys from his class and they had a great time playing and eating!

Happy Birthday Owen! Hope it was a great day for you!

Living Room Wall - Before and After

2011-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Once we had our family pictures done, I wanted to do something with them, other than have them sit on the computer or on a disk. So, I searched a little on-line and found a few sites with ideas on how to display family photos. I had also been wanting to paint the back wall of the living room too and this gave me a reason to. Actually, I really want to paint the whole house but I don't think that is project I will undertake by my self! I decided to paint the back wall the same colour as our entrance. (I'm cheap and had half a can of paint left!) Then I chose 8 pictures and developed them into 8x10's, mixing colour and black and white. I put them in plain standard frames and arranged them on the wall kinda like a puzzle. I'm happy with how it turned out!

Before

After

This is another idea that I tried out. The pictures are 4x6 size. This might end up somewhere in the basement as there are probably enough pictures of us upstairs!

"Happy Trick or Treat!"

2011-11-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

And the night of Trick-or-treating is over for another year! We'll see who they want to be next year!

Pumpkin Patches x3

2011-10-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season of Pumpkins! I really do love this time of year. There is so much colour everywhere and if the sun is shining, it isn't too hot. The air is crisp and just feels refreshing. It is also the time to check out the local pumpkin patches. Both of the older kids had field trips with their classes so I figured I would take Jocelyn for her own little 'field trip'. I also needed to buy some apples for my first attempt at making applesauce! (which actually turned out very well!) Jocelyn wasn't as interested in the pumpkins as I thought she might be but I did manage a few pictures for the scrapbook!

At first she wanted nothing to do with those big orange things!

Eventually I did get her to sit on one!

After a little bit, they were kinda fun!

The red tractor was much more fun for her than the pumpkins!

Owen had his Kindergarten field trip to Willowview Farms. This was a great place! It is free to go to and you can pick your own apples, which are delicious!

Owen and his buddy posing in front of the wagon.

Listening very intently to the farmer explain everything they needed to know about apples!

They were each allowed to pick a mini-pumpkin. Owen was not very impressed that they couldn't take a large pumpkin!

Sitting with his best Kindergarten friend!

Finally, it was Kendra's turn to go on a field trip. The Grade One trip is to Aldor Acres, close to Fort Langley. It is also a wonderful place with lots of different things to see and do! In Grade One, they are allowed to choose any pumpkin they want, as long as they can carry it! Kendra was very concerned that it had to be a good one to carve her face into!

The perfect pumpkin!

Smile!

Posing with 2 of the friends in her group.

The best thing about this place, according to Kendra, was all the animals there! There were cute little bunnies that the kids were allowed to hold, or at least that's what we thought. We were informed later by one of the farmers that they were for the adults to hold and for the kids just to touch. What is the fun in that? :)

A very calm and large horse that Kendra loved petting!

Overall, fun trips for all the kids! Carving out the pumpkins we took home will be next!

Family photos

2011-10-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a peak at the family photos we had done a few weeks ago. Having these done had been on my wish list for a while. A happened to come across a photo session done by Sharalee Prang for a wedding and LOVED the pictures that she took. After checking out her website and other family sessions that she had done, I knew that those were the type of pictures that I wanted! She somehow managed to capture my family and all of our personalities perfectly! We are not very good at 'posing well' for pictures so it was great to be able to just let the kids play and explore and have her worry about taking the pictures!

Paper Mache Pumpkins

2011-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

My kids love to go to school and I am so thankful for this. So, when last week came around and there were a few day without school due to the Teacher's Convention, I decided to find something to do with the kids to get them excited and give them something to do instead of asking me how many more days until they get to go back to school! So, paper mache pumpkins was the chosen craft. Kendra was beyond thrilled as she has been asking for probably the last year to paper mache a balloon and I have just always been able to come up with some sort of excuse why it "just wouldn't work today"! Here is a quick rundown of what we did:

Start with a balloon and position it on a bowl. Hide behind them while your mom is trying to take your picture!

Rip up lots of strips of newspaper and mix together the paper mache mix. there are lots of different 'recipes' for this but I just used equal amounts of flour and water with a few squirts of Elmer's glue added. Seemed to work pretty good!

Use half a toilet paper roll and tape it to the top of your balloon to make the pumpkin stem.

Dip your strips into the mix and apply them to your balloon. Or, as Owen decided, have you mom do it for you because you don't like getting your hands dirty!

After sitting for a day and drying, apply a second coat of newspaper strips.

For the final layer, use paper towels. This gives it a rough texture and makes it easier to paint over later.

Paint. "Pumpkin Orange" paint from the dollar store worked very well.

Decide on a face for your pumpkin. Draw on with pencil and then paint black.

And voila, pumpkins that won't rot to display on your mantel, happy and proud children and a mom who doesn't have to hear "When can we paper mache a balloon?" again for a while!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-10-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We really are blessed to live where we do and to have as many blessings as we have. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner (maybe I'm a little biased as I did the turkey!) with a few added family members this year.

Kendra decided that she wanted to add some decoration to the table this year. So, she made the name cards for everyone. And then she made the sign for the middle of the table "Thank-you God for everything". On the back side she drew pictures of all the things that she was thankful for. I am so thankful for times like this when I realize that my kids "get it" - all their blessings really do come from above!

Fireplace update

2011-09-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge DIY person. I love to watch the shows where they do the projects but I don't translate that into my own home very often. Maybe someday . . . Hoever, here is a little project that I did a while back. It was very quick and easy to do but I like the look of the finished fireplace. I've never really like the shiny gold on the fireplace so with a can of flat black heat resistant spraypaint, the gold is gone!

Before

After

Before

After

Day #1 for Kid #2

2011-09-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today was Owen's first day of Kindergarten!! He was very excited, or at least we are pretty sure he was! He is not quite as outwardly expressive as his older sister, who I think was more excited about Owen's first day than he was! He did very well this morning getting his backpack ready, lining up outside and getting his inside shoes on!

After a quick kiss goodbye from mom, he was on his own! Very proud of my little man!

Skating

2011-09-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

In Grade one at ACS, the students go skating 10 times. At this age most kids are just beginning to learn to skate and this provides them with the practice they need to really learn and succeed. Kendra was very excited about 'another fun thing' that she gets to do being in Grade one! She had a great time and by the end of the hour was skating without the helper bar. It will be fun to see how she is skating by the end of the skating season.

Smile!!

Younger sister Jocelyn, however, did not think that being at the skating rink was so much fun. So, she just decided to have a nap!!

Grade One - Day One!

2011-09-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today could not get here fast enough for this 6 year old! She was very excited for her first day of Grade One. Finally, she gets to go to school every day - something she is quite looking forward to. It was so fun to see her so eager to get to school, see her friends, meet her teachers and just be in school ready to learn all kids of new things. My little 'keener' - but I sure do love her!!

One last beach day!

2011-09-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

We decided to try to get in one more 'day out' before school started. Kevin had too much school work to do to get ready for his first day of University teaching, so Grandma and I packed up the kids and headed out to Harrison for the day. The sun was shining, the sand was perfect, the water swimmable and the ice-cream was delicious. A great day of relaxing before routine sets in again!

Basement update

2011-08-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

And so another reno project begins! One of our projects this summer was to change the basement to have more of an office/library feel. This is where Kevin works from when he does his school work from home. We decided to rip out the carpet, which had stains in it that we couldn't get out anyway, and also rip out part of the lino into the 'dining room'. Just a "quick little project", or so we thought!!

Step one: Carefully taking off the baseboards so we could put them back up again when the new floor was in.

Step two: Rip out the carpet.

Step three: Remove the first layer of lino

Step four: Lay down the laminate boards. Here is Kevin installing the final piece!

Step five: Put the baseboards back up.

When I write it like this, it all seems so easy!! This project, I think like any other home reno project, took longer than we planned and had a few more frustrations than we planned. However, it is now finished and we are pleased with how it looks. The next step is to build floor to ceiling bookshelves on the back wall but I have a feeling that is going to be next summer's project! For now, the books will have to sit stacked up on the floor!

An all-day date

2011-08-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

As much as I thoroughly and deeply love my children, it really is nice to get away from them for a day!! Every year, Kevin's brother and sister-in-law and their 2 daughters offer (or agree after we ask them!) to have our kids for a sleepover and the entire following day. So, how do we say 'no' to that!

We began our morning with a delicious late morning breakfast from Denny's (after we had done some work on the floor downstairs but that will be another post!). Delicious and relaxing!

Then it was off to Vancouver. The weather was absolutely spectacular so we just walked along English Bay and around Kits Beach. Vancouver really is a beautiful city!

