J3 is 6 months old!

IMG_7745.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

J3 is now six months old and is still as cute as ever! He is sitting up on his own, has started eating some cereal, and wakes up every morning on his tummy without fail!

Pumpkin party

IMG_7779.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

Since we grew 31 pumpkins and over 200 gourds in our yard this summer, we decided to have a pumpkin party! So, this afternoon, some friends and family came over to carve and paint pumpkins. I think everyone had a great time.

If you want to see more pictures, just click on the Flickr link to the right.

September 1980

September 1980, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

As soon as I saw K1's JrK school picture, it reminded me of this one from my Kindergarten days. Do you see any resemblance?

September 2007

September 2007, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

Here is K1's beautiful JrK picture. She is growing up so fast.

Joseph

IMG_7623.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

A2 was walking around like this. I say, "A2, what are you doing?"

She replies, "I am being Joseph."

Lost and Found

IMG_7573.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

Why am I posting a picture of a small red wallet? Glad you asked. You see, in July of 2006, we were visiting my brother-in-law on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. We were walking through downtown when I stopped in the town's public park to use the restroom. This little wallet was on top of the paper towel dispenser.

I opened it up, and saw a wad of cash inside, with no identification. So, I walked across the street to the police station (yes, it was literally right across the street!) and turned it in. We left them my brother-in-law's phone number, since we live quite far away. They said if no one claimed it after 90 days, they would call, and it would be mine.

I marked 90 days on the calendar, which came and went. Then, this August, we called my brother-in-law for his birthday and he said, "Guess who I got a call from today." Of course, it was from the police station and they said no one had claimed the wallet, so it was mine! (I am not sure why it took 13 months for them to call, but it was a huge surprise.)

The wallet had (are you ready?) - $175 CDN in it!

That is why I posted a picture of the little red wallet.

Mom Sayings set to Wlliam Tell

Beautiful beaches

I opened Sunset magazine this afternoon and this is what I see...



I start reading the first one...



I walked this beach last Saturday! Here are the pictures to prove it. Mine are not quite as nice as theirs, but they will do. Nathan's cousin is holding J3.





Nathan's brother who lives down the road from there cringes when we tell him Tofino is in Sunset again. This is because it brings more people (aka: tourists) to the quiet town. The tourists don't stay long though, because it is a rain forest, and it rains a lot! Sunshine is a rare commodity...the price you must pay for the green lushness.

Home Again

J3, Nathan and I returned home from Canada late last night. I should be in bed, since I got very little sleep last night. However, I wanted to share some pictures. K1 and A2 stayed at my parents, since the long weekend included a lot of travel - too much to take 3 kids along.

The reason for traveling north was a "reception" to celebrate our brother (my brother-in-law) and sister-in-law's wedding. They got married on December 31 with only their parents present. So, this weekend was celebration time with a casual BBQ. We had a wonderful time with the family.

I can't get the other pictures to load right now, so I am heading to bed and will write more tomorrow.

Sunflowers!

IMG_7568.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers. We grew our own sunflowers at my parents' house for our wedding 5 years ago. Here is our first bouquet of sunflowers from our own garden. They are blooming a little late since we didn't get them planted until the middle of the summer. We will see if more grow.

A glimpse

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This is what they looked like last week. Now, you can barely see the cement.

Starting to turn

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Our pumpkins are finally starting to turn orange! I was beginning to wonder if they ever would. I you want to see all the different types of pumpkins and gourds we have, just click on the Flickr badge to the right.

Birthday Present

IMG_7403.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

This was our birthday present to K1 back in August. Once again, I found a deal on Craig's List. This bike was brand new. The box had been opened, but it was never assembled. It cost less than 50% of a new bike.

First Day of Pre-K

IMG_7257.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.

K1 had her first day of PreK. She walked in the classroom, saw the Cinderella "dress-up dress" and never looked back. No tears from her or me! She came home with pink paint on her dress, she got to go to the library and have music class!

I think A2 had a harder day. She kept asking when we could go pick up K1.

Growing

There are a few things growing around here. First, and most importantly, are our families. My 2nd brother and sister-in-law just announced they are expecting number 3. They have two boys, so we are rooting for a girl this time. Here is a picture of the eight cousins on my side of the family.




I don't have a recent picture of the 7 cousins from Nathan's side, because we haven't been all together since last November. Nathan's older brother and his wife had a beautiful baby girl last week, and his sister told us yesterday that they are now expecting their 3rd as well. We love all these nieces and nephews!

The other, and much less important, things that are growing around here are our grass and pumpkins. Our grass got its first trim this week, and the pumpkins continue to take over the sidewalk. The picture of the grass below shows the girls on their "racetrack."

Cranky Frank

Our friend, Brett, had a contest to name the contraption on his hand. (He says it doesn't hurt!) My suggestion was the winner, and I got to meet "Cranky Frank" last week. Here are the three of us...

Happy Birthday! (Yesterday)

Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter, K1! She is a blessing to our family. We cannot believe how big she is getting!

She had a wonderful present of waking up and having her daddy home, after he had been in Alaska for 10 days. His plane came in after she was sleeping on Tuesday, so when she woke up on her birthday, she got a big hug and kiss from her dad!

Kids

Heard in the car on the way home from church yesterday:

K1: "A2, are you still awake?"

A2: "No."

3 months and sleep

This is one cute 3 month boy! He is not generous with his smiles, but he is a very happy and content boy. Yesterday, he laughed for the first time. His big sister, K1, was talking to him and he must have found something funny because he started doing a little belly laugh.




On another note, the past 5 consecutive nights, he has either slept 10 or 11 hours straight! He wakes up happy and talking, which makes me a happy camper as well.

We have some green in the yard...

IMG_6990.JPG, originally uploaded by nelliesphotos.