Joshua Ryan

I had to have a long talk with Josh the other day. We were discussing the importance of responsibility and making sure you make the "good" choices when given any responsibility. Of course I used the story of his cousins and a unfortunate error of their ways, while sent to wait at the bridge for their mom who was only a few seconds behind them, they choose to venture further on down the creek. It only took Cara Lee 10minutes (yes that is a long time) or so to find them, but once she did she had a similar discussion with her boys. I was trying to use this example to help Josh understand. Anyhow I had told Josh their consequence to making this choice was they were no longer allowed to run ahead from Auntie when they are walking. He asked me a series of questions like, so no more races, do they have to hold onto the stroller, and on he went. I steered him back on topic of him and his choices and making sure he is a responsible boy. He knew his consequence was coming so he stopped me and said you know mom I thin that a good consequence for me is that I shouldn't be able to run ahead, ya you can take running away I am ok with that. Yes and on goes the life of Joshua Ryan Douglas, who's mother has banned him from running, yup only in his dreams!!!!

Caleb Jackson

If you want to get to know Caleb on a more personal level....DRIVE WITH HIM! You can ask his Auntie and Uncle they know best as every time he seems to be in a car with them he has a variety of suggestions for them to help improve their driving abilities. Ryan and I don't get to experience this commentary from him as he knows we are the "perfect" drivers, but we do get to here about other cars if they are passing us, as Caleb is all about winning and while in the car we are in a race of course. Makes you wonder hey, where does he get this competitive edge from? Me and Ry can't figure it out!

Abigail Grace

Then there is our little Princess! Auntie Nat asked me today if I notice a difference between the boys and Abby? Where do I start? Well she does like the star wars action figures but they are more likely to be seen having their face washed or being fed. She does like playing hockey but oh my goodness she has more attitude then anyone I have met. The best way to describe Abby is Miss Independent. She knows what she wants and how to get it, she is a women on a mission and watch out if you get in her way! But she really is cute ! She does have her first crush though, she is smitten with our friend Steve Kater! There are not too many people she will leave mom for but at the sight of Steve she will push, kick and wiggle her way away from me to get to him in a heartbeat! Steve you are a lucky man!

The Toast or is it Roast to the Groom!

Cara Lee and I worked really hard on our toast for Shane, and to our BIG disappointment the sound didn't work on our file when it came time, so I have put together a little something in honor of our toast!! Enjoy the sound:)))) Sorry it is a bit long.

Our Baby Brother FINALLY Ties the Knot!

Girls!

I was just reading Cara Lee and David's blog and admiring the cute pics of Emily and Abby! While the girls are at Cara Lee's they have cute little teaparties, dress up in princess costumes, wear jewlery.... it made me think back to my kodak moment of the girls today at my house!!! The only sad thing is I dont have the actual picture to show, so I will have to paint one for you!
It all started today All four boys are at school, so me and Cara Lee thought what a great time to sit down and have the girls play while we chat. It started out great! Emily was all excited to go upstairs and play with Abby so the two ventured on their own to the top floor of the house. Great time for us! We heard a couple squawks, nothing too major, BUT then a loud thump followed by a wail from Abby! I figured I better go check, I hopped up began to climb the stairs as I reach the final two steps I take in a deep breath glance around me and all I can see is brown marks on the floor accompanied by the most obnoxious aroma!!! Of course I scream! And yell to my sister I think Emily just pooed all over the floor(she is the middle of potty training so was roaming around kinda free).....Oh wait though it gets worse.... remember I haven't seen the girls yet. As I dodge the brown markings on the carpet I hop skip and jump towards my bedroom, to find two girls one looking sweet, cute with blonde little ringlets the other looking sweet, cute, but naked with brown rubbings all over her legs and belly! I love my neice sooo much but unfortunately at this particular moment all I could do is run the other way and try not to toss my cookies. After a few good deep breaths of fresh air found only at the nearest window, I was able to tackle the situation at hand! Cara Lee grabbed Emily threw her in the bath, while Abby commentated ewwww, gwosss, ucky, ewwwww, neenky throughout the entire clean up process! Well needless to say all is clean here at the douglas household once again!
The best thing was telling our germ-a-phobic son what had gone on while he was at school.....Oh man now you can just begin to imagine that reaction....trust me it was pricless!!!!

A big Talk

Today in Josh's grade one class they were talking about words in the "uck" family.....need I say more! This rhyming thing isn't always the greatest teaching method!!!!

Bubble Mania

The other night we had one of those fun priviledges of having all three of the cousins over for the evening minus the mom and dad! It really is a priviledge because no matter how crazy or loud it is, there is always so much fun to be had. We had a great night full of silliness. The highlight of the night was bubble mania. I promised them that I would make a bath that had more bubbles then water. I think I was successful. The lesson I learned though was when doing this it makes it very slippery, hard on the eyes (the sting factor) and lastly almost impossible not to ingest bubbles.
Thanks for making the night so fun, Zosh, Vabid, Nonnor, Cayzeb, Emiwee and Zabbee!