At 3:00 we had tickets to Bard on the Beach. We try to go to one of these plays every summer. If you have never been to one, they are fantastic!

This year we watched HenryVI. Times were pretty rough and dangerous at that time for anyone who was king. The play was very well done!

Finally it was out for a nice dinner and then back to pick up our sleeping children. After a hot day with lots of swimming in the pool, they were tuckered right out! Thanks John and Esther, Madison and Courtney for giving us a wonderful all-day date!

Welcome home!

2011-08-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

This is what I was greeted with on my return home, along with 2 cute little people sitting in the window watching for my car to drive up! It's always nice to be missed and welcomed home again!

A Smithers hike

2011-08-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

I've been in Smithers for the past few days for my niece, Michelle's wedding to Phill. I came with Jocelyn (she still flies for free!) and just for the weekend. Sid and Holly were here too and Sid suggested that if the weather cooperated, we should do a hike while we were here. Friday morning turned out to be a beautiful day so off we went. Mom volunteered to watch the 3 kids for the day and Jason and Andrea also joined us.The most popular hike around here is probably "the Onion" but that one probably would have taken us a little too long. So, Sid did some research and came up with Astlais Mountain, a mountain beside the Onion and still part of the same mountain range.

Andrea, myself and Holly - looking for bears! We actually saw in insane amount of very fresh bear poop along the trail but we figured we were making enough noise with 5 of us to scare them all away!

This is where we were headed.

Sid and Holly

Me and Sid

Andrea and Jason on the summit!

A beautiful view through the trees on our way up.

A view overlooking the whole valley on our way down.

It turned out to be quite a difficult hike - pretty much just walking uphill for 2 1/2 hours to get to the top. However, the views from the summit were incredible. I was quite bummed that I fogot my camera. Both of the cameras that we did take were having issues so I don't think these pictures even begin to do justice to the views. It was a great day with great people! I'll even do it again next year!

Summer vacation 2011 - More of Stage 3

2011-07-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Camping for this family usually means lots of "exploring"! This is our way of getting the kids excited about hiking and learning more about God's wonderful and beautiful creation.

Kevin and Jocelyn checking out the scenery at the start of the paint pot walk.

This was a walk out to the Paint Pots. I don't remember the exact science or geological information about them but their are minerals in the ground that turn everything orange and produce something called ochre. This was and can still be used as a kind of paint.

Using the ochre to make a picture in their Explorer books.

Kendra snapping a beautiful picture!

Our next walk was out to Flow Lake where the kids had to do a scavenger hunt. This area had gone through a forest fire a few years ago. It was amazing how much new growth had already come back!

As part of the Ranger program, they had an afternoon of bug investigation at a local pond. Kendra was in her element!

Our future park ranger!

One of many big horn sheep we saw right along the road.

Our last hike was out to Dog Lake. This was a bit of a longer one but absolutely beautiful!

I love a good long suspension bridge!

Exploring we will go!

Stopping for lunch, although I think the mosquitoes had US for lunch!

Our crazy little girl!

Finally, a photo by Owen of the two of us.

Of course, this is only a small snapshot of our 2 week adventure. We thank God for our family, for safety, for His Creation that we are blessed to live in and have the chance to discover and explore!

Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 3

2011-07-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Our 'new' tent trailor!

The main reason for our trip was to pick up our 'new' tent trailor. We bought it from Rick and Henriette who had many good years of camping in it with their girls. We are hoping that we are able to fill it with new adventures withour family!

Enjoying a snack at the trailor table.

The kids were very excited about going camping. Even just having breakfast (Fruit Loops of course!) was fun for them! We had not attempted this yet as a family of 5 but all in all, it went quite well!

Say "cheese"!

We decided to head down to Kootenay National Park, just outside of Radium Hot Springs for our first camping adventure. We had never been there before and had heard that it was beautiful. The National Parks always have great Ranger Programs for the kids and the campsites are very scenic and private.

The first of many beautiful walks/hikes that we did.

Sitting with my buddy outside Sinclair Canyon.

Our little family

Owen checking out the scenery.

Marble Canyon

More camping pictures to come.

Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 2

2011-07-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

After almost a week in Edmonton, it was time to move on to Central Alberta. We first made a quick 'birthday stop' in Fort Saskatchewan. We enjoyed a piece of birthday cake to celebrate Ciara and Madison's birthdays!

Happy birthday beautiful girls! Wish we would have had room for the balloons!

Then it was on to a BBQ with friends in Red Deer and finally our home for the next few days, the home of Uncle Mel and Auntie Sandra, Kiera and Stacey in Lacombe. This was our base for the weekend as we also spent time with Uncle Rick and Auntie Henriette in Ponoka.

Kendra's newest favourite toy: Auntie Sandra's i-pad! They loved playing Angry Birds and setting up a zoo for Auntie Sandra. Kendra now has a new item for her Christmas wish list - she better keep wishing!!

Then, it was on to Drumheller for the day. For those of you who may not know, Kendra is a little bit of a dinosaur enthusiast! Honestly, she knows more about those creatures than I thought a 6 year old could know about anything. For the past 2 years, once she found out about the dinosaur museum in Drumheller, she has been saving her money to go here. Well, her day finally arrived! We left the 2 younger kids at a friend's place in Drumheller (thanks Summer!) and had a great afternoon, watching Kendra be totally fascinated by this place. It really was fun to watch her!

Her excitment grows as we drive into Drumheller!

She is taking after her father and loves to take pictures. These are the badlands where the dinosaurs used to roam millions of years ago!

Me and my crazy girl!!

Getting a little of the silly excitment out of the way before the serious dinosaur learning.

These creatures truly were amazing!

On our way from Drumheller to Airdrie, we had stop to and take a picture of one of the many canola fields that were in full bloom all over Alberta. Beautiful!

Summer vacation 2011 - Stage 1

2011-07-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Our main holiday this year was a trip to Alberta. We left at 4:30 a.m. on a Monday morning thinking that the kids would nicely go back to sleep in the van for a few hours once we started driving. Well, not so much! We almost had to stop for breakfast in Hope! We didn't and actually made it to Kamploops for breakfast at A&W by 7:30. Then it was time for some gravol and a good stretch of the driving. We made it to Mount Robson park in the early afternoon where we stopped for lunch, some exploring and walk down to Overlander Falls. The kids did great in the van and we made it to Edmonton in one piece!

Here are the kids enjoying their lunch with Mt. Robson as their backdrop. Beautiful!

Overlander Falls

The first few days of the trip were spent with Sid and Holly, Liam and Ivy. The weather was hot and so the slip and slide was a big hit!

Kendra doing a knee slide.

Owen doing his own version of a slide.

Jocelyn was also enjoying the water, taking a slide into the pool.

Jocelyn and Ivy enjoying some time in the sandbox.

One of our day trips was out to Jurassic Forest, north of Edmonton. It was a great place to go for a walk through the forest and check out some dinosaurs. There were on sensors so they moved and made noise when you walked past them. The kids had great fun running to see which one would be next!

Checking out a pteradactyl.

Jocelyn was tuckered right out after all the dinosaur watching.

Nothing like a popsicle to cool off after a hot and busy morning!

The next few days were spent at Rich and Janelle's, along with baby Myah and their dog Snoopy. Besides the rain/storms we had while we were there, we enjoyed some good meals, a trip to the waterslides/indoor pool and sitting around the backyard campfire making smores!

Rich and Myah.

My little ballerina!

2011-06-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, Kendra had her final dance recital. This was done by the Everbody Dance Now Studio and the whole recital was based around the book "You are Special" by Max Lucado. It was a beautiful night with all the dancers sharing just how precious and beautiful God, their creator, made each of them to be! Kendra was very excited to finally be able to show us the dance that she had been practicing for so many Monday afternoons. She was very confident on stage and didn't miss a beat! We were very proud of her!

It is always hard to get good pictures when the stage is lit up and the little people are moving so these will have to do!!

Vancouver Sunday

2011-06-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we had to pick up mom from the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver. The day actually looked like it was going to be a nice one so we decided to make a day out of it. Mom had arranged to meet us at the Olympic flame and we spent a bit of time walking around there. When we last saw the Olympic flame, it was surrounded by fences and thousands of other poeple. This time it was nice to be able to get close and have a better view. The kids enjoyed each throwing in their coins and making a wish. Too bad their wish didn't come true! (they each wished for the Canucks to win game 6!!)

This Orca statue was pretty cool too. It looked like a giant lego statue.

