Two Odd Little Ducks....

This past Saturday was a busy day! We started our morning off with Soccer. If you are in need of a daily pick me up or just a good laugh you should really come watch. You never know what you may see and Josh, well he is what he is:) The highlight of the game was him deciding to be in goal (um at this age there are no goalies) but not only did he decide to take on this awesome responsibility he decided to be a goalie for the other team! Don't worry we still cheered him on. As you watch the kids run from one end of the field to the next in hopes of touching the ball even for a second you may start to wonder oh where is Josh? I can't really tell you where his mind is, but he typically can be found in the middle of the field hangin out! Like I said never fear the douglas are here for your comic relief!





But wait this isn't even the story that goes with my title "two odd little ducks"! I am referring to Caleb and his sidekick Connor! This week you could find the two of them chillin in the baseball diamond next to the soccer field. They were busy playing Buzz Lightyear! Ryan headed over to check on them and inquired as to what they were playing. Ryan was informed that they were playing Buzz Lightyear, so curious to know how they worked out the odvious conflict of who gets to be Buzz, ryan asked who they were! Now lets just think for a moment of a few of the characters from that movie, we have buzz, woody, zurg, jesse, bullseye even a dinorsaur for goodness sake! No our kids they had the best characters lined up!




We had Connor as Lil' Bopeep







And Caleb Jackson as Ham!

It's All About.....

If you were to enter our house these days you would be bombarded with the following....Shrek 2 xbox details beyond belief, did you know that when you hit the y button little red throws her apples...now ya do! Facts about Narnia, have they read the book-no, have they seen the movie- heavens no but yet there is an endless supply of knowledge that they have miraculously (their Nana) obtained that we hear about. And of course there is still the old stand by Star Wars which is hanging on by a thread these days but none the less still holding fast:) You gotta love these phases and really can't help but be amazed at how much information they can retain when they are fascinated!
Tonight I was putting Josh to bed and his biggest concern was getting past a particular level in Shrek 2. Now Josh knows he is only allowed to play for a certain period of time on certain days. As I am tucking him in he is pleading with me that when him and Caleb go to sleep that Daddy and I will finish the level, he has it all worked out in his mind. You will never see two children go to bed more peaceful and quietly then these guys, knowing that their mommy and daddy are downstairs beating that particular level. I guess the saddest thing is that we actually are playing their game after they go to bed, but the stinkin thing is sooooo addictive!
Abby doesn't share to the extent the passions of her brothers, but don't get me wrong she is right there alongside them banging on the tv screen, yanking on the controllers as her brothers fight prince charming in Far Far Away. Cheering and chanting to get any attention she can. Abby has started her own new tricks. We have been working on teaching her to communicate with us in a more pleasant manner then her current squeals, grunts and screams. We have attempted to teach her how to say please in sign language (we got this tip from my sis, worked for her daughter). Anyways Abby seems to be getting the concept the pounding of her chest (the sign for please) has so far been accompanied with the squeals, grunts and screams but eventually she does the sign and we reward her greatly. Tonight was quiet funny though, she seemed a bit confused right before bed she wanted her sue sue, so I was holding out waiting for the please signal, after the stare down the noises of discontent she broke down and said please. I clapped and cheered made a big deal out of her achievement. Well for the next 15 minutes before bed that is pretty much all she did, patted her chest and smiled waiting for her audience to applaud. Even when I laid her in her crib she continued to do the please signnon-stop with a big smile on her face.... well she may not get the concept but she can obviously do the sign!!

Friday Night Date Night!

