Warm Fuzzies

We've been working on a new project lately that has made our lives a little bit hairy!  Between that, and summer (when I try to cook/bake as little as possible!), I don't think that I've turned on my oven for a couple of months!  Last night, after the Girls were all tucked in, the house was cleaned up, and my work was done, I decided that I needed to change that.... so, I turned on the oven, uncovered my favorite brownie recipe beneath layer of dust, and baked away. 

It was the perfect night!  Fall has arrived, so the furnace was on, the candles were lit, I had some good music playing, it was quiet....perfection!

Let me tell you something that I've learned about myself over the years, friends.  I have learned that baking (not to be confused with cooking!!) is my therapy.  It's my happy place, where all is well in my world, where I can relax and just be.  It's much cheaper than therapy, and I have something tangible to show for my more relaxed state of mind!

So tonight, when we were eating our dessert, I thought to myself, "The baking drought is over!  My sanity is back!"  And it gave me warm fuzzies....and I'm sure my family will appreciate it too!

A(nother) Road Trip

Last weekend, we headed out for a little road trip!  We packed up the kids, the van, and some friends, and headed down to Montana for a long weekend....

 We drove about 10 hrs. south and ended up in Great Falls.  We stayed at a great hotel which included a full breakfast, which we all loved!

They had pancake machine at the hotel. A pancake machine, people. A machine which made pancakes. In a minute. And they were pretty tasty.  I decided that I needed one for at home...

 

After breakfast, we headed out to the Malstom Air Force base for a tour of their museum.  We learned lots about the Minuteman III missile, which is what this Air Force Base deals with, which was pretty interesting.  We also got to look at planes.... 

 Ejector seats, and all sorts of uniforms used at the base over the years.

 Next, we headed over to the First People's Buffalo Jump, which was fascinating!  This is the longest buffalo jump in North America.  They had an interpretive centre, where we learned lots about the uses of Buffalo, as well as a tee pee and many other exhibits set up.

 The little Girls loved the buffalo calf....

 ...and Art loved the ancient tools that they had, along with a teacher who taught him how to throw this arrow

 He got the hang of it pretty quickly!

 They also had a 3 mile hike that we took which we walked up to the top of the jump, as well as along the top (which is a mile long)

 Art and the older Girls saw a live rattlesnake, which Art then proceeded to throw rocks at.  He's smart!!  That was Hannah's favorite part of the trip!

 Here we are....we made it to the top of the jump!  As you can see, it was incredibly beautiful!!  The view from up top was magnificent!

 And a little windy.  I'm not gonna lie!

 We had some Sonic burgers....

 ....and oh so yummy milkshakes,

 saw some more interesting things....

 ....went to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Centre....

 which was also very interesting!

 We did some family bonding....

 ....some shopping (Big R.  My new most favorite store in the whole.  wide.  world!!)...

 .....and drove....relaxing....watching movies.....

.....and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  Big Sky, beautiful weather, good friends....it was a good time had by all!  And now, we are home! 

We've been working on a new project, which I will be blogging about in the upcoming weeks, but it's taken up ALOT of our time!  Sorry about the negligence, friends!

Joy and Sadness

I posted earlier this summer about Art's stepmom passing away.  As you all know, when there is a sad occasion, usually family gets together, which is (hopefully) a joyful occasion.  When we drove back to BC, we took Art's sister on her first road trip with us, which was a lot of fun!  The Girls LOVED having Auntie Frieda in the van, and she had brought along an "auntie bag" filled with special treats and activities for them, so they thought that was pretty cool!  It was a long drive, but we made good time and had a lot of fun together.

 Not to mention, the scenery is fairly spectacular!

 We stopped in Hope to drop Frieda off at  their Aunt Irene's house, and got a little visit in there.  After driving all day, the girls needed to get some beans out, so we took them over to a local park.  The Girls couldn't get over the size of the leaves, and they so kindly decorated me with them.  It was our intention to bring them home, but unfortunately, we forgot them at Aunt Irene's....so, if you're reading this Irene, next time you come, bring the leaves....please!!