We then drove on to Stanley Park where we spent the afternoon. Kevin had memories of coming to Prospect Point with his dad when he was little so we figured we would get a picture there too.

Jocelyn thought the most interesting part of the scenery was all the little rocks in the cracks of the woods. Amazing what they find to hold their attention.

A fairly successful attempt at a family picture!

Finally we walked along the sea wall and explorec the beaches out at low tide, finding some cool crabs, shells and other beach stuff.

And, a very quiet ride home!

Holiday Monday

2011-05-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

Monday was a holiday so we decided to head out of the house for a family day. We drove to Surrey to a place called A Rocha - a Christian conservation organization. They had a family day with activities for the kids and animals to see. It was just a beautiful place to spend the afternoon!

Here Kendra and Owen are checking out a few tadpoles and other fish and looking for the answers to questions in their 'passports'. They had information tables set up around the property.

Kendra got to hold a very new little chick. Owen was content to just look.

Jocelyn loved getting out of her stroller and exploring the trees!

There was one fabulous cherry tree that was perfect for climing. Kendra and Owen thought this was the best part of the day!

Finally a snack on the grass before heading back home. We stopped for supper at Red Robin's to celebrate Kevin's birthday (one day early). A great way to spend a holiday!

A little of everything . . .

2011-05-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I find that even though I think not much is going on in our little home, there always seems to be something happening. So, here are a few shots of life in our home over the last little while.

Of course, life right now pretty much just revolves around the Canucks and when they play next. Fourtunately, we are all quite excited about the Canucks and look forward to watching the games. Here Kendra and Owen are trying out the Canuck quiz that I gave to the ladies in my women's group at church. Don't tell the ladies, but Kendra did much better than most of of them did!!!

Here is a shot of Kendra and the zoo that she drew for "Z" week in Kindergarten. She got a "How to draw animals" book from Grandma's thrift store and decided she wanted to try drawing them all so she made it into a zoo with different habitat sections, a park, benches, garbage cans and a parking lot! It turned into quite the project but looks great!

Kendra is also playing t-ball again in the Church league. She loves it that her team is made up of mostly kids from her church and she loves her coaches! Here she is, ready to catch the next ball!

In the very few nice days that we've had in the past while, the kids have been loving the trampoline. Even Jocelyn is getting in on the action! (I've discovered that the trampoline is also a great play pen for Jocelyn when I need to get a few things done in the yard and I don't want her to escape to the front!)

Finally, just a few shots of what our 18-month old loves to do!! What is the fascination with toilets and toilet paper?!

Her other favourite thing to do is sit and 'read' her books! So cute!!

Just a little glimpse into life at the deWolde household!

Finally, a sunny afternoon!

2011-05-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

I know we don't live in Alberta where they still have snow, but it has been unseasonably cold here. Usually by now we are planting our flowers outside, breaking out the flip-flops and enjoying time on the deck. Not so this year yet. Yesterday, however, the sun decided to come out and give us a beautiful day. So, we figured we better take advantage and get outside to 'go exploring'! So, we headed up to Rolley Lake, just north of Mission. Kevin is training the kids young to have a love for exploring new places. It really is fun to see them so excited about walking down a path and marvelling at the fallen trees with new growth coming out of them, to see how the trees look 'spooky' with the moss growing on them. They are excited to find a new little path off the main one to go down and discover what lies at the end of it. We had a wonderful afternoon! Bring on the summer!

Kendra taking pictures with her camera.

Owen looking for something to discover under the bridge.

Off to find something else!

There were so many cool stumps to look at. This one was completely hollow inside.

Jocelyn had had enough exploring for one day - time for a nap!

However, once she discovered the beach, it was a whole new world again!

We forgot to take buckets and shovels but that didn't seem to bother the kids too much. It is amazing what you can do with your hands in the sand!

Opa's truck

2011-04-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Owen was given a very special gift this weekend - a handmade truck and trailor made by Opa. A few weeks ago we celebrated Opa's 80th birthday. Everyone was asked to take things to share that Opa had made for them. A few of the grandsons took their trucks that Opa had made for them when they were little boys (most of the grandsons are not so little anymore!) I'm not sure who mentioned it, but it was 'suggested' that it might be nice for Owen to have a special truck made by Opa too! So, this Sunday, Opa presented Owen with his very own truck and trailor! Needless to say, Owen was thrilled. He has already spent hours filling up the back with the blocks that came with the truck, with his others cars or whatever else he can find to haul around! What a treasure! Thanks Opa!

Spring flowers

2011-04-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

My mom and I and the kids went to the Bradner Flower show this weekend. It was a little chilly but we enjoyed all the flowers. Kendra was thrilled to have a chance to try out her new camera that she bought with her birthday money.

Owen thought it was fun to smell all the flowers!

And, of course, I now have some beautiful flowers to brighten up my kitchen!!

A 6 year old!

2011-03-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Kendra! Yesterday Kendra celebrated her 6th birthday. She had been very excited about this for quite a long time as it was her first school birthday party. A few months ago she was quite concerned that it might not fall on a school day but was relieved when she realized that it did! The big day finally arrived. Here are few shots of the celebrations!

Opening a few gifts before school - this one was a new bell and basket for her bike.

When we talked about what kind of party she wanted, the response was instant - "A dinosaur party". This was the same theme as last year but there was no convincing her of trying something different. So, easy for me, I made the same cake as last year, just changed the colour! (Last year was an all-boy party so the dino was green, this year it was an all-girl party so therefore, a pink dino cake!)

We did the pary in the school gym which worked out great. The girls (and Owen) all had a great time playing, crafting, eating and just being silly together!

Kendra painting her wooden dinosaur.

Park season again!

2011-03-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we actually saw a glimpse of the sun so we pulled out the stroller and headed off to the nearest park. I can't wait for spring/summer when we can be outside a little more again! Here are a few shots of my kids enjoying their time at the park!

This is about as close as its gonna get to a picture of all 3 together!

Matching girls!

2011-03-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

I love a good sale. A few years ago, I found some material in the bargain bin at Fabricland and I thought it was very cute. I had no idea what I would use it for but it was such a good price that I couldn't leave it there. They were both end pieces so I didn't even really know how much I had of each. Into the fabric tub it went!

Then, a few weeks ago I was cleaning out my fabric tub and I came across this material again. I had also just seen a pattern for a girl's dress that I thought was very cute and looked very simple and easy to make. A little cutting, a little sewing and 'voila', 2 spring / summer dresses for my girls! I think they will look very cute on! I would have liked to have taken a picture of the girls actually wearing them, but if you know my children at all, that was going to be more effort than it was worth!! I'll have to wait until they actually are wearing them in warmer weather!!

The only thing that I would change would be to make the ribbon on the top out of the contrasting material. Oh well - next time!!

Lonely Planet books

2011-03-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

My husband, Kevin, loves Lonely Planet travel books. He has always loved travelling and has found that these travel books are the best ones to use. I think that for pretty much every place that he has travelled to, he has read the Lonely Planet book to go with it. And, he doesn't just skim through them, looking for the information he needs, he actually reads them cover them cover to cover! The people who write the history sections in these books will be very happy to know that someone is actually reading that part of the book!

So, of course, after he married me, we also did some travelling and I soon discovered that the books had to 'appear' in many of the photos he took. Here I am sitting in a pub in Ireland with the Lonely Planet book strategically placed on the table.

Another trip to the Maritimes, with the book overlooking Nova Scotia.

Then in 2008, we travelled as a family to Lithuania. Kevin was thrilled when Owen, at 18 months, held up the book for Kevin to take a picture of!

Here he is, teaching Kendra, 3, all the must know info about reading a travel book.

So, this brings me to the present day. For the past few days, Owen's new favourite books have been Kevin's Lonely Planet books. He really did find them on his own, without any coersing from his father!! He is fascinated by them! "I just love all the maps and numbers"! Our future traveller, making his dad very proud!

Owen showing me one of the many maps in his book of England.

"This map is on page 235, Mom!

Oh the things our chidren do to make us smile!!!

Baby gifts

2011-02-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

I seem to be on a sewing spree again lately. Maybe it is because I have some family members and friends that are having babies and I've been working on making some gifts for them. Finding some good deals at the fabric store helps too!! Here are a few of the 'projects' that I've made lately. Most of them I made following tutorials from different blogs, with my own few little changes.

Ric Rac blanket and 2 burp cloths
Magic binding blanket and 2 burp clothsRag Edge Blanket and 2 burp clothsA few more "tag blankets"
I hope that these 'blanket packs' will be enjoyed by babies and mothers. I always loved having a few extra blankets around, ones that I could tuck in the stroller, throw on the floor, take to the park, etc. If you are pregnant, you might be viewing your baby present early! I guess you can always put in a request for your favourite one!
The next project is something for my own girls. I'll show you when I've finished them!

