School Days

I can start by saying WOW I haven't blogged in a long while....there is good reason. September came and life turned into a marathon. We have not stopped since the first day back to school. Between school, church, sports and any other event that occurs we really have had no time left.

The kids have adjusted to their early mornings. Josh is enjoying grade 2 with his new teacher although, his class seems to have some challenges lets just say there are a bouquet of behaviours in his class. Caleb is soooo excited about kindergarten and his class seems to be adapting well to this new experience. Abby too is thrilled to be in Preschool or as she calls it "Pretty- School". All is well in the Douglas household. The boys are both in soccer and hockey which is twice a week. As well Wee College and Good news Bears are fast approaching in October!

Last night we celebrated CaraLee's 34th birthday and went out for Gelato, there is a fantastic place in downtown Maple Ridge all of the flavors are so yummy. I would have to recommend the Mango it was delicious. Anyhow while we were there Josh found a $5 bill. He was excited, shocked and proud of his findings. This left me with a bit of a question....what do you do? I couldn't think fast on my feet and Ryan wasn't there so I gave him a quick phone call to deliberate. He had a fast solution that I thought was wise. We had Josh turn in the money and when he did the lady at the counter told him to keep it. A great reward for being honest in reporting something that doesn't belong to you. So Josh is pretty proud of his new found money. Here is where it gets interesting. Josh leaves every morning for school and often has something on him that we aren't aware of, usually it is his adored pokemon cards. Today it was his $5 bill. When I was picking up Josh I could see him in his classroom and he looked like he was up to no good, I could see the mischievous look in his eyes. He spotted me and the look of guilt was very evident he rushed over to tell me he had just made this great purchase. He talked to a boy in his class and came up with this "deal"! He gave the boy his $5 for all of this boys pokemon cards, quite the stack probably 10 packs. If you know anything about pokemon cards they are expensive, 5-6$ a pack. If you could of just seen Josh's face his eyes were wide, salivating over these cards all within seconds of seeing me, once I was in view his plans were crushed. I ran in and returned the cards then had a long talk about how we don't bring money to school. I think my face was some shade of red at this point, my cardshark 7 year old wheelin and dealin in the school yard. I can only begin to imagine how powerful Josh feels with that $5 bill burning a hole in his pocket. We are going to have to make some life lesson out of this one!!

Kids from the Hood!

These are so cute Uncle David snapped these ones, but it pretty much summarizes the usual activity at their house the back lane is home to many hockey games!

Summer Days!

Loving the summers days being outside, hotdogs and freezies are the staples in our diet!

Wasp Nest Update

Me and the kids were out all day enjoying the sunshine as we were driving home Ryan phoned to give us a warning. His exact words were "when you come home make sure you pull in the garage and shut the door right behind you." Odd request isn't it? The Wasp Man was at our neighbors taking care of the GIGANTIC nest and warned us that once he treats this the wasps can become aggressive and swarm and attack. YIKES! You will all be pleased to know we made it in the house without being attacked and are safely inside.

Crosby Loves to Play and Cuddle!

Here is our new puppy. He is lots of fun and LOTS of work. When we get through the biting stage I will be happy. I can handle the accidents and feeding and bathroom trips and walks those are all great but the biting hurts! He is just trying to play he isn't trying to hurt we know this much:)

Anyhow he sure loves wrestling with his sister! Crosby has the blue tag and black collar and is on the left.

Most Gigantic Wasp Nest EVER!

I was outside today and my neighbor called me over and said Tawny you have to see this. As I looked up I couldn't believe my eyes! On Sunday when the car drove through their garage, a fireman that was inspecting to make sure everything was ok structurally happened to notice the ENORMOUS wasps nest that was in the peak of their house. The pictures don't do it justice the thing is HUGE. Someone is coming to remove it tomorrow I believe, you gotta know I will be watching it will provide some good entertainment seeing them deal with this thing!!!

Watch out for that House.

When we pulled up to our house after church today something looked different. A few of my neighbors were all standing in the driveway of the house next to us. I thought oh maybe there all just talking not too sure? As I got closer I saw what they were all talking about!!!