Tonight was date night at the douglas house! Josh and Ryan are off to a giants game, and Caleb and me decided to go swimming. We brought Abby too, she was our third wheel:) We hustled our way over to the rec center which took me FOREVER! We had lots of phone calls, lots of missing bathing suits, lots of turtle like movements from Caleb but we finally managed to get ourselves in the van and on our way to the pool. By this time it was 7:15pm which is a wee bit late as bedtime is 7:30/8pm but a special date we can make exceptions right? We got to the pool and were at the front desk I paid and the man mentions "oh there is a birthday party here tonight for 8pm so it will probably get kinda loud in there, just so you know". I said "oh no problem thanks for the warning." We hustled on our way to the change room. Now I am not sure exactly where my thinking was at, but I did not bring a buggy for abby I carried her had Caleb by the hand and the bag over my shoulder. When we got to the change room it was a tad awkward but I managed to get everyone changed without letting her touch the ground(I have issues with pool floors eewwww)and she isn't' standing on her own so it would be her crawling around yuck even the thought. Finally we are in the pool everything seems great, it is a bit busy but it is Friday night. Lots of young teenagers around but still I didn't' think too much of it. The night was off to an exciting start as Caleb has been working through a variety stretching exercises and unique forms of pilates in order to grow faster to meet the height requirements for the green slide. Well guess what people, tonight was his night, all his hard work paid off he is officially TALL enough for the green slide. He rode that thing at least ten times, we swam, we jumped, we splashed it was all going excellent a bit crowded for my liking but still manageable. Until......8:00 struck! Something odd began to change in the pool. I began looking around and the place was JAM packed full, but one of these things was not like the others, one of these things just did NOT belong....And yup it was me! 8o'clock hit and there were no more people found over the age of 16, and no one younger then the age of 10, yet more people then you have ever seen in a pool. Oh but wait there is still MORE! the lights were turned down, a DJ started to blare some tunes and over 100 teenage girls began to scream. You would think after 10minutes or so into the event the screaming would stop but let me assure you it DID NOT! So me and my dates attempted to tough it out and not let this EVENT stand in the way of our swimming, we stuck to the baby pool. My head was pounding the music was HORRIBLE, my kids were LOVING it. I have Abby dancing to 50cents "take me to the candy shop" and Caleb cha cha chaing to black eyed peas "My humps". It was time to go! We gathered our things just as a life guard comes over to me and says " oh you picked the wrong night to come, fridays are not always like this but the third one of each month is teenager night" AHA, so to all you unsuspecting parents wanting to head over to the leisure center for a swim mark your calendars the third friday is NOT the night to go!!!! Now our evening is still not over remember I mentioned I chose not to bring in a buggy, getting changed was an Olympic event but I promise you Abby did NOT touch the floor!!!

You feed them eyeballs for lunch and you end up with one silly afternoon!

these are videos' just click on the pics to watch:)

Shrek Eyeballs!!

If you know Josh and Caleb you must know how much they are into their Shrek 2 xbox game. I can say without exaggerating that Josh lives and breaths this game these days. He has a Shrek 2 book which has a recipe in it, that he has been dying to make. So today for lunch at the douglas house we ate Shrek Eyeballs! I mean really what else could we do:)


this is a video just click to watch!

Quiet can be Good!

It was really quiet in the house, I was in the kitchen getting supper ready and the kids (all three) were upstairs playing. I was so impressed at how well the three of them were playing together no fighting, screaming or car throwing(you would be surprised how painful it can be getting hit in the head from a flying hotwheel). After I had supper all ready to throw in the oven I began to worry....maybe a good thing wasn't so good after all. When I went upstairs I couldn't find them! I was calling their names and of course no answer. So I did my check, our bedroom, the bathrooms, abby's room-nope no kids. So still not hearing anything I wandered down to the boys bedroom where I found all three of them huddled around the radio, listening to a book on tape. It looked so cute! Even Abby sitting right in between her brothers listening to the story.
As I looked at Abby closer I noticed she had some new clothing on! Josh had decided to dress Abby up he put one of Caleb's vests on her. I have no idea how he managed to get her to sit still to put it on let alone zip it up but he managed. Of course by the time I got the camera the huddle around the radio was over but Abs still had the vest on.
I had to share this little moment with you all because I think it is the first time it has been quiet in the house with all three kids home and awake that hasn't ended in fire, flood or destruction!

Abby's First Date!

Who said bowling wasn't a good idea for a date?

Abby and Aidan workin' it out.

Christmas Snaps!

