Fish Creek

We woke up to another beautiful morning on Tuesday and decided to take advantage of it and head out to Fish Creek Park.  The forecast was calling for rain Tuesday afternoon so I wanted to get out of the house while we could!  The walk was absolutely stunning - so many beautiful, warm fall colors surrounding us and leaves were falling everywhere!  Finley especially loved chasing the leaves.

 One of the crappy things about living in a new neighborhood is the lack of trees.  Most trees are designer trees and don't look anything like the trees you see here in Fish Creek or the ones that are in abundance in PA or Saskatoon.  I really miss seeing all the beautiful colors in my backyard!

 Finley looking up in the sky at an airplane flying by.  Finley is obsessed with airplanes.  Every time she hears one she stops what is she doing to look.   If we are inside, she runs to the window to see if she can see it.  When we drive by the Military Museum she goes bonkers.

                                                Finley chasing after the blowing leaves!

 I am really surprised Finley walked in the leaves and tall grass.  She normally has hissy fits when grass or dirt touch her feet.  I was impressed!

                             Penelope doing what she does best - sleeping while we walk!

 The scenery was so beautiful!  Eventually I will add these + many more to my picasa site.  I plan on getting caught up there very soon!

 Finley wanted to go closer to the water but this is as close we got!

Happy 7th Birthday Tanner!!

Today marks the 7th birthday of our wonderful, loveable cousin Tanner!  We were in Red Deer a few weekends ago to celebrate his birthday but decided to post photos of his party on his actual birthday.


We hope you have a great day Tanner!

Madi, Tanner + Finley

Finley conked out with Tanner's stuffed animals

The Birthday Boy!!

The cousins....Tanner being silly!

Tanner going into shock over all his horse presents

Grandma Duke + Aunty Debbie watching 

The kids having a wrapping paper fight

The cousins in the morning

Tanner + Penelope before we headed home

Finley + her best buddy Madi

Finley wearing the party hat - after party was over!

Madi putting it back on...again + again....

Tanner + Finley jumping on Madi

Madi + Penelope

It was a great weekend spent with wonderful family.  We can't wait till Thanksgiving to see them all again!

Fun In The Sun

Yesterday, I took Finley, Penelope and Iggy outside in the backyard after nap time.  All of Finley's summer toys were put into the garage a few weeks ago because of the snow and cold weather and I didn't feel like lugging them all out.  Thankfully, Finley still absolutely loves her swing set and could spend hours on it - so thats what we did.  This warm weather is such a treat considering our crappy summer and even worse fall.  

Here are some photos of the kids outdoors:

Investigated...

So the Sister Wives and the lucky man of the house are being investigated for bigamy.  Hopefully we will get the 7 episodes on TLC before they have to pull them off the air.


Although, if I were Kody I would tell the investigators that I am only married to Meri (which is true) and that the others are my mistresses since they aren't legally married anyways.  


And besides, there are tonnes of families just like this in Utah that get investigated and it stops at that.  Just because the Browns went public with their story, they shouldn't be made an example of.  


Maybe if America wouldn't waste tax payers money on investigating crap like this then maybe they wouldn't be so cash trapped....just sayin,..

Love Should Be Multiplied, Not Divided...

Last night TLC debuted their yet another new reality series, Sister Wives.  I try to stay away from most TLC reality shows, but I was definitely intrigued by this as was Greg.  It is about a man named Kody who has 3 wives and by the end of the episode is courting wife #4.

I have always been intrigued by polygamy - specifically, the Warren Jeffs Sect of the FLDS in Utah and Texas.  I have read several books written by those who have managed to escape and watched when Oprah went onto their compound to speak to them.  I am intrigued because it really is a different culture, one that is so different then mine or any other culture that I have been exposed to.  

I don't necessarily agree with Kody and his wives but I don't think they are wrong either.  The interesting part was not all of them come from polygamist families.  Kody grew up in a family with one dad and one mom but I think they switched over when he was 19 but don't quote me on that.  The first 2 wives came from families with Sister Wives and the third wife came from a LDS family but they were mainstream so they don't believe in sister wives.  The third wife knew when she was 19 that she wanted to be a sister wife - and more specifically she wanted to be the third wife because they had it easier then the first 2.  They have 12 children with 1 on the way.  The soon to be fourth wife, has 3 kids from another relationship so when it's all said + done, they will have 16 children with 4 wives.   


The first 3 wives were married to Kody before any kids came along so they know no different.  They were home schooled at first, but now are going to a private school with other kids who have multiple moms.  These kids are happy and well adjusted and have 3 moms to look after them.  The wives don't necessarily want their children to follow in their footsteps but do whatever it is that makes them happy - whether it is one wife, multiple wives, to  be a sister-wife, to marry the same sex.  They want for their children, what I want - to be blissfully happy and be true to themselves.


I respect them for making the choices they have and living the lifestyle they do without shame but I seriously could not do it.  I can't imagine sharing my husband with 2 other wives and only getting to spend 121.6 nights with him and know that those other nights were spent with other women.  Plus when the 4th wife comes into the picture, it will be reduced to 91.25 days with him.  