When we first arrived no police, firetrucks or ambulance were there, they were just being phoned so we only missed this by minutes...CRAZY. Within the next 10 minutes there were two firetrucks, a rescue truck, an ambulance and two police cars at the scene.

My one neighbor saw the whole thing, he said the red car was going to turn around (our street is a dead end very quiet) he saw her go up over the curb at which time she began accelerating. My brother's car is parked across the street from our house (he is at the Mariners baseball game with Ryan) once the red car came off the curb she swerved to miss Shane's car which put her in the direction of our tree, she proceeded with speed to hit the tree knock it over and crash into our neighbors garage. Our house is the yellow and white one. Our neighbor was home but thought something must of fallen in the kitchen and didn't think twice he had people ringing his doorbell and phoning him. He was pretty surprised.

Usually or van is here like in the picture above and our neighbors van is typically where the wood is laying. Thankfully neither of our vans were there at the time of the accident.

You can see where the top of the tree landed down the side of our house. What a mess. Thankfully no one was hurt, a car was smooshed, a garage door smashed in, a tree decapitated and sprinkler crushed to pieces.

Time to go to the Dentist!

On Friday Abby had her VERY first dentist appointment. I was a bit worried as to how she would react but impressed me and the dentist with how cooperative she was.

She brought along one of her best bears, (for those who don't know Abby has two cherished bears named Abby and Emmy) who also got a checkup by Abby herself with the dentist assisting.

This dentist is the best place ever it has trains that run along tracks just below the ceiling, as well as a great play area right beside the dentist chair so that while your child is waiting they can play to their hearts content.

Josh was a great patient as well he was getting sealants (sp) put on his new back molars. Caleb was along for the ride he and Josh had been the week before and both are cavity free!

SURPRISE!

On Thursday Afternoon Ryan took us on a "family adventure" I had no clue what we were doing but he has done this from time to time so I wasn't to suspicious. We began our drive at 2:45pm off we went I was being really good not asking where we were going and just being on board with Ry's creative adventure. But once we were past Abbotsford I started to question where on earth he was taking us. I was concerned because I had a meeting that night to get to and I didn't think we were going to be venturing so far away, my hunchs were mini golf or checking out the waters in mission cause of flooding. Ryan had told me a client of his recommended doing this with our kids, so I had no idea at all. Anyhow were we now in Chilliwack driving down some country road and he goes past a house screechs to a stop as he had slightly passed the driveway as I look at the house there in the yard are four adorable golden retriever pups running about. I looked at him and screamed. See Cara Lee and David had finally found the pup of their dreams and mentioned there were two little brother pups still awaiting homes. I then started thinking wow what an opportunity someone else researched the breeder, good price, good looking dogs, and to get the sibling pup to theirs I mean really all our kids are the same age same gender wouldn't this be fitting? BUT we had not been dog talking at all, so this would be a very spontaneous purchase. Now as I am getting out of the van all these sweet little pups run to my feet and Ryan says now all we have to do is pick one. Everything was racing through my mind, I asked him "are you serious, we aren't just here to look and think about it some more?". Now I am going over all my arguments in my head thinking wow I had no idea I was so convincing, and of course realizing there is no turning back now!!! So we stayed and played with all the puppies got to see the mom and grandma and the puppies all interact. The owners have a whole whack of kids (I couldn't tell how many they kept popping up from around the farm) and we used their expertise to help choose which one ours would be. It was so hard to pick! Me and the kids were drawn to one and Ryan to another. The one Ry liked was so tubby and blonde he was so cute, me and the kids liked the smaller one who was a bit redder in color. And that is how we picked out our puppy 4-1!!

We came home and brainstormed ideas for names and it turns out our very first suggestion is the one that won out. Our puppy's name is Crosby Lu (Luongo) Douglas! He will come and live with us officially June 29th and we can't wait.

Here is our guy Crosby!

Here is a picture of Crosby (connor is holding him) and Rosie (caralee and david's puppy).

princess, fairytales, and tea parties...

Need I say More! This was the girls at Josh's Birthday Party, they found a way to make all the boy stuff work for them....just leave and start your own party! Actually you have two little girls here who are right in there with all the boy stuff and yet still love all the girly stuff too!!

