Halloween Festivities

Tonight we went on a bit of an adventure! Auntie Natalie and Uncle Marc came over with Linden to eat supper and than we planned to go over to the maple ridge fair ground to check out "Ghost Ridge". As we were eating supper Caleb was talking about the "haunted house" that would be there and how much he will like it and how he can't wait to go in. See a few weeks ago when we were at ikea there was a little "haunted house" thing we were able to go in. I had all three kids by myself, Josh really wanted to go in and Caleb stated he did too. We get there and Caleb totally froze would not go in. I had one child who was sooo excited to go and the other who would not even move towards the display oh ya and a baby who could care less about all of it but that I had to carry leaving my hands pretty occupied. So after many deal proposals and negotiating tactics all of which were failing miserably the lady there from unicef swooped in to the rescue, she offered to have Caleb stay at the gate with her. Now normally Caleb is a bit shy but faced with his choices he chose to stick it out with the stranger. Josh, Abby and I went through the display as Caleb stood beside this sweet little old lady. Now back to tonight. Caleb is going on and on about the "haunted house" and how wonderful it all is. Anyhow we all left and hoped in the van of course on the way there we were entertained by Linden and his rendition of the American Anthem and O Canada. The highlight of our drive was Linden describing what Douglas Men voices sounds like. He started by mentioning how Ryan and Marc sound so much alike, we all agreed but than he continued to say "it is that sound you know, they all sound like they are talking with their nose plugged, all the Douglas men sound like that." Of course Ryan was ready to pull over and make Linden walk the rest of the way unless he recanted. Soon enough we made it to the fair grounds. We entered a cute little display full of pumpkins and scarecrows and a couple benches made of of hay it was really cute. Than at the back of the barn was the "haunted house". Josh could not wait to go through. And yes you guessed it Caleb was stuck in his tracks not ready to budge one step closer towards it. My negotiating and other tactics set into play and this time I was successful and Caleb moved very cautiously towards the entrance. He took two steps in and a person dressed up in a wolf like costume was there to greet him, you can imagine that was a favorite moment for him, but he did make it through the display holding onto his mommy for dear life, but he made it through. Josh and Linden went through oh about 10 times and were chasing the people dressed up in there. Caleb and I hung out and did crafts outside, and they all got to fish for a special treat before we left. On our car ride home we asked them if they had fun and sure enough Caleb started talking about how wonderful the "haunted house" was! Funny funny boy:)

Just along for the ride!

Nope I am done...lets get outta here!

Out for a thrill!

Fishin' for trouble...Abracadabra

The reward!

More Josh Logic

As I am cooking dinner tonight, Josh was stating how thirsty he was. But of course he wanted a particular cup to drink out of. He was searching all the countertops and cupboards for his favorite cup. Than he comes to the oven (which is piping hot..Remember I am cooking dinner) attempts to open it and of course I freak out. I thought for sure he burned his hands so I think my reaction startled him more than anything. So I ask him what are you doing you can't open that. His comment to me is but Mom I thought maybe the cup would be in the dishwasher. I nearly peed my pants. I than explained to him that the only dishwasher in this house is mom and dad. Talk about a 21st century kid!

Back to the Grind

We are in day three of our routine, back to school! The first morning was HORRIBLE! We were late getting up and no one was in fast mode. One out of three was not cooperating. You must think well one out of three isn't bad...let me tell you all it takes is one to throw the whole thing down the toilet. Our lovely eldest Josh was in no mood for school. After dragging him from his bed peeling his clothes off and attempting to put his clothes on his limp body we were still on time with everything and I thought would make it to school for 8:30. Breakfast was out the window as it was too late but we can make that time up in the car I just pack a to go breakfast. Once Ryan was ready to drive the boys to school Josh lost it. He went into full tempertantrum mode. Now I have to say we have not seen this side of him in a long time, thinking you know he is five now he should be done with those. Well it appears that they do rear their ugly heads every now and again. So you could say they are far and few between but when they do come RUN FOR COVER! This fit proceeded all the way to the car, I am sure every neighbor was peering out their window wondering what the racket was. I can here the comments now "Oh look at that child, what a little brat." or "Those parents sure don't know how to handle their kids." Now every parent realizes these comments only come from those who don't have children or have not had young children in the last 15 or so years. Once Ryan finally strapped him in the car ( I imagine he wanted to strap him to the car) it was already 8:35. Ry decided to drop Caleb off at preschool first, than make his way to Josh's school. Finally they arrived at his school at 9:00, Josh has another moment getting out of the car! Ryan calms him down and they walk into his class to find no one there! Great not only are they late but now they have to hunt down the class. They go to the office to get their pink slip, and are directed towards the assembly, when they start walking towards the gym they can see all the classes are being dismissed so they head back to Josh's class, but still no one around. Now they go back to the gym and finally find his class, there was a sing-along, so Ryan wiggled Josh through the rows and got him with his class. I am sure at this point Ryan just ran and never looked back. And that was the first day back!
I will say that day two was better and today was much better, but it is not to say that "crazy" josh won't rear his ugly head again....But at least we have a while before it happens again!

Ryan's Brouhaha

We are hot blooded and our cheering was a prime example!

The cutest fan there....she was cheering her heart out!