But at the same time, as long as we are all pursuing our own happiness without hurting anyone else, shouldn't we be allowed to love and live with fear of judgement?  They all seem very happy, although the first wife does have some jealousy issues which we will continue to see in further episodes, Kody seems like a great dad, loving husband and definitely very attentive to ensure that everybody receives equal time with him.  Perhaps even more so then a couple with one husband + one wife?  It will definitely be interesting to see the debate that follows as this show continues.


Here is the press release from TLC regarding the "Sister-Wives":


Meet Kody Brown, a grinning, blond polygamist with three – soon to be four – wives and 13 children. As head of a plural family, Kody struggles to keep his unorthodox family life a secret from the outside world (presumably this will become more difficult with a nationally broadcast reality show) while balancing the emotional and financial needs of his ever-expanding brood. TLC promises to wow viewers with the “unexpectedly tight-knit and loving relationships between Kody's wives,” according to a press release. 


The seven-part series premieres Sunday, Sept. 26 (10 p.m. ET) on TLC. In the meantime, get to know the wives:

• Meri (first wife): 39-years-old, married 20 years, with daughter Mariah, 14. 

• Janelle (second wife): 40-years-old, married 17 years with six children – Logan, 15, Madison 14, Hunter, 13, Garrison, 11, Gabriel, 8, and Savanah, 5.

• Christine (third wife): 37-years-old, married 16 years with five children – Aspyn, 14, Mykelti, 13, Paedon, 11, Gwenelyn, 8, Ysabel, 6 – and one on the way, Truely.

• Robyn: 31 years old, soon-to-be-fourth wife with three children from another husband – Dayton, 10, Aurora, 7, and Breanna, 5.


Hopefully I did not offend anybody with my thoughts on the subject as I know it is quite delicate.  But please remember that just because it is different, it doesn't necessarily mean it is wrong.


PS. If you haven't seen it, it will be replaying on TLC throughout the week with new episodes airing next Sunday.

2010 Flames Season

Last night, Greg, Finley + Penelope and I headed down to the Saddledome for our first Flames game of the season.  Granted it was a pre-season game, which I normally try to avoid, but it was good practice for the regular season with 2 little kids.  This was Penelope's first Flames game at 5 weeks, which makes her 2 weeks older then Finley was when we took her for the first time.  Some people think we are crazy taking them to the games, but Finley has loved it and still does and if they sleep through the noise then they will sleep through anything and so far, so good.  

It was interesting watching Finley walk to the dome, through the lobby + concourse and through out the game.  Although, this is her 3rd season, everything seemed all new to her - she was much more aware this time then at the beginning of last season or even in April when the season ended.  She still isn't sure about the shooting flames when they score, it actually made her cry when they scored the first goal.  But thankfully, she got better through out the game.

Both kids were very well behaved and for the 2nd time in 2 days, I was told that my kids were very well behaved!!

Here are some photos from last night and the last 2 season openers with the girls:

Finley + Penelope at the dome September 25th, 2010

Penelope getting ready for pre-season game. Sep25, 2010.  5 weeks old

Finley getting ready to attend pre-season game. Sep25, 2010.  23 months old

Finley at Home Opener, Oct8th, 2009, 11.5 months old

At the 'dome for her 1st Flames game. Nov18, 2008, 3 weeks old

Finley getting ready for 1st Flames Game on Nov18, 2008.  She was 3 weeks old

What Was I Thinking?

After we finished renovating our kitchen - 4 days after Penelope was born, I declared a indefinite moratorium on renovations in our house.  After all, besides redoing the kitchen floor and the carpet on our stairs, there wasn't much left to be done.


Fast forward to this past weekend in Red Deer.  My cousin Jimmy and his wife Nancy has purchased a house there about a month ago.  It was painted this hideous ugly minty greeny grey color throughout the entire main floor.  They had painted most of it and wow does it look great.  However, Nancy had 3 paint swatches that she wanted to use in her main bath.  At first, I was like they are really boring but after looking at them, I realized I really liked the Roan color.


Greg said it would look really nice in Finley's bathroom.  She still has the ugly tile from our kitchen in that bathroom and I don't feel like changing that at this moment so really we had to choose from orange or brown or leave it the boring beige it was.  So yesterday, I taped off the bathroom and cleaned it out.  This morning, I went to Home Depot to purchase the paint.


The paint color was by Martha Stewart but I wanted them to color match it and give it to me in a BEHR paint since I enjoy that paint and it is like 10 bucks cheaper.  However, I was informed that they do not color match Martha paints - it's only for Martha paint.  I was annoyed.  I called Greg to voice my complaint and he said that Martha probably insisted that they not color match to a cheaper paint in order for them to sell her paint.  


I had 3 options at this point:  Suck it up and purchase the MS paint, find a BEHR paint that was similar, or go to Rona/Totem to have them color match it.  Had Rona/Totem been closer, I might have gone that route but the thought of putting the kids back in the car, driving to Rona, unloading the kids, seeing if they would color match was more work then it was worth.  The guy tried to find me a color close in the BEHR family, but the closest one lacked the red in it so it wasn't very vibrant.  So in the end, I sucked it up and purchased the very expensive MS paint.


