More pictures...

Wow there are a LOT of pictures still to do...

Elisabeth being all snuggly and cute...doesn't happen as often as I'd like (the snuggly part, she's always cute!)



The long ride home...that's our house, straight up the hill ;)

In our basement we have this little room in between outside and the garage. A lot of people use it as a mudroom. I'm using it as a play room. Here my three helpers are putting together a table and chairs for art projects, reading, schoolwork...













On the first Saturday we had the Abelmans over for a visit. Here's Mayah enjoying the tunnel.



And on Sunday we headed out to Langley for a birthday party at my mum's house. Davey's surveying his old yard.





While the birthday girl slept, Davey helped me make pizzas. We make our dough in the bread machine and then add toppings. My favorite currently is BBQ Chicken pizza with pineapple. YUM!

Making a pint sized pizza for himself and Tink.



Hey Grossmeuti - Look, another generation of Hahlens wearing the aprons you made us!

All three boys got roped into working. Andrew must have been out shopping still.

And the birthday girl is awake!

Notice she has one hand in the cake, stealing blueberries!!















I tried on three separate occasions to get a good birthday picture of Elisabeth.

Just not happening. Maybe I'll try again this week.

Andrew got sent to Texas for El's birthday. So we had our own little mini party without him.

"look mum, I'm a kangaroo!"

Turning Elisabeth into a robot. She loves it, can you tell?



I measured the kids for Tink's birthday. She's 32.5 inches tall, he's about 8 inches taller.

One of the walking trails near our house. This one peeks out onto what will be a treed field and a stream.


Another little play spot on one of our walks. There aren't any playgrounds on our side of the hill yet, but I hope to work the kids (well Elisabeth) up to staying in the stroller long enough to walk to the park. Right now she lasts about 45 minutes, then she wants to be carried. OUCH!






















HOLEY MOLEY, doesn't she look like her mamma here!?!?




Drinking the water, then choking on it ;)

While we wait for Grandma

Today the kids and I drove Andrew to work. My dad has gone to visit his family in Switzerland and kindly agreed to let us use his truck while he's away - that's why I'm in Langley (well, that and to see Grandma!)

Davey was so excited and as soon as he started recognizing where we were headed he changed from singing, "We're going to visit Grandma" to "We're going to MY house!" I guess he misses this place.

We still haven't received the package from our Internet provider which will allow us to connect to the Internet from our new place. I'm really hoping it arrives today or tomorrow! In the meantime, though I can't post pictures, I can update you all on what we've been up to.

So let's see...We arrived home from Whistler to a flurry of last minute packing/cleaning/moving details. The townhouse is painted two shades of green throughout and we really thought we would have to repaint most of the house in order for our furniture to work, but most of the house is in a very pale graygreen so it actually looks really good with our things. Of course it helps that our living room is empty other than some plants, so of course it looks great!

On moving day I took the kids out for a few hours while the movers got most of our stuff on to the truck, then I ran home to start on the cleaning while they finished up. All of a sudden the guys were saying they were starting to head to Chilliwack. So we had rushed off after them, intending to finish packing up the last few things and clean the next day. Little did we know that we'd barely left the driveway before my brother was downstairs with a vacuum cleaner, carpet shampooer and boxes of stuff...I guess he was excited to move!!

Elisabeth's first birthday was on the 6th, so on Friday the 3rdish we headed to Dinotown to celebrate. Like all good Chilliwackians, I worked there for a summer. It was funny to see they were still doing the same stage show they had when I was there...thirteen or so years ago. Davey hasn't stopped talking about Dinotown since and everyday he asks, "are we going to Dinotown today?" Both kids are free this year, so we'll have to go at least once more.



On Elisabeth's birthday Andrew left bright and early (530 am!) to jaunt down to Texas, stranding me and the kids in Chilliwack with no car, no internet and no cable. oh...and no friends since we don't know anyone there yet. It worked out well though. I managed to unpack most of the house, paint our ensuite and go on LOTS of walks!



Though she's been walking as many as six steps for ages, Tink didn't seem to clue in to walking as a mode of getting around until this past Friday. We were outside playing in the yard and she just suddenly took eight steps. Then a few minutes later she took eight again. Then she walked across our whole backyard. Since then she has barely stopped walking. This morning at grandma's she can hardly stop walking to play she's so excited to be exploring a new place from this new elevated and mobile position!!



We also realized that though she says quite a number of words, including 'thank you' and 'giraffe' (which she can also identify!!) she doesn't ever say "no". How nice is that?! Maybe it's because she's such a sweet, obedient girl that if she's ever into something she shouldn't be we just say, "Tinky" in a stern voice and she smiles and does something else!



Davey loves his new house, but misses Jade terribly. For that reason I've finally decided that he'll just have to stay in preschool here in Langley. We can car pool in with Andrew the two days a week and it'll be a good excuse to visit my mum.



Speaking of, I think I hear her, so I'd better end this post. Hopefully there will be Internet to post pictures soon!!

mobile blogging?

I'm desperate enough I thought I'd try blogging from Andrew's blackberry.

So...testing, testing 1, 2, 3...