A day in the life. . .

2011-02-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

I just looked at my own blog and realized that it has been over a month since I've posted anything. Maybe that is an indication of my life right now. Busy enough to not have a lot of time to sit and blog but not doing anything really exciting to share! This, however, is my life right now! There are 4 people (3 little ones and 1 not-so-little one) that consume my life and I wouldn't change a thing - well, okay maybe the colds could go away! On the days when life seems mundane and the kids are just not being so nice to each other and another one is smushing crackers all over the floor, I need to remind myself just how blessed I am, even to have those things to deal with. God has blessed us with a wonderful home, and abundance of food in the cupboards, closets full of clothes, bins of toys to play with, but mostly, a family that I am daily grateful for and so appreciative of! Sometimes I have to pinch myself that these little blessings, as well as the not-so-little one, really do belong to me! So, here are a few little snapshots of my blessings!! Jocelyn definitely knows which cupboards do not have the latches on them! She loves to pull things out and empty them! At least she is trying to share her crackers with me!

My kids all love books and I love it that they do!

On a rainy day, what could be better than making a train together out of every pillow and blanket in the house and then putting stuffies on each one!

Jocelyn and her chair got to be the engine for the train!

Kendra and Owen decided it was nice enough to take their drawing outside! They were drawing pictures of 'outside things'. Kendra, especially, really loves to draw and is definitely more talented at it than her mother!!

Kendra quite deep in concentration drawing a dinosaur picture to take for 'sharing' in Kindergarten.

Pretty much a daily occurance - Owen at the table by himself, finishing his supper long after the rest of us.

And finally, our little missy, giving us a few poses, snot nose and all!!!

Teeth: coming and going!

2011-01-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

The topic of teeth has been a fairly common topic around our house in the past while.

Today, Kendra came home from school very excited, as her second top tooth came out:

"I was just talking and it popped right out!

There was blood everywhere!!"

Nothing dramatic about this child! :)

Then we also have a 1 year old child who is cutting 4 molars right now:

1 completely through,

1 almost all the way through,

2 just getting started.

Lets just say that children's advil is like liquid gold these days!!

I'm not sure how parents did without that stuff!

Say CHEESE!

My photogenic family!!

2010-12-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

Every year we receive Christmas cards from friends and family with beautiful family pictures in them. I am always in awe of many of these pictures - the kids are all smiling beautifully, no eyes are closed, no heads are turned, no goofy faces, even the adults look relaxed and happy. Some day maybe I'll figure out what their secrets are! Then there is my family - here is what we get when I try to just take a few nice pictures in front of the tree. I didn't even attempt to get all 3 on a picture together. I'm not quite ready for that yet! :)

A good 'deWolde smile'!I'm really not sure what was going on with these 2 for this picture!Okay, finally a nice one of Kendra - a little forced but i'll take it.And then a good 'Kendra smile'!Then there is our son. Doesn't he look like a happy child!! We do still love him - really, we do!This is about as good as it is going to get with him!Finally, our littlest one - maybe the third one will be different and like the camera! Time will tell!

Finally, Kendra wanted to take one of mom and dad . Not a bad picture, especially with our track record of 'couple pictures'.

So, we'll try again next year and see if my family improves photogenically!!

Expectations

2010-12-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

Kendra loves to make things and she is very creative. Yesterday morning she worked all morning to make a 'surprise' for me - I was not allowed to look at it until she was finished. This has now taken a very special spot on top of the piano for all to see! I love it! I often get caught up with "expectations" this time of year. I have a certain picture in my head of what the Christmas season is going to be like - visions of wonderful family outings with perfectly behaved kids, sitting quietly reading Christmas stories, enjoying dinners and Christmas baking, driving around looking at lights, attending beautiful Church services, and on and on. And while many of these things do happen, there is always the reality of life thrown in with it all - 6 year old hyperness, 4 year old meltdowns, 1 year old missing naptime, and dinner dish flopped, my mixer breaking, missing family members and on and on too. It never really works out like it does in my head and then I get a little sad.

However, then I look at the scene Kendra made for us. It makes me aware of the reason why Jesus left his perfect home in heaven to come down to this very imperfect world - a world full of unmet expectations. He came to save us from all that is wrong and sinful and broken in our world. It makes me realize that even if some of my earthy expectations are not met, the expectation of Jesus returning to take us to his Heavenly home will be met - and met far beyond what I can even begin to imagine!!

So, Merry Christmas to you all! May many of your "expectaions" be met this season, even if they have to be adjusted a little! May we always be aware that one of the greatest expectations has already come to pass and another is still coming!!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace,

there will be no end.

He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

Isaiah 9:6-7

Our little dancing cow!

2010-12-18T20:20:00.001-08:00

Last night Kendra had her very first dance recital. It was entitled "A Nativity Story" and it was put on by "Everybody Dance Now" studios. The evening was made up of all the different dance classes that the studio runs and obviously Kendra's class represented the cows in the story. The run all different types of classes from pre-ballet to hip-hop for worship classes. It was SO cute to see all those little dancers! I've seen other little dancers before but when it is your own little girl doing her very best and concentrating so hard to remember her steps, - - well, we were very proud of our little dancing cow! Here is Kendra, all ready to go on stage!

Kendra goes to the dance class with her neighbor friend and they were thrilled that they got to dance right beside each other!

We did take a video of the dance but I can't get it to load so the pictures will have to do!

Jocelyn is One!!!

2010-12-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Our little baby is now 1 year old!!!

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we welcomed our little tiny bundle into our family! It really is amazing how much growth and development happens in a little person's first year of life. We enjoyed a quiet day at home celebrating Jocelyn's first year, eating cupcakes, opening a few gifts. The 2 older kids were probably more excited than the birthday girl! What a precious gift she is to us!!

Birthdays and snow days

2010-11-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

4 years ago, God blessed our family with a beautiful baby boy! We loved him instantly and we continue to love him more and more!He is no longer a baby but a definite a boy! He loves his cars and trucks and loves anything with letters or numbers. He is full of unique personality and we can't wait to see what his 4th year has in store for him!

On the weekend when he was born, there was lots and lots of snow . . .

. . . and now 4 years later we have snow again!! The kids had a great time yesterday playing in the snow, helping to shovel the driveway . . .

make snow angels . . .

getting buried in the snow . . .

. . . or just trying to figure our what all that white stuff was outside!

Too bad it is almost all gone again this morning. Welcome to life in southern B.C. !

Moving vertically!

2010-11-17T15:37:00.000-08:00

Our little baby is now on the move - vertically! She took her first steps last week and once she realized how great it was to be moving that way, she never looked back. Crawling is no more! It is amazing how much more grown up she looks now that she is walking. Almost 1 year old already!!

There are some days, it seems, when the kids just don't know how to occupy themselves. Then there are other days when they can just play and use their imagination to create and play. I love those days! This is a shot of the kids playing with the 'clicker blocks' and making cool creations and then using them in made up stories. Oh to have the mind of a child! Jocelyn is just hanging out and supervising their work!

Drawings

2010-11-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is a little more of what happens on rainy days. Kendra loves to colour, craft, paint, create, etc. Yesterday she decided to do a self-portrait and this morning she figured that Owen needed a drawing of himself too. I think they are pretty good and may need to be framed! Jocelyn's picture was in the works but had a little accident when it fell on the floor and Jocelyn decided it looked like something to eat! We'll see if her sister is willing to try again later!!

What to do on a rainy day?

2010-11-01T10:39:00.001-07:00

Now that summer is over, the fall rains have come. I'm finding that rainy days are not always so easy, for me or the kids! They were so used to playing outside with each other or the neighbor kids that they almost don't know what to do inside anymore! So, this morning they decided to take every pillow and blanket they could find, pile them on the couch, sit in the middle of them and read books! They looked pretty cute! As for little missy, is there anything better to do than play in the Tupperware cupboard?

We'll see what the rest of the day brings!

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was that day of the year yesterday when we dress up the kids and head out around the neighborhood collecting crazy amounts of candy, chocolate, chips and the like. It really is quite a weird idea, if you ask me, but still kinda fun. So, we headed out with a gymnastics girl, an elephant and a cute little bear! We met up with some friends and toured around their neighborhood and then did a few more houses around our place. The kids were very excited with their loot! Until next year . . . ! Little Bear is standing on her own now - we think walking is not far behind!!

Ready to head out for the night!

