Keeping me busy...

I guess that I've let my blog go a bit these past few months.  It is easy to explain why...I've been pregnant and super tired and especially in the last trimester not feeling that great.  Pregnancy sure does a number on my physical and mental health not to mention trying to keep the house running and 3 other kids organized and on task.  It has been a busy time and things haven't slowed down much since the addition of our newest family member.....Jason Spencer --June 9-- 9lbs 6oz.--22" long....apparently I don't make small babies.

Here is the whole gang seeing their new brother for the first time.  They each enjoyed holding him. I started to go into labour Sunday night and had contractions through out the night. I was scheduled to go to the hospital on Monday morning for induction....but Jason decided to come on his own (thank goodness)....so instead of going in for an induction we arrived early to the hospital for a natural birth (as natural as you can get with an epidural).  Things went well and moved very quickly when I asked the doctor to break my water.  Within minutes and a few pushes he was here.  Finally!

This is in the hospital...getting ready to head home. 

 The summer was so hot especially for me being pregnant and with the unusual amount of humidity that we experienced.  The day we brought him home it was cool and rainy.  Most of the outfits that I bought him were cool, summer appropriate, but we had a cool down that first week and had to wear warmer clothes and use our blankets.

I feel like this picture pretty  much sums up what most of my days felt like. 


 We have slowly been getting aquatinted with each other and adjusting to life with a new born.  You know ....trying to run on very little sleep, diaper changes, the holding and rocking and trying to figure out the crying....despite all of these things we feel very blessed and supported from those around us.  So many people have helped us and we are greatful....freezer meals, a baby shower, kind words, people substituting for me in my church calling.

We have been doing fairly well and a month later we are adjusted even better.  By the time school starts up again I hope to be back to full functioning motherhood and by that I mean getting up to help my kids get ready for school and have breakfast and then drive them to school.

Here are some of the highlights that we don't want to forget and the moments that we've celebrated in these past few months....

Cold running days that result in icy lashes.  Spencer had only a few slips on the icy sidewalks until he started running on the road that were better cleared.  I kept reminding him that he wouldn't fall as much if he used the shoe grips that I bought for him!

Valentine's Day celebrations.  We wrote a positive note to each kid for the week leading up to Valentine's day.  Some days it was a challenge to think of something positive but hopefully it was a boost and something that the kids enjoyed.  The boys awoke each morning to find the new heart on their door.  Megan of course was a bit more casual but enjoyed it just the same.

Aaron handed out Valentine heart shaped straws for his preschool class and we used up a bunch of cards that we had sitting around from previous years that never seem to get used up.  You know what I'm talking about....you have a class with 26 students and you can buy cards in boxes of 24....so you have to buy 2 boxes and then you have left overs.  I stopped buying cards, cause they only get thrown away....we print off little labels/cards from the computer and attach them to a non candy treat usually.

If ever there is a reason to have their hair color sprayed....they would do it.  So this is what we do for St. Patricks day.  Along with a green themed lunch and dinner or we do a more traditional Irish dinner. 

Here is part of our Easter fun.  The annual Easter egg dying.  One year I just need to go all out and make a whole flat of hard boiled eggs....the only problem with that is that is a lot of eggs to eat afterwards.  I usually like to keep the eggs out on the table because they are fun to look at -- the only problem is they are usually going moldy on the inside by the time I get around to wanting to eat them. 

Yup, the Easter bunny came and brought some treats both sugary and non sugary.  The kids had fun searching for eggs....I think we found them all this year so there will be no surprises later on. 

 

 

 

Mother's Day.  Ah...Mother's Day.  The kids made some nice cards, Aaron's preschool had a Mother's Day tea that I attended, the primary kids sang to us in sacrament meeting, I received a lovely breakfast that I didn't have to make (but I do think that I helped clean up).  I got a griddle and a some gifts of service that day and lots of love. 

 

 We went with my sister and her family to the street performers festival.  The older kids were in school and it was just Aaron and I and I don't like to miss out on the fun so being 9 months pregnant I decided why not and off we went for 1/2 the day.  I love this festival. In the past I have taken my kids out of school to attend this event.  It is fairly inexpensive to go and lots of things to see and do and try and the best part it is all kid friendly. 

 

Aaron and his cousins attended this workshop...the drum/percussion man.  He talked and showed them all sorts of different drums from around the world that he has collected and they got to participate with different percussion instruments.  Aaron had a great time and at the end he received his own Kazoo.  (YaHoo!)