Hockey Hooligan's

Hmmmm...well Ryan played in the Northside's First full contact hockey game last night...should I say play or sat in the penalty box? The team started out strong in the first period Uncle Marc even scored a great looking goal to tie it up 1-1. Tyler Richards scored to make it 2-1 but than the second period hit and Trinity Western was given every opportunity to take the lead and ended up doing so. Our Northside crew piled in the penalty box and in doing so left the game to Trinity who scored 6 goals in the second. Unfortunately Daryl Kennedy was skating too fast and passing the puck too well, so the ref kicked him out of the game! Than it appeared Ryan was following suit showing off some skill, and ref couldn't handle that so gave him 5min for spearing and 10min game misconduct. At this point the frustration was overwhelming...how can you play a game while the refs are being so one sided but our guys continued on. Northside prevailed as Timo Flabbro scored our third goal. The third was a lot of back and forth between teams...and was getting a bit rough as TW's #27 attempted to show what pathetic excuse of biceps he has by kissing his Olive Oil pipes in Ryan's direction. Ry brushed him off, skated circles around him and smiled big as he took the puck to the net the goalie stopped the shot, Ry gave him a jab and the TW players proceeded to pile on, leaving David Buzza no choice but to aid his teammate in a brouhaha. Unfortunately this event ended Ryan and David's hockey game as they were kicked out. The last three minutes of the game Northside gave it a fight but the final score was 7-3 bad guys. Thus concludes the first ever Northside hockey game!

Check out our Amazing Abs!

Abby is now 11 months old well a couple days shy of being so! And she is growing like a weed. We wondered when she would jump on the mobile bus and she finally did at 10 months and has been cruising around every since. She is starting to pull herself up and her legs are getting stronger and stronger so it is very possible she may be walking by her first birthday. She has a whopping six teeth, four of which she had come in all at the same time...Of course her cranky fits were about 2 minutes long a day instead of the one minute. She is such a happy baby. Don't get me wrong she lets her opinions be known but overall she is one content chick! Along with her amazing acrobat like skills she is starting to communicate with us all. Of course we consider it full sentences but others claim it is more like ma ma and da da, but what do they know right? She can wave hi and bye, and blow a friendly kiss to those of her liking and is always ready for mean game of peek a boo! She is completely in love with her little bear and will not sleep with out it...we even had to "borrow" her cuz Emers twin bear so we could have a back up for emergencies. Like I said she knows how to make her opinions known.

Josh Logic

As we were driving to wee college last night Josh started to think about his room in his new house. Lately we have been talking about what kinds of things he would like to decorate his humble abode with. I guess this thought was in his mind because he began the conversation stating that he would like to have xbox in his room at our new house. I said well we do have xbox but it is daddy's and it should be where everyone can use it. He continued to explain that he just wanted a room like his Uncle Shane, set up with a tv, bed and every movie and video game imaginable! Well Josh kept thinking and than came up with the brilliant idea that we should just buy another one, better yet he said that is what I will ask for this Christmas. I began to explain to him that xbox is a special thing and costs lots of money and that it is too much money to spend to get another one. Josh started to laugh and said" oh mom you are just so silly, (at this point I have a complete look of confusion) I was just going to ask Santa for it, see its alright" as he shakes his head and laughs at me. How silly of me to worry about cost Santa will take care of it. Oh gee when will I learn hey!

Thanks Giving!

On Thanks Giving we had a BIG family outing to the Laity Farm Pumpkin Patch! We had our whole family Keating/Douglas and my siblings and their families. It was a wonderful time of talking to the animals, racing through the corn maze, and hunting for that perfect pumpkin. Josh and Caleb had a blast chasing their cousins and friends around! Abby had fun to but she really wanted to move about but this crawling business isn't really suitable while on a farm. The Farm also has created a little village to walk through in their forest area, it is full of animals but of course Josh and Caleb's favorite was the dinosaurs!

After we stomped through the patch we headed over to my parents for a Thanks Giving Feast! It truly was a feast mom really out did herself. Everything was delicious and we all had a great time!

"The School Strikes Back"

Josh started kindergarten this year, and man does he love it. So you can only imagine how this school strike is affecting us. We finally had our routine down waking up in the mornings (if you know anything about us douglas it is that we are NOT morning people), packing everyone up dropping Josh off, adjusting Abby's nap routine in with pick up time. We were finally there, until that friday when there was no school. The first few days were wonderful a welcomed break. Josh thought it was somewhat of a holiday, we got to do what we wanted when we wanted we had fun with it. Well now that we are finishing off the second week of this things aren't quite as glamorous as we once thought. I have Josh everyday BORED....I think we have done a billion trips to the library had tons of play dates, even done school work at home everyday but he is definitely missing school. Caleb is still off to preschool twice a week which he loves as well! But that provides its own issue, while little bro tots off to school and the big guy doesn't. Needless to say Josh and his mother will be thrilled when school is back in session:)

In the beginning

Hi All! Here is the latest attempt in keeping you all in touch with our crazy busy lives! A Blog. Life is great in the Douglas hut these days...I have to say hut because that is what it feels like. We are currently staying in my parents basement suite while we longingly wait for our move in date to arrive. Mom and Dad have been soooooo gracious and have opened their home to us. But as we all know how loud and chaotic it is with three kids we try to keep to our living space to provide sanity breaks for our landlords. A one bedroom basement suite does manage to add some twist and turns into daily routines and an extra special closeness to one another, she says as she adjust her ear plugs. November 19th is the anticipated date and we are very excited. So I will attempt to keep you informed on the events in our lives with some stories and pictures......may be fun for some and occasionally annoying to others:)