Smackdown Mini Golf

How our mini golf smackdown worked, was 6 teams, lowest combined scores
was the team winners, as well individual prize for the lowest score. The
team winner was Killer T-Rex, individual was Matt. Good job participants!
thanks for making Ry's birthday a fun one!

Waddle to Swaddle

At our house these days we talk a lot about Nick! Who is Nick you ask, well let me tell you. Nick is an amazing little boy we love very much. He is one tough little guy. For the last few months he has really tested his mom and dad, they have had trips to the doctors, followed by trips to the hospital over and over again. His mom has been extremely patient and strong, he is so lucky to have her as his Mommy. She takes amazing care of him and loves him to bits! Oh by the way did I mention he is so cute you should see him....well actually that brings me to my point if you want to check out Nick you can at http://waddle-to-swaddle.blogspot.com/ ! Nick is our nephew although we haven't held him or hugged him yet we already know how perfect he fits with us:) He is still growing in Auntie Natalie's belly! Josh has given him his name "Nick" funny thing is Auntie and Uncle keep referring to him as Baby Bean, but at our house he is Nick. I have added a link on our blog so if any of you want to keep up with our little nephew you can!
Natalie you are one brave mommy, for all the pain, complications, emotional rollercoasters and sacrifices you have already endured. You have proven yourself as "Mommy of the year" before you have even been able to hold your baby! We LOVE you and are continually praying for our baby "Nick's" safe arrival.

The Results are In!!!

Well here is the low down on my birthday song attempt!
We had an amazing response a whopping 4 phone calls came pouring in!!!

Here is the breakdown:
First to phone in was Marc and Nat...the song was weak but none the less they finished.
Second was the nephews, David and Connor! Ry says hands down they had the best rendition of the song taking it straight from the movie Madagascar!
Third was Matt Kennedy which Ry felt was the most professional of all, his tone and pitch were impeccable!
Lastly but by no means least was my Ma and Pa, now Ryan felt this one was the funniest as they could not contain their laughter long enough to get through a complete sentence of the song!

Thank you to all participants, Ryan said it was quite hilarious receiving these phone calls throughout his day!
Now if you are really just bummed that you didn't read the email in time to make the cut you could phone in tomorrow, last chance but you must sing the Birthday Song in French as your punishment for missing the deadline!

Did you Know???

Today September 11 is Ryan's Birthday! He is turning 34, I dare each and every one of you to phone him today and sing,

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
You look like a monkey
And you smell like one too!

I promise to post the results....come on it would be pretty great to have his cell phone ringing all day long with that tune ringing in his ear:) If you need his cell phone number just email me and I will pass it on to you! You can leave a voice mail but you can't tell him what possessed you to phone and sing!!! hee hee hee.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!

The BIG day

This morning at 8:30am I brought Josh to school at which time the morning and afternoon classes were taken into the multi purpose room! The final moment has arrived....we find out which class Josh will be in for the next year!
Now the only request Josh has made was that he be with David in the same class. So we have been praying that would happen. At 8:45am Mrs. Mitchell began dividing up the kids into their respective classes. I was so overwhelmed with anticipation. David's class was the other morning class so they were not in the room at this time. All the kids in the multipurpose room had been divided as I look at the group Josh is with I was completely stressed, not one boy from his previous class with him, two of his favorite girls but no boys! I find out his teacher is Mrs. Hansen which is apparently a good thing, a verywell like teacher strict but excellent! Josh at this point has to go to the bathroom so I take him in the hallway I see Auntie Cara Lee I ask do you know who david's teacher is, at the exact same moment she asks me who is josh's. I tell her Mrs. Hansen....she scans the list outside david's old class and there it was in black and white Mrs. Hansen's class, wuhoo!!! I will leave out the part about where I turn into a blubbering fool and Auntie has to track down where josh is suppose to go because I was too emotional to follow through with my parental repsonsibilities....ya I will leave that part out:)
So I left Josh at 9:10am this morning with a big grin on his face sitting in Mrs. Hansen's class with his cousin by his side! PHEW!

First Day of School!

The big day is tomorrow, Josh officially will start Grade 1. He seems excited but assures me he does not like school! He has his new lunch bag and is ready to hit the road to the big leagues. The highlight for him is lunch time! The only bad part is I want him to come home for lunch...we will have to make a deal in there.
Anyhow keep Josh in your prayers as his ventures off to public school 5 days a week 6 hours a day um and maybe for his mom too:)))

Abigail Gracie Douglas

The Amazing Race

We celebrated our friend Matt's birthday Amazing Race style. We had a blast and it was great way to spend a Saturday!
have a peek...