The three carved pumpkins keeping watch over our house while we were away!

Pumpkin time again!

2010-10-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

It is pretty difficult to get into the season of fall without a trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids thought it would be a fun place to take Grandma while she was visiting here. Here are a few pictures of our morning at the Apple Barn.

Playing in the ivy

2010-10-19T11:45:00.001-07:00

On a beautiful fall day last week, I headed outside to trim all the crazy ivy that we have growing on the rocks in our backyard. I plunked Jocelyn down in the middle of it all and she had a great time pulling at all the leaves, climbing in the garbage can lid.

However, there then reached a time when she had had enough!! Time to go inside for a nap! Trimming the rest of the ivy will have to wait until later!

A little sewing

2010-09-20T16:21:00.001-07:00

My brother and his wife had their precious little baby girl last week so I can finally post what I made for them. Baby Myah was born on September 11th and she is absolutely beautiful. They did find out what they were having and may have let it slip a few times so I did know that the baby would be a girl. So, knowing this, I was able to make them a quilt that was a little more girly and not quite so gender neutral. However, I didn't want to make a standard 'pink' one so this is what I came up with. The back is done in coral colour minky material that is the softest material around - perfect for a baby quilt.

After I had made their quilt, I realized that I had quite a bit of material left over, probably enough for another quilt! (I'm still trying to figure out why the lady at the quilt store sold me so much when I told her I wanted to do a baby quilt). Anyway, most of the pieces that I had left were smaller than the squares from the first one, so I needed to alter my plan a bit. I have only ever done just the basic squares quilt. I had seen this tutorial for a Stacked Coin Quilt and had also seen a quilt that a friend of mine had done in this pattern. I think it turned out pretty good!

I didn't have enough of the coral minky material left to do the backing of this one and I also thought because there was more of it on the front, it might be a bit much of the orange. So, in the bargain bin at Fabricland, I found this almost as soft grey that worked just as well! Now the quilte will just sit in the cupboard, waiting for a little baby girl to be given to!

Finally, last week I whipped up a few more little bags for the kids. Owen is starting his Wee College and needed a little bag to put his stuff in (the blue one). Kendra still has her Wee college bag from last year (purple one) and I let her choose the material for one to put her ballet clothes in. Very quick and easy pattern to follow. I added the strip on the top for a little more interest and if they get tired of that side, you can flip them inside out for a different look!

And so it begins . . .

2010-09-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today we officially began the next 17+ years of our lives as we began the days of bringing our kids to school. Today was Kendra's first day of Kindergarten!!! She was more than ready to go and was very excited. After teaching for almost 12 years, it was also exciting for me to be on "the other end" of things, being the parent and not the teacher. My husband wasn't sure who was more excited last night - mom or child!! Owen was a little miffed that he didn't get to stay at school today. He took along his backpack and needed to get in on the pictures too. His time will come next year!

Ready for class to begin!

Saying good-bye to my little girl, who is now not so little anymore!

Lots of pink!

2010-09-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Kendra put on the pink tights, the pink body suit and the pink ballet slippers and went to her first dance class. She was SO excited to see the other girls all in pink as well! It is a once a week pre-ballet class for 5-6 year olds. She is going to a place called EverybodyDanceNow Studio. It was started by a few ladies out of their love for God and their love for dance and desire to join the two together.

She came home showing us her first position and second position stance. She looked pretty cute!!

My little mover!

2010-09-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

I thought maybe this time, with #3, I might get a calm child. Well, not so much!! Jocelyn has definitely figured out crawling and it moving very quickly all through the house. No more 'sitting nicely in one spot and playing while mommy gets stuff done'! Now, this week she has also figured out how to pull herself up on furniture. She's not so steady once she is up so her mother is a little nervous that she is going to fall over and konk her head on something! Oh well, she is generally still our happy little girl and we are so blessed to have her!

Just lookin' pretty cute in her party dress at Jordyn and John's wedding!

ZOO

2010-09-08T17:14:00.001-07:00

My friend and I decided to get in a trip to the zoo with our kids before school started up. (We can both say that now as we each have a child starting Kindergarten this year!) It was a beautiful day, actually much hotter than I had thought it was going to be. We all had a great day walking around the zoo, getting excited about seeing different and unique animals and just enjoying each other's company! One of the zoo-keepers had this animal (I can't remember the name of it!) out of its cage and was allowing the kids to touch it. It liked to grab hats and Kendra thought that was quite funny!

Good friends - good day!

Bridal Falls

2010-09-08T17:10:00.001-07:00

After we were finished at Dino Town, we decided we would make a quick stop and hike the short walk up to Bridal Falls. It is a nice little walk up and the fall really are beautiful. We didn't go any farther than the bottom, due to the fact that the kids were in their crocs (not know for their grip) and we didn't have a backback for Jocelyn. The kids still thought it was fun to see the falls and feel the mist!My little buddy actually wanting to pose for a picture!!

Dino Town

2010-09-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

We caved. We took the kids to Dino Town. I think it is one of those places that you drive by and say, "Maybe one day we'll stop there." and then you just keep going. Well, this year Dino Town was closing forever so we figured it had to be this summer or never at all. And we have a 5 year old daughter that might have never forgiven us if we didn't.

So, if we were going to go, we were going to be there first thing in the morning and beat the rush. Well, as you can see, our van is the only one in the parking lot - first one to drive in, first through the gates. Kind of an eerie feeling being the only people in a whole park!!

Once there, it was actually quite a fun place to spend the day. The highlight for both kids was the go-carts. Kendra was able to peddle on her own go-cart while Owen had to sit on Kevin's lap. Because we were the first ones there, we were able to go around as many times as we wanted!!

Riding in the paddle boats was also quite fun, but a good workout for the arms.

Everyday there is a show that plays starring the characters of Dino Town. The kids were quite excited to be sitting on the front row, waiting for the show to start!

A little like another show starring a purple dinosaur! Watching this once was enough for the adults!

Jocelyn didn't get too much out of the rest of the park but did enjoy the swing!

Sitting in one of the many Flinstone vehicles. (The park used to be called Flinstone Park).

Caught in the police car.

Snow in August

2010-08-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

The past weekend has been crazy hot here. Our house turns into a sauna when the temperature goes over 30 degrees. So, in order to escape the heat for a day, we decided to look for cooler temperatures. We piled in the van after church, crossed the border and headed up to Mt. Baker in search of snow! It was an absolutely beautiful drive and we made a few scenic stops along the way before our final stop.

This was a view of Mt. Baker from the back side. We stopped here for lunch but it was still very hot and there were lots of bugs so we didn't stay there long. Our next stop was at a place call Picture Lake. You can see why they call it that!

We tried for a family photo but Owen was having a 'moment' and refused to turn around!

We found some places around the lake where there was evidence of lava. Kendra found a small rock that she called her 'lava rock' to add to her collection and she wanted a picture of it! She is her father's daughter and has already started many collections (rocks, shells, snails, etc., etc., etc., )!

Another try at the family shot!

Finally, we reached our last stop, Artist Point, just past the Mt. Baker ski hill lodges. What an incredibly beautiful place. The kids were SOOOOO excited to see all the snow and we were very thankful that we decided to throw in the sled on the off chance that there would be enough snow to use it. And there was! Down the hill they went!

Kevin and Kendra go down!

Owen's turn!

Kendra and Quinn heading to the bigger hill. No fear in that child!

We thought it might be kinda fun to get a shot of all three kids in the sled in the summer in the snow but Jocelyn didn't think that was such a great idea!!

Finally, a quick stop on the way down for Kevin to capture this shot of Highwood Lake. Amazing!!

Jumpin' time!

2010-08-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

After over 2 months of sitting in the box, we finally got the new trampoline set up! This took some 'sweet-talking' for me to convince Kevin to get one of these. I will admit that it does take up a large portion of our lawn but I think the kids will love it!! Looking forward to many hours of happy jumping and busy kids! Kendra practicing her start jumps!

Brandsma Reunion

2010-08-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, 46 of the 55 Brandsma's met for a family reunion on Mayne Island. It was a wonderful weekend! There was lots of visiting, kids playing on swings and at the beach, frisbeer games, and just hangin' out together! The weather was beautiful which just helped to make it an even better time!

Rosalie took a few family pictures of us. This is about the best that we are going to get of us and our children!!!

One out of three is looking!!

Rosalie also did some crafts with the kids. (There were 16 kids there!) Kendra wore her visor hat all weekend and has her frame hanging in her room!

The places where we stayed were right on the beach of the ocean. It was a great place for the kids to play in the sand, throw rocks in the ocean and look for jellyfish on the rocks.