Shutting her down...

hah hah hah. Don't panic faithful readers, the shut down is only temporary.

Our big move happens Monday at 830 am. Andrew is still researching Internet providers. So until we get Internet I won't be updating. Hopefully it won't take too long!!

S.C. @ W: Part II

The last night we were in Whistler Davey fooled his Day Care providers into thinking he was too tired to stay. I knew that he would perk up within minutes of A. us leaving him there or B. us taking him back to the room. This was about 6pm. At 830 I finally called Andrew and asked if he would mind leaving the evening session so Davey and I could go for a walk. He was WIRED and in danger of waking up his sister!

So first we walked up to the lifts, stopping on the way to visit with the giant bear outside the Chocolate shop.

Then wandering back down to visit with some moose:

Neither of them would come for a walk.

We stopped at the art gallery where Davey was very happy to look at all the sculptures and paintings.
Then moseyed on to the creek. Davey was very impressed by the green water.

(look at those curls!!)

On the way back up, we played choo choo train on anything remotely resembling a track. Here on the darker coloured stones,

Then later on the stone walls lining the flower beds(again with the curls!)

Finally it was our last day in Whistler. Davey came home with a ton of crafts he'd made and some new glasses:

Oh wait, those were mine. Here are his new glasses:

Then it was time to start the long trek home. Andrew wasn't feeling well so I drove. He took pictures of all the guys building the new road (does anyone else think that's WEIRD?! LOL) The guys got very excited and even posed. I just gave a VERY embarrassed wave...

Staff Conference at Whistler: Part I

On Monday afternoon we left for Andrew's annual staff conference in Whistler. If you'll remember, I REALLY wanted to go last year, but Tink's due date was splat dang in the middle of the conference.

Anyway, we stopped along the way for some TWIX bars to help fortify us for the rest of the trip. The kids really enjoyed them:


(We finally turned her car seat around. We were having trouble getting her in the car without ramming her head on the side/top.)


Hotel rooms in Whistler are SO nice! This is our suite. We had a great room and a separate bedroom. Tink slept in the closet (no surprise there) and Davey in the kitchen. We got the nice bed. Actually, we tried Davey in the bed, but he was too excited. So we got another play pen and stuck him in that.

The first night Davey went to the day care program but Elisabeth was too tired. When the music got a little too loud we went for a walk. Just as well since we realized we forgot to bring some things and had to pick them up in the village.

Day Two: Me and Davey enjoying the balcony.


This was our view from the balcony. Not too shabby, eh?!


Elisabeth eating lunch in the Spagetti Factory.


And Davey. The people at the table next to ours seemed fascinated by our children. One lady kept turning around and staring at them. A youngish man and his wife? girlfriend? were taking pictures. I think they were trying to be sneaky but it didn't work so well. Hmn, that reminds me of the time that we were at the Aquarium and some young Asian tourists took a TONNE of pictures of my kids. Is it the blonde/bald heads??


Davey refused to eat any conference food or Old Spaghetti Factory food so I bought him some smoothies and bananas and toast. He did better on those.

At this point Davey was napping and Elisabeth came outside to play. This is one of her two latest laughing faces:


This is the second. Good to have such a happy child!!


Many of you have asked how the kids adjusted to sleeping/life from a hotel. Apart from that first night when Davey was too excited to sleep, they did really well. Davey loved day care and couldn't wait to get there every morning and evening. In the morning they had a four hour program that included walks, crafts, stories and songs. I can't believe all the crafts he came home with!! And in the evening they worked harder to get the kids to calm down for bed time. Davey really enjoyed the toys, the walks...everything!

We only put Elisabeth in for half of the morning session. She seemed to like that too. She was the oldest baby in her group (0-11 mos) and by this morning she was apparently hugging and kissing all the little babies. She had a particular crush on Benjamin. But she didn't like it so much when the babies kissed her back. Other than play time, she stuck pretty much to her normal routine which meant I spent a lot of time in the hotel room. But the plus side is, I got a lot of reading done!

At the kids' store, ROXY stuff was on half price. I got Tink this sweet hat:



Yesterday we took a trip up to the peak of Whistler mountain. It was SO hot in the gondola. I was glad it didn't get stuck or we would have melted for sure!








WAY more pictures from last night still to come. I'm seriously tired right now and desperately in need of sleep!

Main Hoon Na

This may just be the most awesome movie I've ever seen. Alexis, who kindly lent it to us described it as a cross between Mission Impossible and Grease, but it's so, so, SO much more. And we're only half way through. Awesome.

The nitty gritty about the new house is here.

Andrew is calling me to watch a movie with him main hoon na.

Hello faithful readers: Mum, Jane and anyone else who still checks this boring blog.

I just got home from an evening of scrapping (I got SIX two page layouts done. YAY!) So you'll understand that I'm too tired to upload pictures and blog them. I promise that tomorrow night my first priority once the kids are in bed will be to post something interesting.

And I'll even update my scrapping blog too. Aren't you excited? oh ya.