Happy Birthday Josh

Well our little boy is not so little any more he is officially 7 today! I can't believe it has been seven years of course at the same time I can not imagine a day without Josh. We have been celebrated Josh's birthday this past weekend, we started with a Shrek-tastic Birthday Party at our house Saturday afternoon. Josh invited 14 friends and we had a wide variety of activities and games ready to be played. It was a great party but MAN Ryan and I were pooped at the end. After his friend party we had all of our extended family over for a bbq! It was a fun day.

Josh is incredibly creative he has a unique approach on life. Just when you think you have him figured out he surprises you. He has a love for many things art, hockey (playing, cheering or trading cards), video games, swimming, soccer, baseball and making up new games. If you have ever played a game with Josh you can understand how interesting it can be. His mind is constantly thinking so there are always new twists and turns to be added to anything you are doing with Josh.

Josh is a gentle guy he makes friends easily but yet is an individual and doesn't seem to care what others think. He is a smart boy who has picked up reading with ease, has a memory better then me, and seems to flourish in all areas at school.

We are very proud of boy and absolutely just love him to bits!

Happy Birthday Joshie!!!!

TOO long between Blogs!

WOW where has the time gone? I seem to blink these days and a week has passed. We have been busy busy with lots of baseball, ball hockey, field trips and getaways! On the long weekend we headed up to sunny Ossoyoos for a family getaway with the Douglas gang. Grandparents, cousin and Auntie and Uncle. We had a lot of fun but best of all was the sun was shining, it was nice and warm.

So much seems to be going on these days I don't really know where to start or stop, Josh's birthday is right around the corner so we are in the midst of planning. Learning that our schedules are seriously over booked these days. YIKES!

Before we know it school will be out and summer will be here, I can't wait.

A trip to Stanley Park

Where have We Been?

Well I have an excuse! On April 22 my wonderful husband sent me away. He sent me to Oceanside California, ever been? Well if you haven't it is BEAUTIFUL! Don't worry he didn't send me by myself, he sent me with my sister and my mom. My parents had rented a condo for a month my dad stayed for 3 weeks then me and my sis went down to spend the week with my mom. We had lots of fun, many hours spent laying on the beach or by the pool, long walks every morning with the ocean in full view and of course TONS of shopping!

This is where we stayed.

The condo we stayed in was very nice, but the best part of it was the ocean right out our window. It was right on the water, so every morning and evening we spent most of our time on the balcony watching surfers, beach volleyball and the waves.

our view from the condo.

our view out on the pier.



all those black dots are surfers.

Now the downside to the condo! Yes we had the beautiful view of the ocean but along with the beautiful view of the ocean came a not so beautiful view of a homeless man. This homeless man with a baby buggy strolled all around the beach, we only got to see him on what was apparently cleaning days. The public washroom was very close to us and a shower to rinse of sand, do you see where I am going with this? My mom had warned us, but really nothing prepared me for what I was about to see. I think it was around lunch time and I was eating my sandwich out on the deck noticed the homeless man sitting at one of the tables. As I looked closer I saw that he was taking off his socks. Once he did that he had a bucket and filled it with water I thought hmmm maybe he is going to wash his socks....um nope. He continued to gear down to his undies, walk over to the shower with a bar of soap and wash himself. It was more then I could handle he washed EVERY part! It was so horrible, my lunch was finished very quickly. The next day the police were talking to him I think asking him to move along and that he did.

There was one more oddity about the condo. We were upstairs which was great never heard a thing from any of the neighbors, but oh my goodness you should of seen one of the neighbors. This guy was so strange. Mom warned us about him too, but again nothing truly could of prepared me for what I saw. Now we were above this man, so often when we were sitting out on the balcony he was below but we could not see him, we could only see the strange look on every ones faces as they would walk by. Let me tell you why their faces looked so strange. Everyday from about noon on this guy, currently named Cheech compliments of my dad, would sit out on his deck and soak up the rays. Doesn't sound to odd does it? Here is the catch, he would sit out there with his accessories which consisted of bubbles, windmill, whistle and those really large sunglasses that big bird wears on sesame street. Do you have a picture yet? Every time someone would walk by and if he was pleased with them he would whistle with his train whistle, if he was not pleased with you he may yell out some nasty word. We haven't figured out what made him choose yet, but once when I walked by I didn't' get the whistle!! He seemed to favor animals and occasionally we would hear him bark at the dogs walking by. He gave us many hours of entertainment. I didn't get a great picture of him as I think that I lost whistle privileges after I attempted to snap this one of him.