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it is 2006! I just can't wrap my brain around it at all. 2006 is a big year for me....the big 3-0 and our ten year anniversary...wow hey! Did you all have a great New Years? We sure did. As the kids get older it is fun to celebrate with them. Our church had a disco bowling event planned so we bowled from 7:30-9:30, which was perfect for them, as that is pretty late. So they were pretty done by 9:30. They were tucked in and asleep by 10ish and that left the grown ups to have some fun! We invited a few couples over to ring in the New Year. We had a great time matching the new years resolution to the person, good luck with that spelling Shane-o, and of course playing games and a balloon popping countdown! Fun fun. As I reflect on the past year so much has changed for me and Ryan and we both sit stunned at all the blessings in our life. God truly is good. January always feels like such a fresh start, so here is to a year full of life, love and happiness.
In Everything.....Give Thanks!

Old video clip!

I just came across this clip of josh on his second Christmas...It is pretty cute hey?
ps man he really grew into his lips hey...holy cow his lips were big!

Douglas Annual Christmas Party

Every year the douglas clan gather at Christmas time! It is a time for the cousins kids to play and visit with the aunts and uncles and hang out with your cousins. This year Ryan and I decided to spice it up with some games...cause if you know ry and me we love games. The aunts took care of the food and WOW it was delish. Uncle Phil bbq'd a roast that was heavenly, and trust me there was enough food to feed the whole neighborhood. Our version of Christmas jeopardy was won by Suzy and Alex...They were good! Rumor has it Suzy was studying all night for this one! It paid off she was on fire. Alex you were no slouch either. The best part was Ry had them all come up with there individual buzz in sound which were honk honk, dong, and hey! Trust me it was hilarious. Our evening also included a surprise visit from Santa himself, he had almost all the kids roped in, until Josh says oh that's not Santa that's Papa Jim, Santa has glasses.....cause that's the difference between Jim and Santa...glasses come on I know you were all thinking the same thing its the glasses:)

We also had a game of which Parent and Child know each other best, its along the lines of the newlywed game. Tracey and her ma flew away with that one....Ryan and his mom tied with Auntie Gail and Kathleen. Maybe next year guys!

How cute are they?

Christmas!

Christmas is such a fun holiday. Having children to enjoy this time of celebration with is so amazing. We had a terrific Christmas. It was a bit sketchy there, both boys were barfing up on Friday so I thought we were in for a quiet Christmas. Amazingly they both woke up the next day looking and feeling much better. They weren't totally themselves we had a few interesting moments. There was a Christmas Eve Skate at the community rink so we thought it would be a fun family activity to venture to. Our kids loved the idea on the way there, but once they were on the ice they both had melt downs. It was actually quite comical. Some of you may of saw us there, ya we were the family with the two screaming boys arms outstretched following there parents around the ice. Ry and I finally looked at each other laughing and said ya lets cut our losses and go. Once we left everyone was fine and after a bit of rest at home their spirits were up once again. That evening we went with nana, papa, grandma, grandpa and cousins to church at Brunette Fellowship in Maple Ridge. We were blown away by the Christmas service. It was so child friendly. They included the kids in a few songs, and had some awesome music, one lady shared a short testimony and then at the end they had goodie bags for all the kids. It was really cute. After the service we went out for dinner with Nana and Papa, then back to our house to prepare for Santa's arrival. Our kids were soooo excited. They set out their cookies and milk along with carrots for the reindeer of course followed by a Christmas story with dad and off to bed.