I bought a camera (finally) yesterday and fully expected to be updating this blog tonight with loads of fabulous pictures. Luckily Dave (my brother) is super excited about the purchase (he did most of the research for me) and has taken a ton of pictures, because I certainly have not. BUT it's 10:46 and I haven't had a chance to get them from the camera to the computer so I think pictures will have to wait a few more days yet.

This week Tinky has started saying a new word, "TaeToo" which is her version of "Thank you". I always thought that children understood each other's gibberish even when parents couldn't make out the baby talk. So far though it seems as though I understand Tink better than anyone else. She has quite the vocabulary...some of it clear as anything and other things I can just tell what she's talking about even though it's mostly grunts. Most clear is still "what's that" which she says almost perfectly.

She has six teeth which have broken through her gums, and at least two more on their way. It's hard to tell because she does not like when I stick my fingers in her mouth (who would?!) She's also got callouses on her ankle bones from her sidesaddlescoot.

Davey is growing like a weed. He's currently in a very huggy mood and loves telling people (me mostly, dad occasionally and grama sometimes too) that he loves them. Today he told me I was his favorite mummy (does he know something I don't?!)

We signed all the papers at the lawyers office yesterday and handed over our downpayment. On Saturday we'll be traipsing east to pick up the keys to our new place. I'm feeling incredibly stressed right now trying to pack by myself while both kids are underfoot. Davey does not like me packing things, I guess it is a bit disturbing, though I try to explain why everything is going in boxes. Tink is teething and might be a bit sick or else she can just sense my stress but she follows me around crying and trying to climb my legs. Today she wouldn't even nap she was so distressed. So when my brother Dave told me that he and Alexis are going to drive out and do some painting in the new place while we're gone next week you KNOW I was very, very happy. I painted this place in the evenings after work and pregnant so I wasn't looking forward to painting again so soon...and especially not with two mobile babes following me around! Dave is my new favorite person. No wonder we called our firstborn David!!

Well, I meant to get to bed early so the rest will have to wait until later...maybe Saturday night once I have pictures of our new house!!

Character...

Over the last week Tinky decided she wasn't going to call her daddy "daddy" anymore.

Tinky calls her daddy, "Adooo". In a very sweet, sing-songy voice. So cute.

I know I whine about this a lot lately, but it is so strange being without a camera. Dave brought his in to have some work done yesterday so now I don't even have the use of his. Though it should only take 3-6 weeks to fix, by that time we'll be living 45 minutes away so I don't think I'll get to use it very often!

When I was about 9 or 10 years old my dad gave me my first camera. It was one of those long rectangular ones kind of shaped like a ladies wallet. I harassed my friends endlessly with it. When we moved back to Canada I got a Konica 35 mm. It lasted me through highschool, two trips to Switzerland and a trip to Arizona. Through being thrown at a wall (accidentally, it was in my backpack).

When it finally died, sometime after I married Andrew, we got a Canon point and shoot (still a film camera). It only lasted three years before dying, though by that time I had my digital camera so I didn't care too much. But maybe you're beginning to understand why I miss having a camera...any camera on hand. I thought I took a lot of pictures back when I'd use a whole roll of film on one of Ashlie's dress up glamour shot sessions. Now I'll take a hundred or more pictures in an ordinary day at home.

What gets me the most is that we have a hundred thousand or so pictures of Davey...and Elisabeth isn't getting equal treatment. How will I explain the lack of scrapbooks, photo albums and framed prints?? (okay, I'm just kidding. But I do feel guilty every once in a while...)

It's her birthday in 22 days. And in the midst of packing, moving and Andrew probably leaving on a business trip (on her birthday!!) I had to give up any thoughts of a birthday party. But I think I'm going to have to get her a camera for her birthday (!) so we can at least get a picture of her at one year old!!

Though she won't sleep in her crib yet (still in the playpen!) she loves playing in it. Specially if Davey is in there too. And if Davey gets to play in the crib with Tink, I have a hard time getting him out again.

Yesterday afternoon we put up our tent. The kids and Andrew had a riot playing in it. Today Davey decided to eat lunch inside it.

I think he likes it!!

Elisabeth and I ate outside and soaked up some rays.

Then went for a dip in our pool.

That's when Ashlie and Jade decided to join us. Nothing like a day in the sun with friends.

busy, busy, busy...

Well, the past two weeks have been very busy: meeting with our realtor, meeting with the bank, trying to pack some boxes...and trying to arrange all of that around spending as much time as possible OUTSIDE in the SUN!!

Yesterday we headed to Whiterock to celebrate Riley's birthday with her family. We brought Ashlie along with us since she and Riley are only a month apart. I had some doubts about whether we would actually go at first since on Friday I got out of the car and my lower back started spasming....seriously the worst back pain I've ever had...and I had some serious pain while I was pregnant.

I read online that the best thing for back pain is to continue to be as active as you can though so I figured we'd better go...and then I got a huge cut on the bottom of my foot. Which has made walking really awkward.

My darling daughter decided to join me in my pain and headbutted our cooler (one of those metal Coleman ones) and gave herself a black eye. We're a pair!!

Anyway, it was wonderful at the beach and we had a lovely, lovely time. Thanks Abelmans for including us in your day!!