Father's Day and Spencer's birthday are very close together and since we just had the baby at this point in time and Spencer was off work for paternity leave and holidays he thought it was a good idea to build our fence and landscape our yard.  So in honor of this great idea...he received some new tools to get the job done.  Maybe not the most exciting birthday but practical very practical...I made him a delicious dinner and he received some other nice gifts and acts of service.

 

 

We had two graduations in 2014.  Aaron finished his preschool year and is looking forward to kindergarten.   It was nice for him to have sometime away from a tired and sick-ish pregnant mom and to practice his listening and sharing skills with other little people.  We actually picked up another little boy from a daycare home so he could also attend preschool and got to know him a bit better.  Aaron did extremely well and I think enjoyed his time there....now he too can reminisce about his preschool days like his older siblings can. 

 

 Our other graduation was Megan.  Leaving the elementary years behind and so ready to embark into the junior high world.  We attended the ceremony at her school and presented her with some flowers and a charm for her necklace.  This was a bit more challenging of a year for Megan....having moved in her last year of elementary school....getting to know a new school, teachers, principal and friends.  She did really well with all of that and in her school work. 

Some other holidays we celebrated....Canada Day.  We attended the pancake breakfast and then the parade.  It was a hot day. 

 Jason is about 3 weeks old here. 

The parade is always really good.  The kids got a ton of candy.  It is always super crowded and so are the celebrations afterwards in the park.  So we skipped those celebrations and hung out at the spray park and had a BBQ. 

We'll pause here....so we don't get overloaded with pictures. 

Half way there...

This picture will pretty much speak for itself....

This other picture was how we told the kids today....

We bought chocolate cupcakes and I cut a hole into the tops and filled with blue icing then decorated them.   They had to take a big bite to reveal "what we are having...."  this was only the first picture the boys didn't quite understand or get what was happening and Evan asked....what about the blue icing....um, blue is for boys and pink would have been for a girl.  Megan had the reaction that Spencer missed after she revealed what was inside....she was a little disappointed that it was another boy that she would have to deal with but after a few minutes she came around.  We have been figuring out that when she is ready to graduate the baby will only be beginning elementary school; she'll be 17, Evan will be 14, Aaron will be 10.....and Spencer and I will be old.  When you put it in terms like that....even I shudder.   But onward and upward....

I guess that I have really appreciated it unfolding like this because I have been able to enjoy each baby one at a time.  We haven't had 2 in diapers or very close in age to deal with, which is probably what the Lord knew I could handle. 

Everything has been going pretty smoothly and we are half way there.  We'll be welcoming another Spring baby around the end of May/First of June. 

I couldn't have done this without the support of Spencer and the kids, diclectin, and my sister who dropped off freezer meals for me. 

Now on to starting to prepare a little more, get a little more excited and decide on names.....

Cheers!

AFV

If any of you know what AFV stands for then your lucky.  This is the one show that we watch together almost every Sunday with popcorn before bed.  We think that most of it is pretty funny....so when we took this short video of the kids and Spencer at playing at the park....we thought it would make for a good  clip on AFV and so did they.  We submitted it in the fall sometime and it just aired this past Sunday night. 

For those who missed it here it is.....(a day in the life of the Ord's at the park!)

October 2013

Time keeps moving on with or without me taking time to blog.

Here are some of the highlights from October:

General Conference:

 We started off Saturday Morning with the Ord Family third semi-annual Feast on the Word breakfast.  Thanks to a visit at my in-laws over the summer we discovered the joys and deliciousness of Ebelskivers --Danish pancakes--(our favorite are Nutella filled ones).  We had quite the spread and then listened to all the sessions of General Conference and enjoyed the talks.  On Sunday morning we always drive in to the stake center to watch....it helps us feel like it is still the Sabbath day.  I have some prizes to win with the bingo game that we played and then for another session we had certain candy for specific speakers.  Anything to help with listening and staying in the same room. 


My birthday:

 Spencer really goes all out making me look goofy on my birthday.  He made me the balloon flower one of his developing talents and thanks to the dollar store being just a short walk for him on his lunch break, he went there too. 

 



It was a pretty low key birthday Aaron quickly wrote up a card for me and I got a puzzle and some iTunes gift cards....I guess my big surprise came a week or two later when Spencer brought home (he ordered it online) an iPad mini for me.  I'm still getting used to it. I guess I should really look into taking the tutorial for it so I can fully use it and really appreciate what it can do.  It is pretty handy to take to church as long as it is charged, since it has all the books and manuals and scriptures that you need. 

