Summer 2005

Ashlie circa 2005

Jade: April 2005...pure cuteness!

A Chip Off the Old Bloke

One sign that Davey is growing up is how willing he is to help around the house these days. Today I had him and Elisabeth make cookies. Davey was very exuberant and wanted to narrate the entire process.

"And when we put the cookies in the oven, they'll grow and grow and grow!" he explained to Elisabeth.

I switched the oven light to on so they could watch.

"I think I'll make some soup for dinner," I said.

"I want to make soup too!" Davey said. The kids have helped make dinner before, but nothing like soup. Still, I'm gearing up to start a regular routine of chores with the kids, so I thought I'd encourage doing things he actually wanted to help with!

Later, when Andrew got home, Davey asked if he could bring Daddy one of the cookies we'd baked so he could try it. I guess Andrew told him that we were good cooks because Davey came downstairs and said, "We're chefs mummy. We're good chefs and we cook good."

Just now, Andrew had to go back upstairs - David was having trouble falling asleep. When he got upstairs they were chatting about random things like bikes. Out of the blue Davey asked, "Daddy, do you like beans?"

"Yes. I like baked beans and green beans and human beans..."

David laughed, "Do you like spaghetti and fruit snacks?"

"I don't think I've ever had spaghetti and fruit snacks. Have you ever had spaghetti and fruit snacks?"

"When I grow up I'm going to be a chef. And I'm going to make spaghetti and fruit snacks, and beans and bananas, and chef burgers, and chef pancakes..."

Sounds delicious Chef Davey. And anytime you want to get some practice in, go ahead and take over the cooking duties here. I don't mind, I'm sure.

'Round Here

Davey on preschool picture day. He's so handsome!


If you're looking for stories about my sleepover with tash, you can read about 'em here.

It snowed here again. In fact, it's still snowing. Oh joy.

The kids like it though. All three of them ;)

Oh, We Do Love To Be Beside The Seaside....

You know how it is. When the sun shines in the Lower Mainland, the lure of the ocean is too strong for us. And so it was this morning. We gobbled our breakfasts, quickly dressed and raced off to Crescent Beach. See how gorgeous it was?

The birds and boats were out in full force. And there were quite a few humans (and dogs) too.

While I curled myself up on a blanket next to a huge driftwood log, the boys decided to practice skipping rocks.

I forget why Elisabeth was upset, but she took off down the beach. She's a wee bit huffy these days. Anyway, Andrew followed her down the beach and they had a little chat.


Andrew collected some rocks and made a pile of them. Davey decided that it would be a good thing to wash them and bring the colour out. So here is doing just that.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth likes to fill buckets with sand and then pour water on them. I think this is based on all the sand castle building they did last summer. You have to get the right blend of water and sand to build a good castle.

Hmn, what's in this basket?

Oh, more rocks. I think I'll take those.



Isn't my boy cute? I think so too.

She's pretty sweet too :)

And Davey's rocks do look nice now he's brought the colours out.

Speaking of which, I played with the settings on my camera today.





Kind of fun, I thought. Now I just need to load my new software and play with that too.

On the way back to the car, Elisabeth wanted to sit on this bench.

David and Elisabeth both got new sun glasses today. Davey picked El's.

We had some lunch then drove to Whiterock to walk from one end to the other and up the pier. As soon as we got out of the car we could tell the temperature/weather was vastly different than it had been at Crescent Beach. At Crescent, I was almost falling asleep it was so toasty and warm and sunny. At White Rock, it was cloudy and windy and COLD! I guess in the hour it took us to eat and drive the weather changed.


Davey and I walked almost to the end of the pier, but it was getting too cold so we turned around. Elisabeth and Daddy made it all the way to the end.



I think she's better now. She's much more her happy little self!

Need Pictures Done?

You all know by now that I'm a picture junkie. And I love looking at photographer's websites. Well, my favorite photographers have an amazing deal on for kids' portrait sessions this month. They took one of my favorite pictures ever of David (see above). Read more about the mini sessions here.

Over, At Last!

Andrew arrived home this afternoon and so the week ends. Honestly, I don't mind him being gone during the day. I find myself being much more organized when he's gone, I think because I know I've only got myself to rely on. It's just very lonely. I can't call him during the day and even if I do email him, he doesn't usually have time to reply. And I hate being alone at night. Hate it.

So I'm very glad that Andrew is back home. Though he's come home full of ideas to go to eastern Europe on a missions trip this summer so I'm trying not to think of that!

Here's a picture of the kids making their own dinners earlier this week:

And we cleaned out the sandbox and put new sand in. Davey got his dump trucks out and gave the new sand a try.
We also dragged out the slides into the sun and reacquainted ourselves with them too.

Today Davey admired the paint job on the balcony pillars.

Elisabeth is SO much better today. If any of you have been praying for us, thank you! She is still not her usually bouncy, happy self, but she didn't grizzle as much either.

This is our hot dog stand ;)



Elisabeth dancing on the balcony.


And we brought up their little table so they could do some drawing at it during the day. They have also been having their meals at this table instead of the big one. They seem to like eating at a kid sized table better.



Elisabeth drew a flower.

And that's Davey playing in the grass under the sun. His eyes are so big because he's wearing sun glasses.

Andrew arrived home and the kids insisted on dancing through his legs. Be careful with that orange juice!

Too late! This is about 2 seconds before he emptied the entire glass on Elisabeth's head/face. WHOOPS!

After a bath and some new clothes, she was right as rain. See?


The end. Now, let's hope the sunshine sticks around for the weekend so we can enjoy some fun together!