Our Cutie Pies!

Jamaica

here it is our vacation in a 5 minute summary!

Bags are Home

Well after even some more confusion we have finally received our luggage! Everything there and accounted for. They spent the night at some other douglas home, these people live in Seattle and in turn we housed their luggage for the night too! Crazy airline. Today at 10:30 our luggage arrived at our door and the other pair of bags were taken and hopefully will end up where they are suppose to as well!
US Airways....not a good experience.

we're back!

It has been awhile since my last post but only because we have be out and about visiting other parts of the world. We are home now and have so much to share and show but of course I need time to put it all together for you!
We left two weeks ago to Osoyoos where we left our kids for 9 days and flew off to Jamaica. Ya'Mon, it was great! We soaked up the rays enjoyed the warm ocean and had a great time. We took in a few sights while away and even had a chance to experience some true Jamaican culture when we spent the day with our friends Jerrold and Keisha who live in Kingston. We were in Ochrios which is about a 2 hour drive. So I promise that I will have my slide show presentation together to share all of it, I may have to do it in a few installments I took loads of pics at least I think I did, haven't looked through them all!
Although we are home, are bags have yet to arrive. Apparently they weren't done their travels just yet.....so we are quite anxiously waiting for their return!

The New Bauer/Nike Campaign

created by Uncle David!!!!

soccer camp

WE had soccer camp all week long, the boys had a blast!

HELP!!

WE have had a spill on the carpet, you know those smelly felts? Well a while back Caleb was experimenting with them and put them in water. It was so messy well we cleaned it all up and put the felts away for about three weeks, that was the consequence. We brought them back out yesterday and one of the felts had a build up of water in it and when josh opened it, it splashed him all over the belly, he then proceeded to bring it to me to show me the mess it made, in doing so he dripped on the carpet. I have tried to get it out but have had no luck! HELP, any suggestions? Does anyone know the miracle thing I can buy to remove the pink blobs from the carpet???

Family Holiday!

In case you didn't know we just returned from the never ending journey to Saskatchewan! We headed to the prairies for my cousin's wedding July 15th! Although it was a LOT of driving we had a great time with my family, here have a peek!

Boys Night Out!

Here is a night out for the boys in honor of Josh's 6th Birthday! He was allowed to bring two friends he picked his brother Caleb and his cousin David! They had a great time!
have a peek!

Painting Gone Wrong?

A few weeks ago I had my favorite Nephews over, we had a few activites set out that we were working on! I had seperated the oldies and youngies for a bit! The young guns had finished at the painting table and left everything neat and tidy for their big brothers to come and have a turn using the water paints! I came back into the kitchen after a while to discover my eldest nephew decided to explore with paint, I just laughed and thought hmmm well that is kinda fun! So I gathered all four boys and let them all be as creative as they wanted with the water color paints. Turns out this kids water paint, the kind you had in school that barely shows up and is really light, was not so light after all! The boys played with water balloons and still no paint faded at all! My kids ran threw the sprinkler and nothing. Cara lee later called me after she gave David a shower to say um this is not coming off! So I then had my kids in the bath scrubbing them down....I think to this dayJosh's belly button is still blue! But just really have a look at some of the decorative painting especially Caleb's face and Davids legs. Leave it to me....but itwas a painting experience we will never forget hee hee!

Summer is Fabulous!

So far we have jumped right into the summer swing of things! Took off to Osoyoos for a couple days and soaked up the rays! We have also visited a few water parks, hung out with friends, stayed in our jammies for way to long, slept in and of course been swimming like crazy in our pool! The only bad news is our pool has sprung a leak. We finally had it warmed up to a swimmable standard (grown up standard that is, the kids will swim in ice water)and last night we noticed the hole. Our kids are soooo sad. But we think we can fix it, so far most stores are sold out of patch kits, but we are on the hunt and hopefully we will be able to fill the pool up again soon. That thing holds a ton of water, it is taking FOREVER to drain. I will keep ya posted on the mend. We will still manage to enjoy this sweet start to summer, keep those sunshiney days a coming!

Caleb's Preschool Graduation!

here it is....

Man I can be sooo cute!

Our Fantastically Fun Father's Day Festivities!!

We had a great day on Saturday we were all at Nana and Papa's for great food and lots of adventures for our dear dads!!

Today is Preschool Graduation

Caleb has completed his first year of Preschool! I think he enjoyed himself. He looked forward to going each week, and came home with lots of different creations. We are off to celebrate at his preschool this morning. I will take lots of pictures for you all to see!!

Party Pooper!

I was yapping on the phone today....and realizing that I needed to hurry up and go pick up Josh from school. Abby had been yelling, screaming and squealing while I was on the phone, so I walked away from her. As I was coming back into the room I saw her flat on the floor...it startled me! Then I went to her shook her and realized OH she is sound asleep. We kept this party girl up so late last night, and she was up to get her brothers off to school this morning, so she is simply exhausted poor thing!