Once the kids went down for their afternoon nap, I decided to do the first coat of paint.  I was half done when I had wished I hadn't started painting because I really didn't want to finish.  It was too late to turn back now and Greg really wouldn't have been happy with me.  I was just about finished the first coat when something terrible happened:


I had our painting chair in the bathtub so I could paint around the tile.  I don't remember exactly what I was doing but in super fast motion, I flew off the chair onto the floor.  The chair went flying back in the tub, there was paint everywhere and I couldn't move.  I couldn't believe this happened to me.  Again.  Yes Again.  This happened to me in our condo with beige carpet, beige couch and bright green paint.  It was not good and Greg was NOT happy with me. 


There was paint all over the floor, somehow it managed to avoid the bathtub and the shower curtain I didn't feel like removing (this will also make Greg unhappy with me), splotches of paint on the freshly painted wall and paint on the bottom of the baseboard not covered with painters tape.  Despite my pain, I had to quickly clean the paint off of the baseboards and the floor and thankfully, it all came off. 


There is now a black mark on our tub that was created by the force that the chair hit it.  I have not attempted to get that off. 


I am still in so much pain from the fall.  My entire right side is sore.  Ridiculously sore.  When I bend my knee, you can see a huge lump from where it hit the floor.  My ribs are bruised and sore, my wrist hurts when I move it and my shoulder is really sore plus my head hurts.  


When I called Greg at work and told him what had happened, he said to me now you know why I didn't want you painting up high in the kitchen when you were pregnant.  I was actually thinking that myself.  He then told me to take some Advil and a couple of T3's so I could rest and be pain free while the kids slept and then he emailed me the following:


"And next time remember to do a proper hazard assessment before beginning your next project"  followed by a smily face emoticon.  I HATE emoticons.


This time I don't think there will be a next time!  


I will post photos when I finish - with Greg's help of course!

Penelope Meets MORE Family!

This past weekend, we headed out to Jimmy + Nancy's house for Tanner's 7th Birthday Party.  His birthday is actually on September 29th so I will post his birthday party photos for that day in honour of that!  This was also a great opportunity for more of my family to meet Penelope!  It was a wonderful weekend!

Penelope + Mrs Duke (Nancy's Mom, Madi + Tanner's Grandma)

Penelope & Great Aunty Sandy

Penelope with her Cousin Tanner

Penelope with her Cousin Madison

Nancy and Penelope


Penelope also got to meet her cousin Jimmy and her Great Uncle Lloyd but they don't  hold babies....

Dancing Queen - UPDATED

September 11th marked the first Mommy + Me dance class for Finley and myself.  With the arrival of Penelope, I thought it would be a great idea for us to do something just the two of us, so we registered for dance class.  The first class went off really well and the second one - well, not so much!  I am hoping for a much better third week!  I think part of Finley's problem is that she is the youngest in the class and won't turn 2 until the day before her last class.  The class is designed for 2 - 3 year olds.  Her listening skills and the ability to follow instructions is limited at best.  I am hoping that this will help her in this area!

Finley's dance teacher is Miss McCall - who just happens to be an Outrider.  What is an Outrider you ask?  That is what the Calgary Stampeders call their Cheerleaders.  She is super great and really good with the kids and that says a lot when you have 20 2 - 3 year olds in one room!  Greg keeps telling me to wear a Rider shirt or bunny hug but I have yet to do so.  Thankfully, I am not the only Saskatchewanian in the class!

Here are some photos before we left for her first 2 classes - each time wearing a new leotard!  She is so cute and just loves her leotard...in fact, she had her tutu over her pyjamas when she got up this morning!

Finley all dressed up for our first Mommy + Me dance class!  She absolutely LOVED it!  We did the Hokey Pokey, the Happy + You Know It dance, the imaginary shoes dance, animal freeze tag, an obstacle course consisting of twirling and rolling and jumping and we ended the class with Head + Shoulders dance.  Finley of course loves to dance in circles but is slowing grasping the instructions of each dance!!  Thankfully, Mommy's don't have to wear the dance attire.....haha!

The only time she will  keep a barrette in her hair is for dance class.  And you will see how she is  carrying her sippy cup - with her teeth.  She is no longer allowed to use these sippy cups as carrying them like this causes the lid to come off and milk to dump everywhere and I am tired of cleaning up milk!

On our way to our second dance class wearing her new ballerina outfit that her Great Aunty Faye bought for her!  So cute!  The hat I had just bought from Superstore.  I also got in grey!  She loves the hat!!

Finley looks very happy in this photo but unfortunately this good mood did not transfer over to the  dance class a mere 20 minutes later.  She had a temper tantrum of epic proportions.  We did the hokey pokey and then she screamed, cried and insisted at building held for the entire 25 minutes that were left in the dance class.  My arms were beyond tired!!

Hoping next Saturday goes better!