Sid had some kyaks that were used all weekend. The kids also had to get in on the action! Don't worry, they are only a few feet off shore and we were holding on to the rope on the end of the boat!

"You been farmin' long?"

This was Kendra's favourite thing to do there - play on the tree swing!!

Jocelyn, just lookin' cute!

We did a few hikes / walks on the weekend. Jocelyn was quite happy to come along on the backpack!

Camping at Kitsap

2010-08-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

For a week in July, we headed out to Kitsap Memorial State Park, west of Seattle across Puget Sound, to do a week of camping. This was a beautiful little park that was very clean and quiet and perfect for our family. As we don't own a trailer and weren't crazy about tenting with 3 kids, we rented cabins. They had bunk beds, a futon, a table and a fridge. They overlooked a large open field with a park on the other side. As we were there during the week, it was not busy and we often felt like we were the only ones there. We had a fantastic week of enjoying the outdoors, seeing new places, watching our kids play and explore and relaxing by the fire.

The kids spent hours playing in the rocks at the park.

Zachary, Daniel and Owen filling up their buckets with rocks! It just never got old!

My little man!

Owen and his "mini-me", Jocelyn!

Our future traveller, with her guide book in hand!

Kevin and Owen, just chillin' with a snack and a book.

Jocelyn was a great little camper. She had mastered sitting a few weeks ago but had not figured out how to crawl yet. This meant that we could put her on a blanket with her bucket of toys and she was a happy as a clam!

Throwing rocks into the ocean.

Kendra making sand castles.

We spent an afternoon exploring the little town of Port Gamble.

Jocelyn managed to get a clover stuck to her cheek.

Just another picture of our little cutie!

A final family shot before we left.

A trip "home"

2010-08-04T14:03:00.001-07:00

In the beginning of July, I took a little trip "home" to Smithers with the kids to celebrate my mom's birthday. (Kevin always corrects me when I say I'm going "home" when I go there because he figures that our home is 'home'. He is right, of course, but going to Smithers always still feels like returning home again!) We had a great time and the kids loved being at Grandma's house. We spent a hot afternoon at Auntie Tina and Uncle George's farm where the kids were thrilled to play with their cousins, who they hadn't seen since last summer. (Sorry Cody, I didn't get you on a picture but they had fun with you too!)

Jocelyn, just lookin' pretty cute!

For the last few days, Uncle Rich and Auntie Janelle were also there. It was great to see them and we can't wait to meet their newest family member in September!!

This was the Sunday afternoon of the big Dutch soccer game! Too bad about the outcome!

Little fish!

2010-06-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Kendra and Owen just completed a round of swimming lessons. This was the first time for Owen taking lessons. We weren't sure how he would do in the pool but he did great! It took a few times but once he got a little bit of confidence, he did great, jumping in on his own, putting his face in the water, etc. Kendra had had a few lessons already so she just picked up where she left off. She actually was bumped up a level half way through this session and she passed the next level too! I'm very proud of my little swimmers!!

Birthday Flowers

2010-06-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

I read a quote yesterday at a local market that said,

"I would rather have flowers on my table than diamonds around my neck."

I'm not sure if I agree 100% with that statement but I do love having flowers in my house.

I got this bouquet from my mom, which I bought at the Nutrifoods market. I love the purples and blues!

Then my sister also surprised me with flowers! These were super long-stemmed gerbera daisies. I cut half of them down quite a bit to make this arrangement. . .

. . . and then used the rest of the gerberas, along with the purple ones (can't think of their name right now) to make another little arrangement. Nothing like fresh flowers to make your home feel cheery!!

A night out

2010-06-15T14:47:00.001-07:00

This weekend, Kevin and I were able to get away for a day / night. John and Esther and the girls graciously agreed to have our 3 kids for the night while we enjoyed some "kidless" time. A huge thank-you to them!!! As much as we love our children, we do realize the importance of doing things together without them! We began by dropping the kids off at around 10:30 on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day and we knew that they would have loads of fun with their cousins, riding their bikes and swimming in the pool! We then headed off to Timmy's, of course, for a late breakfast and a beverage for on the road. Our next stop was at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This is a place that I have always wanted to go see. We also had a 2 for 1 coupon, which also helped. (And, FYI, if you are a B.C. resident, once you pay for your admission, you then have a year's membership. Now we can go back with our kids for free!)

I love heights so walking across this bridge was quite fun. I was amazed at how much it actually moved as you were going across it. Not for someone who is afraid of heights! We saw a few people holding on pretty tight!

Once across, there are many boardwalks to walk along with great view spots. They have also built a Tree Top Adventure, which is a series of mini-suspension bridges linked between the trees.

A rare semi-decent phone of the two of us. It really doesn't happen that often!

Our next stop was just up the road at the Cleveland Dam. It was a beautiful day so we walked around for a while.

Watching all that water power was pretty amazing!We then headed out for supper. If forgot to take a picture of the place but it was a pub with good food and we might have enjoyed a malted beverage or two!

We had planned to head to check into our hotel after supper and get freshened up and dressed for the Symphony. However, we were a little behind schedule and traffic was busier than we had planned for, so we ended up getting ready in our car in a parking lot! We laughed about it and thought it was a good thing neither of us were too 'high maintenance"!

This was Kevin's favourite picture of the night. Check out his reflection at the top!

We thoroughly enjoyed our 26 hour get-away. Hopefully we can do it again next year!!!

Rainy Days

2010-06-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

The weather lately around here has been cold and wet. I know I should be used to this having lived in this area for the past 12 years but I am again ready for some sunshine. It is June today and it feels like February. Needless to say, we haven't been doing too much exciting lately so I thought I would just post a few new pictures of our little peanut! She is now 6 months old and has begun to eat solid food and is loving it!

Lately, the exersaucer is a favourite place to be for her. She spends much of her day in there and I love it too because I am able to get a few things done as well without having to hold on to her!

Hopefully the sun decides to come out sometime in June and we can start to do a few outdoor things. Actually, the kids don't really care that the weather isn't sunny. As I write, the older 2 are outside playing and searching for more snails for their 'collection'. No snail, caterpillar or slug is safe around this house!

First tooth!

2010-05-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Kendra lost her first tooth today! Actually, she quite literally lost it! It was there before lunch and after a hot-dog lunch it wasn't there anymore! I'm not sure if I have the heart to tell her where I'm pretty sure it is! She was very excited but then very worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't come if she didn't have the actual tooth. However, after I explained that I thought the tooth fairy would be quite understanding if she wrote her a letter explaining what had happened. A '1-tooth-missing' smile appeared once again and she was off to write a letter. We'll see how understanding that tooth fairy really is as this is her first trip to this household!

T-ball - as a 5 year old!

2010-05-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

We signed Kendra up for Inter-church T-ball this spring. It is a 8 week, once a week T-ball league for ages 5-7. Kendra was VERY excited to be going and felt quite grown-up with her little pink glove. Here she is sitting in line waiting for her turn to hit the ball. Finally, Kendra's turn to hit!

Taking a turn in the outfield, Kendra has discovered, is not as much fun as hitting the ball.

"I'm ready, really I am!!!"

Eventually the pull to pick buttercups was just too much to resist!

Planting Day!

2010-05-13T14:39:00.001-07:00

There are some days that just turn out to be 'good days'. So far, today is one of those. A good night's sleep, an absolutely gorgeous day, kids playing outside, baby having a good nap and flowers to be planted. The kids were very excited about helping me plant - they each wanted to be in charge of one pot. I love looking at flowers but have never been a great gardener but we try anyway! So, off we went.

First step: gather all supplies Step two: Fill pots with dirt and begin making holes for the plants.

Step three: Add water.

Step 4: Place pots in their garden / deck spots.

This is Kendra's sunflower plant that she planted from a seed in her preschool. We're hoping we can keep it growing and see a sunflower at the end of the summer!

Go Canucks Go!

2010-04-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

All ready to watch the game tonight! Go Canucks go!!!

Giggles

2010-04-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Just for fun!

Bouncy fun!

2010-04-22T11:11:00.001-07:00

Last week we pulled out the exersaucer for Jocelyn. She is getting old enough to hold up her head and is getting tired of laying on the floor. She loved it in there! I think it was a little overstimulating for her but that could have been the other 2 kids sitting around her making every toy move and make noise! We sure are loving our happy little girl!

Fun at the Fair

2010-04-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today we took the kids to a little fair at the parking lot of the mall. They had seen it set up a few days ago as we drove by so they were VERY excited when we said where we were going. We walked through the fair and told them that they could each pick 2 rides to go on. They wanted to see them all so they could choose their favourite ones. As you can see, they very much enjoyed their choices!!