Ball Hockey is Finished

We successful completed Caleb's first year of ball hockey. Our 8am start times on Saturday mornings are finished for a few months anyway.

I know You've Been Waiting For This New Release

Here it is finally Josh's Birthday Video....enjoy:) A bit longer then I had thought but hey what do you do when you take so many pictures!!!

Josh the Player

Probably not the best descriptive word but once you read this story you will know where I am coming from! Thursday last week at the dinner table, I asked Josh about a particular girl in his class. He has shown an interest in her so I asked if he would ever want to have her over to play? Simple question. Josh went into deep thinking mode. Ry and I could not figure out what the tough decision was a simple yes or know what do. Finally he answered.....Well maybe she could come next friday...pause....cause...you know Joleen (his 24 yr old unproclaimed girlfriend who is married but that doesn't seem to bother Josh) is coming over this friday. Ry and I looked at eachother tried our darndest not to laugh and inquired about the dilema??? Josh simply stated I can't have them both here at the same time. Need I say more....

Only 3 More Sleeps!

I just can't believe it was six years ago that we met Josh for the first time. That is just crazy. I guess time really does fly when you are having fun. This year we are holding a video game madness party for our eldest son. Which I am realizing I am putting off all the details as I sit here and blog....guess I better go get busy. But in honor of Josh here are some of his career highlights thus far:

Freaking us all out at his birth with a dropping heart rate...we had every specialist you can imagine in the room!
OO-Pen--iiiit
his love for dinosaurs...I think he could name them all by the age of 2
rattling off majority of the Canucks at 18 months
insisiting they name his cousin Aladar aka Connor
Eating Dog Poo at the Park
His Muppet sounding voice
his crazyiness for cold water...any water
downing 5 gummy worms in less then 30seconds
saying goodbye to his sue-sue by throwing it in the fraser river
making potions with his cousin
Gee this list could go on and on...Feel free to add some of your favorite Josh highlights in the comments:)

Caleb Made Me Do It

The funniest thing is Caleb was not even with Josh when he did this....

A Man must have his Priorities!

I have so much to blog and such little time. Today has been a quiet day but non the less extremely eventful. I will start with the scare of my life. Around 3pm today I was getting Abby up from her nap and heading downstairs to relieve the boys from their quiet time (computer and xbox) when I reached the bottom of the stairs I looked towards the front door to see a MAN standing there. I was in such shock. The good thing was I knew who the man was, the bad thing was how the heck did he get in my house. There standing in my front entrance was Matt Kennedy. I was completely shocked and speechless (which doesn't happen too often). I did not say hi, I did not say what are doing here my only question was HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HOUSE! The poor guy looked almost as shocked as me. He told me the kids let him in and when he asked them where their mommy was they informed him "she is having a quiet time" and went back to their games having Matt watch. Matt said he called for me but I did not hear a thing. Phew at least it was someone I knew hey....I hope the kids would NEVER answer the door to someone they don't know....we will be working on that! The worst part of the story is Matt came for his sunglasses that he had left at our house. Well we didn't notice the sunglasses but the kids did. I think Abby found them first and in her attempt to put them on broke them in half. I was able to return the glasses to Matt only in two pieces.....sorry Matt! Hopefully we will be able to find him a new pair!


Earlier in the day we were off to pick up Caleb from preschool. As a mom some of the best times and worst times with the kids are in the van driving. Today was a best times day! After we picked Caleb up we headed to the grocery store (where we had lots of worst times moments) on our ride there Josh was having some deep thoughts. He asked "Mom boys can't marry boys right" my reply "No they can't". "Why not?" josh asked, my reply "Well that would be kinda gross wouldn't it?" josh laughed and agreed! He then asked me "How did you decide you wanted to marry daddy?" I told him "because he was the one I loved my favorite boy." josh-"what do you love about him" I told him all the things I love about Ryan, "he is handsome, he is good at sports, he is really smart, he is kind and thoughtful, he loves going to church and most importantly he has Jesus in his heart!" The next thing that came out of Josh's mouth floored me "Well a Man has to have his priorities." I looked in the rear view mirror and I says "pardon" (in my best Champ impression) josh stated "Daddy had to have his priorities". I asked Josh "where did you hear that?" He then explained to me the reference came from a highly sophisticated show we let him watch...."Jimmy Neutron" it is a quote from Jimmy's dad "A man must have his priorities!"

I know you are all dying to know if I asked Josh if he has a favorite girl? Well you can rest easy I did and here is his reply "Hmmm well I want to marry someone I don't know, it will be a surprise."
the end!

What is up with all this wildlife?

ok here is the video

yes my name is tawny and I am addicted to windows movie maker.....