 Since we had just been at the coast, it was the Girls second time seeing Aunt Irene very close together, so there was no "warming up" period....

 After we left, we made a quick stop at Bridal Falls, just outside of Chilliwack, and took a little hike.  It's a place that Art and I have been many, many times, but we'd never taken our Girls, so that was very fun to experience it through their eyes.  And, crazy enough, on our hike, we ran into some people that we know....from Spruce Grove!! 

 The Girls all had lots of fun climbing on trees....

and hanging over bridges....

 and I had forgotten just how big those trees get!

 Molly was our official photographer!

And, we had a great little family time there! 

Once again, the great thing about deaths is that we get to have some extended family time, and the next few days were full of laughter and tears!

The Joys of Homeschooling

While we had a fairly terrible summer weather wise this year (we were the mosquito capital of Canada!), it seems like summer has finally arrived....just in time to leave.  This week we've had record temperatures, and so while everyone else is in school, sweating through the 30 degree days, yesterday, we went to the river to sweat through the day!

There were only a few other people there, which was lovely, and though the water was....refreshing (to say the least!), and we watched some leaves that had already fallen float by us, The Girls and I had a great afternoon!

While we were enjoying the day, I thought to myself...."THIS, is one of the reasons why we homeschool!!"

 I will have to remind myself of this moment later on in the year, when I am about to pull out my hair, but that will be another story....and another post!

Old Friends....and New

On one of our (many) trips to BC this summer, we had the opportunity to have a quick visit with an old friend of mine.  I think we figured that we've been friends for almost 20 years.  Oh my, that makes me feel old!  It's been quite a while since I've had the opportunity to see her and her lovely family, so it was fun to reintroduce some of our kids, and they had a great time together.

 After lunch we went for a walk, and here's her with her family...

 Playing with a football (after we saw a family of raccoons!)

 And here are all our children....we reproduce fairly well, let me tell ya!

 Miss Molly and her daughter were born on 5 days apart (I think?!), so they made fast friends....and were inseparable!

It's so nice to be with people whom I have history with....and we just pick up where we left off!  Hopefully, we can plan a girls weekend together this fall.  Girls meaning adults....NOT kids! 

Start of School

This week, we started school.  We decided to have the Girls at home full time this year, so I am excited about some of the things we are going to do differently this year.  This is the only "First Day of School" picture I have....

We started off easy, working on journals and going over some scheduling and basic rules.  Ellie Mae was quite thrilled to be able to sit and the table and color while her sisters worked.  This week, we are going to take it easy because the weather outside is gorgeous!!  Probably one day of school will be spent at the river... doing PE and science, of course!  :-)  Ah, homeschooling, how I love thee!

Finally!

Well, I finally put my pictures from the summer onto my computer (all 316 of them!), so now, I be able to show y'all our summer...I know, I know, you can hardly wait!!

Don't worry....I won't do them all in one post!

I'll start current and work my way back...maybe....

So this past weekend, was the first weekend that's we've been home, with no company, and the weather has been decent to work on the yard.  So, we had a great day Saturday working on the Girls' playhouse (they finally have a door!), cleaning out the garage, cutting down some trees... you know, the fun stuff!  Then, in the evening, we had some friends over for a wiener roast.  It was such a fantastic day!

Sunday, after meeting for lunch and ice cream, we headed with friends out to a local corn maze for an afternoon of getting lost. It was the first time the Girls and I had been, and it was good fun!

The corn was nice and high, the sun was shining....it was beautiful!  We let the kids take turns leading the way - even the little ones, and they all enjoyed trying to find the way to the next marker.  I think we walked about 2 kms., and it took us about an hour to make it out.  At one point, there was bridge overlooking the corn maze, which covers about 15 acres.  It was crazy to see how long we'd been walking but how close we still were to the farm yard!