Owen riding the dump truck of the "Construction Zone". Kendra and Owen on the "Racetrack".
Kendra riding her fancy pony!

Wee College

2010-04-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

Last week Kendra had her graduation from Wee College. This is a once a week program that teaches kids Bible verses, stories, books of the Bible, all through songs, puppets, stories, etc. She loved going every week and learned so much! Here she is with her Bible, waiting for the program to start. She was very easy to hear as she sung her songs and recited her verses!

Accepting her certificate and her pin on stage.

My camera battery died half way through the program so we had to take the picture with her pin and certificate at home on the deck.

Remember . . .

2010-04-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

. . . what an amazing sacrifice was made for each one of us!

Basement complete

2010-03-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

As posted a few months ago, we did some work in our basement to make it more usable for our family. We made the main room into a playroom/computer/scrapbooking area. We did what we needed to do to make it usable but once Jocelyn arrived the 'decorating' kinda stopped.

However, we now have it all finished, at least for now. It is amazing how an offer to have guests for a week will make you finish off something! (They actually ended up going somewhere else because of Jocelyn being sick!) So, here are a few shots of our finished basement!

The playroom has been the greatest thing about the basement. The kids are spending more and more time there, especially if they are together or an adult is down there with them. They both love anything to do with painting, colouring, writing or creating. I love to display their work and this is what I came up with to do so. I found cheap frames at the local thrift stores and put their paintings in them. For the 3-D type of stuff, I bought this cable system at IKEA and it also works great for hanging their paintings to dry.

Another added bonus about the basement is that we now have a spare bedroom! No more sleeping on the floor in the computer room! It still needs a little more decorating help but that will have to wait until another time.

And finally, Kevin has somewhere to put all his books (there is still one more large bookshelf in our bedroom). Someday we'll get around to buying/making some nice bookshelves that all match and are not falling apart but for now, this will do.

Kendra is 5!

2010-03-20T17:35:00.001-07:00

In between Jocelyn's hospital visits, Kendra had a birthday! She turned 5 years old on Wednesday and was very excited about the whole thing! We had a family celebration on Sunday and for that one she requested a princess cake. I started it but half way through went to the hospital so my mom finished it. A joint effort that turned out pretty good I think!! (Except for the poor barbie doll that lost her feet because she was too tall for the cake!)
On Friday, Kendra then had her party with her friends. As most of the kids she plays with are boys, she figured a princess party might not work as well so we went with a dinosaur theme! A big hit!

They all had fun painting the dinosaur scene I drew for them.

Finally it was time for some outside time, some dinosaur games and just running around like 5 year olds like to do!!

Home sweet home

2010-03-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

We are now home again from the hospital and Jocelyn is doing much better. We spent 3 nights there and came home on late Wednesday afternoon. Jocelyn received excellent care there but it sure is nice to be back in our own beds and to see that she is so much better than she was a few days ago. She still has a pretty good cough but her breathing is not nearly as laboured or "wet" sounding. She is getting back to being the happy healthy baby that we knew before!!! Here are a few photos from our hospital adventure.

One of the many nurses doing an assessment on Jocelyn.

Every few hours she received some medication through a nebulizer. She really didn't like this very much until one nurse said that she could have it with her soother in her mouth. This made life much better!

Sometimes she looked a little sad. . .

. . . but usually had a smile to follow!

Hospital stay

2010-03-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Right now this blog entry is coming to you via the computer in Jocelyn's hospital room. As per this time of year, kids with colds are pretty common and our 2 older kids each got one last week. (gotta be fair and make sure they each get the same!). So it was no surprise that Jocelyn began to get snotty and have some coughing too. However, with a 3 month old, this can quickly turn into something a little more serious. On Saturday her breathing began to get raspy and laboured and we decided to get her checked out. As all the clinics were already closed, I took her into emergency to get looked at. We were admitted over night and then released on Sunday afternoon because she was looking better. The little trickster had us fooled ! Monday morning she woke up much worse with lots of wheezing, raspy breathing and yucky, flemmy coughing, to the point where she was kinda scaring me. So, back to the hospital we went. They admitted her again and are watching her quite closely.

We are receiving great care here and we will for sure be here for another night yet. She is getting better but still has a lot of gunk in her lungs. Her official diagnosis is RSV and bronchiolitis. So far she has been a real trooper and has remained her happy little self. (I am managing to stay fairly stable too!) It has been a HUGE blessing that my mom was here to visit as she is able to be at home to care for the other two kids. That is a big stressor off of me!

I don't have my camera here with me or I would post a picture of her in her little 'cage crib' in the hospital! I will update this if anything else changes. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

The thumb

2010-03-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

We seem to have another thumb-sucking child. It is ironic that in the past 3 weeks, I have finally been able to get the oldest child to stop sucking her thumb, only to have the youngest one start! However, I will not complain if it means that she will be as good a sleeper as her older sister was. We'll just have to break out the Barbie band-aides again when she is almost 5 to get her to quit!

Early Spring

2010-03-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

Spring seems to have arrived a little early around here this year. It has been a very mild winter with lots of sunshine! But, we heard that the rain is coming so we figured we better take advantage of the nice weather while it was around. Saturday afternoon we headed down to the Mission bridge for a walk along the river. It was a gorgeous afternoon of "exploring", as the kids like to call it. It is so fun to see their excitement at finding a cool looking stick, seeing a flock of geese fly overhead or running along a path just because it is fun!

Vancouver 2010 Olympics

2010-02-18T15:37:00.001-08:00

After spending some time at Heineken House, we boarded the Sky Train and headed to Downtown Vancouver to check out some of the Olympic hype. The train ride, of course, was the highlite of the day for the kids! Our first stop was the waterfront to have a look at Canada place and the Olympic flame. The amount of people there was incredible! I We were glad that we had decided to put Jocelyn in the snugglie and not have to manouver a stroller around through the crowds! It was an absolutely beautiful day out so we just enjoyed walking around and taking in the scenery. I have never seen so much Canada clothing in my life! It actually looked pretty cool. Here are a few pictures of our day:

By late afternoon, the kids had had enough and we boarded the train again and headed for home. It was one of those things that we knew we would regret if we didn't at least check out a few Olympic sites. However, I have a feeling that the rest of the Olympics will be seen from our living room!

Holland Heineken House

2010-02-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we packed up the kids and headed into the big city to check out a few Olympic sites. Coming from a Dutch heritage, we couldn't resist trying to see the Holland Heineken House. We actually had tried last Saturday but between the rain and the 3 hour line-up, it didn't work out so well. So this time, the weather looked much better, we went on a weekday and we left early in the morning. And we had success, walking right in without a line-up. It was fun to see everything in orange, Holland's national colour.

They also had some cool interactive stuff, where you could practice your speedskating, bobsleding and snowboarding and time yourself on a virtual race. Quite fun!

For lunch we enjoyed some 'frites with mayonaisse', 'croquets', and 'boerenkoel'. (I'm sure the spelling of those words is not correct!)

Thrift store shopping

2010-02-11T16:16:00.001-08:00

I love to shop in Thrift stores. I'm not sure if it is the act of searching through the stores looking to find a new treasure or to find something at a great deal. Maybe a little of both - probably the Dutch coming out in me. I haven't had a chance to get to the local thrift stores much after Jocelyn's arrival - I'm not quite ready to brave those stores with 3 kids in tow! But with Kendra at her Wee College this morning and Jocelyn sleeping in her carseat, I thought I would give it a try again. Today it seemed like there were lots of great finds everywhere! Here are just a few things that I found!:

A "jungle gym" for Jocelyn. It looks as if it has never been used, although it didn't come with any toys. However, the other 2 kids helped me find a few things we could dangle from the loops. Jocelyn loved it!

One thing I love probably more than thrift store shopping is drinking tea. So, I couldn't resist leaving without this teapot/cream/sugar pot/mug set. I love it!

There were a few more clothing and toy treasures found for the kids too. A great morning at the Salvation Army store!

More smiles!

2010-02-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

Really, is there anything better to take a picture of!!

SMILE!

2010-01-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

Almost 7 weeks old!

2010-01-20T14:05:00.001-08:00

Jocelyn is now almost 7 weeks old and we are just loving her to pieces! She is smiling lots for us and starting to make all those cute "baby talk" kinda sounds. She is growing quickly and has already outgrown some of her newborn outfits! Here are a few pictures of our little "peanut"!

Okay, so not the happiest picture but you can at least see how big she is!