We had a wonderful time and I am so thankful for the chance to go away with my mom and sis. This was a surprise gift from Ryan with a little help from my mom and dad. He became Mr. Mom, while I was away, maintaining the house, his job, the kids busy schedules and even making Avon deliveries for me!

On the last day Cara Lee decided we needed to do something adventurous so we rented a cobi bike, it is a seven seater bicycle. It was indeed adventurous, I attempted to video us for full action footage, and it turned out to be a great way to see where we were!!!

Today He is 5!!!

Happy Birthday Caleb Jackson!

Our little Red head is no longer 4! Actually there is nothing little about Caleb. His energy and enthusiasm are enormous. When Caleb is excited about something his eyes become wider then saucers and his grin is ear to ear. When he tells you a story it is so animated with continued interruptions of giggles from the story teller himself. Caleb is so much fun to be with, he is pretty easy going. He loves Sports and is always chomping at the bit to play one thing or the other. Right now Caleb is in his first year of baseball (t-ball) and second year of ball hockey. That is just the current status of his schedule, in the fall/winter there was soccer, hockey, skating lessons and swimming lessons. We can't seem to tucker him out!

Well today April 18th is a very special day, 5 years ago on a Thursday morning at 10:55 we met the most adorable 10 pound baby EVER. He has been such a blessing for both Ryan and me, we thank GOD every day for him.

Round the Table

Groovin to the tunes!

Last Weekend Josh participated in the KIDS church production "Living What Jesus Spoke Of".It was extremely entertaining!!! The songs they sang were all parodies of 70's hits, like Stayin Alive or shall we say Paying your Tithe. YMCA was Why not today, La Vida Lo ca - Living What Jesus Spoke of, and a few more. Our Children's Pastor Ingrid did a fabulous job she created the performance, putting the songs together and incorporating scriptures and biblical principles we should all be living by. I took a ton of pictures we will see if I can make a video, but for now have a look at Josh and his hippy friend Emilee!

BIG WEEKEND!

This past weekend was a HUGE celebration. Not only was it Auntie Natalies 28th Birthday. Josh and Caleb had their Wee College Graduation Ceremony! Caleb is officially in the sophmore class no longer a freshman. Josh has completed his third year and received his degree. In this program they learn so much about the bible. Each year they learn 13-15 memory verses which inlcude Psalm 100, The Lord's Prayer, Psalm 150 and many more. So not just little verses they have learned some big ones too! And can actually recite them. Caleb can recite all 13 verses his class learned this year along with many songs. They are taught about the divisions of the bible, many stories from the bible it is such an amazing program. In Josh's Graduate Class he learned and can recite the 12 disciples, the books of the bible, the ten commandments, Psalm 150, and the fruits of the spirit along with his 15 memory verses too. He is very excited about completing his 3 years and looking forward to joining Good News Bears, he tells me that is where ya go once you are finished Wee College. Caleb will start his Sophmore year in October.

Way to go BOYS!!!!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

That is right today March 23 Shane is a whole year older! He has entered his last year of his twenties. I did that 2 years ago, don't worry the thirties are even better.

You are a great brother, wonderful Uncle and I hope you have a fabulous Birthday!

Everyone's Parents are Rock Stars....Right?

I wonder how many of you knew that my parents just recently released a cd? I know you all repeatably tell me about my astounding singing voice and endless music capabilities (note the sarcasm) therefore assumed I must be the product of two talented musicians. Well guess what I am. My Mom and Dad are part of
The Knitting Club
Gene Murphy and the Knitting Club to be exact. Just before Christmas they released their first CD titled Travelers on the Black Line.

You can hear for yourself they have a website and myspace.


http://www.myspace.com/genemurphyknittingclub


http://www.bluesrock.ca/KC.html