We woke up the next morning to Josh "mommy daddy its Christmas its Christmas, oh hold on a second I will be right back" before I could adjust my eyes to an awaken state he returned "ok I am dressed lets go downstairs". We had a few stall tactics but they only got us so far. Once our kids saw that Santa had come they were bouncing with excitement. Our tradition (passed on from Ryan's parents) is that the stockings are hidden around the house, so the first job of the morning is to begin the stocking hunt. So the boys did just that. The morning was full of the reading of the Jesus Birth, gift opening and breakfast. We had to wake our little princess up at 10am, she hasn't been feeling all that great she had a bad cold, and has been sleeping quite late. We woke her and she had some catching up to do with her gifts, but her brothers were very capable aids. After we finished our morning we headed over to grandma and grandpa's for more Christmas fun. We had the same fun festivities there accompanied with an amazing dinner mom made. It was delicious. Christmas Day is my moms birthday, I always feel bad for her having to cook this huge meal on her birthday, but she never complains. And trust me the feast was grand and delicious. We had a competitive game of Rumoli that night....of which I was of no threat, I borrowed more then I ever won. Don't even remember who was declared the winner...Maybe Sharon, Becky or Cara Lee. We had a terrific day with family.

A sweet moment:)

Ryan and I went to pick up our kids today after they had a sleep over at their nana and papa's. While we were driving home I asked the boys if they missed me, before they could answer I said "Oh I know Josh you just cried the whole time asking where's my mommy?" He laughs and replies "No I didn't cry". So I then did the same for Caleb, his response "No I never cry." A few moments go by and Josh speaks up "Mom when we were eating the cookies that you sent I thought of you." I said "OH thank you Josh that is so sweet", he said "ya cause you made them so I thought of you." A few more moments go by and Josh says "you know I didn't cry but I had two tears run down my cheek when we were getting Abby a bottle cause I was thinking of you." What a sweetie hey! Even though I know none of it is true. It is nice of him to try and pretend that he missed me:)

One Christmas Down and Another to GO!

How lucky are we, we get to have two Christmas Celebrations. Marc and Nat are off to the UK for Christmas so we had an early celebration with the Douglas clan this past weekend. We started off our holiday at Seymour mountain for some tabogganing(sp). I was a bit nervous at first I have not been in years, but after a few runs it was all good. Although I did get Nat pretty good one time in putting my feet down early, she got a refreshing spray of snow...oops! I still say we were gonna go through the fence! The kids had fun too. After our fun in the snow we went to Nana and Papa's house for a yummy soup supper and games. That night Josh and Caleb wrote a letter to Santa with their Auntie Natalie, explaining the circumstances. Left carrots and cookies, and some oatmeal glitter out on the deck so the reindeer would find there way! We slept over that night, and the boys woke up the next morning very excited as Jolly Ol'St Nick did find his way after all. We had a great Christmas Day, with Nana and the boys acting out the Christmas story with a paper dolls! And of course way too many presents! We ended with a Christmas feast! It was tons of fun. Now this weekend we get to do it all over again, how perfect is that. I think this could be every kids dream, two Christmas.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

The Future of the NHL

Well folks look no further, two future NHL'ers stand before you. Today was the last day of skating lessons. Wuhoo, actually I can't complain at all it was Ryan who took them each Friday while I was working. Josh was in formal lessons and Caleb and daddy were out to skate.


Some of you may know the rough start we had to this whole skating lesson thing this year. If you don't I will give you the short version! On Josh's first lesson(of this year) he was asked to leave the class 10 minutes in, and join the primary one level (he was in primary two). There was other issues there with how they handled it but hey after a bunch of phone calls and a strong letter I think they know how we felt. Regardless Josh had fun with it and didn't seem to notice the shuffle. He passed his Primary One class! Way to go Josh. He is a very cautious skater, which is so funny because he was always so fearless he has changed so much when he was four I am telling you a whole new personality came now that he is 5 1/2 we are finally getting use to this new person. The one thing his teaching did not check off was "skates with speed" which gave us a good chuckle because you will never see anyone more turtle like then our Josh. Gotta love him!





Now as for Caleb, the boy has speed! He will jump on the ice stick in hand and move about freely with confidence. Today I saw him playing pass with his dad on the ice, it was way too cute. Of course Caleb insists on having a good brawl with his dad too, drop your gloves and stick and go for it! The only problem here is this little guy fades fast. You get about 15-20 max minutes out of him and then he is done. But we think that is pretty good for now, especially at 3 1/2yrs old. I think Caleb is definitely ready for some lessons and will thrive on the teacher interaction. But I think you have to be four so we will see what we can do in the New Year.