All that posing and picture taking was hard work - she was ready for a nap!

Deck railings

2010-01-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

Our deck is finally looking like a real deck again. The railings were installed last week and we are very happy with how it looks! Can't wait for summertime to put it to good use!

Life and smiles!

2010-01-08T15:42:00.001-08:00

I got my first smile from Jocelyn today! It was a better one than what is on the picture but that is all I could get after getting the camera. I can't wait for more!

The older kids are loving their new baby sister. Generally they are quite gentle with her and always want to check on her and give her lots of hugs and kisses. I hope this sibling love continues!

Our precious sleeping little Jocelyn!

Gingerbread houses

2010-01-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

The making of the gingerbread houses is becoming a bit of a tradition in our house. Every year between Christmas and New Year's, my neice's bring over their kids and each child gets to decorate their own little house. As the kids get older, it is fun to watch them each decorate their own house and make it their own. They all have their favourite candies and their unique way of piling on as many candies as possible! Kendra, Owen and Sydney all did a great job of designing their houses, while Carson and Berlin did a great job of eating the candies just as fast as their mom's were putting them on the houses! It was a fun morning!

The whole crew showing off their handiwork. I wonder how long they lasted in one piece? :)

Promises

2009-12-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, we had the privilege of having our new baby girl, Jocelyn, baptized. It was a chance for us as parents to make a promise to God and the rest of our church to raise Jocelyn to love and serve God. It was also a chance for us and our other children to have a visible reminder that Jocelyn is a child of God, a precious creation that God has sent to our family to love and care for. It was a wonderful day that we shared with our families and friends.

Jocelyn looking very cute in her baptism dress, made by Grandma. A family shot before heading off to church.

Pastor Nathan putting the sign and seal of baptism on Jocelyn.

Proud mom and dad!

Thanks Uncle Sid & Auntie Holly!

2009-12-16T21:07:00.001-08:00

I just had to post this picture of Jocelyn. I received this outfit from her Uncle Sid and Auntie Holly and I just love it. It is super soft and is just perfect for December! (the booties were way too big and made her feet look giant size so they are just off to the side for now!)

After 1 week . . .

2009-12-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a week since the arrival of little Jocelyn to our family and we are loving her! Here are a few shots of everyday life around our house this week:
Jocelyn posing for a picture in her playpen! Kendra and Owen admiring their new baby sister. I think this was the first time that Owen actually acknowledged that she was in the house! He wanted to give her a toy and didn't quite understand why she wasn't playing with it.

This is a very regular occurance: "Mom, can I hold her?" Kendra is loving being a big sister!

Giving Jocelyn her first bath at home. The kids love watching this!

Another good pose by Jocelyn, this time in her bouncy seat.

There is something just so relaxing and peacful about a house that is decorated for Christmas, the fireplace on, the weather chilly outside and a sleeping baby!

Okay, so this wasn't at home, but we did get a picture of Jocelyn with the big guy in red! This was at the kids' Christmas party at Kevin's work. The other 2 kids still wouldn't come anywhere near Santa!

And finally, today, Owen decided that he would pay a little more attention to the baby that seems to be sticking around!

So, just a few snapshots of life around the deWolde household this week. As you can see, we seem to be a little focused on a teeny little precious miracle!

Announcing . . .

2009-12-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn Marie deWolde. Born on December 4, 2009 at 3:54 p.m., weighing 6 lbs 9 oz, 49 cm long and totally cute!! We are so happy and excited to have been blessed with another miracle from our Heavenly Father!

For those of you who would like to know more details about how she made her arrival, keep reading. If you just want to see some pictures, skip the writing and have a look a little farther down!

I went to bed Thursday evening, with a little bit of an upset stomach. In the back of my mind, I thought, "Maybe . . " but I had also just been out for a piece of rich, but oh so delicious, cheesecake with a friend so I thought it might be that too! Anyway, I woke up at around 5:30 a.m. and discovered that my water had broken. I quite calmly woke up Kevin and informed him that he might not have to go into work today. We were fairly calm as this is what had happened with Kendra's birth as well. I had a shower, we packed a few bags, phoned Sylvia and Sid to let them know they would be having 2 little people for the day. We arrived at the hospital by around 7:00 but not really much else was happening. I was assessed and basically told to come back when things were a little more exciting. So, we walked around for while, did some shopping, and then went home for a few hours. We went back to the hospital at around 1:00 but still nothing.

At just before 3:00, we decided it might be nice to get outside for a while. It was chilly but the sun was shining and a walk might do both of us some good. We debated driving to Mill Lake and walking there but thought maybe we would just do around the hospital first. Once we started walking, the contractions finally started. By 3:30, we headed up to the maternity ward again and things were heating up. They admitted me into a room and after a few more good contractions and 2 pushes, there she was! No time for a doctor, just a few kinda surprised nurses!

Jocelyn, pretty fresh after arriving!

A proud daddy with his little girl!

Hilda in awe of her new little miracle!

Jocelyn feeling quite content just after her first bath.

Kevin took the kids to the hospital the next morning to meet their new baby sister. Kendra was completely and totally excited, not really saying anything - which tells you how overwhelmed she was! Owen, on the other hand, walked right by her and proceeded to set up his cars and trucks and his mat on the floor and begin playing. We're sure he'll come around but for now, she isn't a real big priority in his life yet!

What a gift from God!

I'm sure more pictures will follow but for now we are all doing very well enjoying our new little package from above!

I think we're ready!

2009-12-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

Well, the walls are painted, the crib is set up, the diapers are bought, clothes and blankets are washed. After a very busy month, I think we might actually be ready! Now, we just wait!!!! :)

Skating

2009-11-28T20:33:00.000-08:00

This morning we took the kids skating at the local arena. This place has a great little rink just for beginners. This was the second time we had done this and we were again amazed at how quickly kids learn to do stuff!Kendra really didn't have any fear of learning how to skate. From last week wobbling around and hanging on for dear life to . . .

. . . dropping the skating helper and skating on her own! We were very proud of her!

Owen, on the other hand, was a little tired today!

Of course, what would skating be without a treat after at Timmy's!

Happy Birthday Owen!

2009-11-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

This week Owen turned 3 years old! He had decided long ago that he wanted a race car cake for his birthday. Even though I knew he wouldn't eat any of it, as he doesn't really do cake, I went with it anyway! He loved looking at it so it was all worth it!Unlike his older sister, Owen is not real big on having any attention on him so the whole singing of the "Happy Birthday" song didn't go over very well with him.

Monday morning, he discovered a few presents waiting for him on the counter and this was quite exciting!

He loves anything to do with numbers or letters so this book was quite a hit!

In the afternoon, we had two of Owen's friends, Daniel and Zachary over for lunch, cupcakes and some playing. They all had quite a bit of fun!

My little buddy is now 3 years old - and will soon graduate from being the baby of the family to big older brother. We'll see how that adjustment goes for a little guy who likes to have things his own certain way!!

More progress!

2009-11-20T16:55:00.001-08:00

Everyday we are making a little more progress at getting things moved around in the house. We have most things moved downstairs now and so this week was about setting them up and putting them all in new places. Today I finished organizing the computer desk and everything that goes with that as well as my scrapbook/craft area. It feels good to have it all set up!

The playroom has a few things moved into it, although getting that all set up will have to wait a while. I did find this cool tunnel thing at Value Village today for the kids and they had a great time playing in it all afternoon. I have a few ideas to make the room a little "funner" looking but there are a few other things that need to get finished first!

Next on the agenda - painting the baby room and getting that set up!

35 weeks and counting!

2009-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post pictures of myself, but I had someone comment that they hadn't seen me pregnant so I thought I would make an exception! We are just over 35 weeks - meaning about 5 more to go! I'm still feeling pretty good, just starting to get a little heavy! We are getting things ready for our newest family member and can't wait to meet our little miracle in a few weeks!

Empty!

2009-11-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

The room is now empty, (besides kids and some tools) the studs are gone and most of the wires are tucked away (thanks, Jeff!). It still needs some finishing off on the sides, floor and ceiling but that can wait. After a good clean, it is now ready for moving stuff in!!

Comin' down!

2009-11-12T14:55:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the big day when the wall in our basement was going to come down. For those of you that have done whole house reno's, I'm sure this is pretty minor but I've never been a part of a home-reno before, so I was pretty excited - even if it was just 1 wall! I'm also excited at the prospect of just having some more room in the house! I'll post more pictures once we get a bit further!

Before:

The first few swings:

We can see through!

All the way through! Now to haul away the debris and figure out what to do with all those wires!