 

 

 

I've been super lucky to have my sister and her family move within about a 40 minute drive of us.  So we get to see each other more than we ever have.  So she was excited to make my cake for me.....and wowwie wowzie look at that sweet beauty!  It was one sweet cake and we managed to eat it slowly a couple of kit kat bars at a time.  She also brought me dinner that I froze for later and fun balloons to help make my day special. 

 

Thanksgiving:

 

We held thanksgiving at my house this year and actually had a really nice time with everyone who was able to come up.  We had enough room for an extra table for people to use to eat instead of trying to eat on their laps in the livingroom. 

 

No pictures, I was a busy cooking that day and everyone who came all brought a dish to help with the craziness of it all. 

 

 

Prairie Gardens:

 

Thanks to the Alberta CA's they held a family day at prairie gardens so we got to enjoy hanging out there again.  We went a few years ago and it was fun to go back.  It was a little cooler this time but we had a nice catered lunch and received some free tokens to play the games/go on the rides. 

 

We had to park in the overflow parking lot and be bused to the actual location.  Our first stop was the haunted house.  Evan sat this one out as he remembered what it was like from last time we were there. 

 

Here are my little Alice in Wonderland kids. 

We tried the corn cannon attempting to hit a target on some hay bales.  I think Megan was the only one who even hit a hay bale, maybe Aaron did too with some help. 

 

There was a bit of drumming going on.  They had a teacher there who would guide you through some different drumming techniques and we would follow her rhythm.  We also went on a train ride, played on hay bales, other outside equipment tried to pet some animals in the petting zoo and fed some llamas. 

 

 

Our last stop was panning for "gold".  This one the kids love.  With your tickets you buy buckets of sand, rocks and other gems.  Them you pour them into this mesh tray and rinse it in the water to reveal your treasures.  They give you a little bag to put your treasures in and off you go to enjoy them.  Our very last stop was a visit to the fudgery to pick up way too much fudge to enjoy.    Yummy! 

 

 

 

Halloween:

 

 Here we are carving the pumpkins I bought.  This is one of our Family Home Evening activities and it pretty much takes all night to do before the kids have to rush off to bed.    Evan is being brave and doing is best to scoop out the guts of the pumpkin himself.  Aaron on the other hand would have nothing to do with it so I helped him out. 

 Megan and Spencer going at it being creative.  I only ever buy 4 pumpkins because I actually do 2 myself by helping the boys and even then we finished first of the group. 

Here are the finished products:  a Master  ball from pokemon, a ghost, a one eye monster face and a headless man. 

 

All dressed up.  The boys went as Ninijas and Megs went as the nyan cat (you know the grey cat with the body of a pop tart and rainbow coming out as he flies across space.) She didn't want to wear the black cat ears we had....she said that some people actually knew who she was and she was thrilled with the costume and still wears the tutu around the house....sigh!)

 

This was a busy night for us as we had swimming lessons that we attended to and I made it easier on myself and stopped somewhere easy for dinner that night then we zoomed home and changed into our costumes and then Spencer made it home and him and the kids headed out up and down our area and came home with a haul. 

 

 

Happy Halloween and a great end to the month of October for us. 

 

 

 





September 2013

The days are flying by...

We had a good summer and then the busyness of school came and of fall routines.  I am actually glad for getting back into a routine but the first two weeks were the toughest. 

Of course on the first day of school we are always running a bit behind what with trying to haul all the school supplies and Kleenex boxes there for the rest of the year. 

 The weather was nice so they got to wear just their summer clothes and we had to save the back to school warmer fall clothes for next week.  This is Evan starting grade 2....

Here is Megan heading out and starting grade 6!  Wowzie! 

Having to change schools was quite the challenge and change for all of us.  Evan fit in really easily and had minor adjustments to his teacher.  Megan --- well it was a bit trickier.  Things are much better now and hopefully we can only go up from here. 

Aaron started preschool this year and loves it....he doesn't quite understand why Megan and Evan get to go everyday be he only goes Monday and Wednesdays? 

A few other things that we did this month....we attended the city sheep farewell....they are brought in every year to help trim the grass and people can pet them etc...

 So we fed the apples, carrots and leaves from the trees.  Evan and Aaron were a bit unsure about feeding the sheep since you had to hold the apples in your hands and not get bitten in the process but I think they both succeeded a few times. 

Here is my little sheep....he fits right in with the herd don't you think?

Spencer and I celebrated our 13 wedding anniversary.  We kept it low key this year.....hopefully spencer is planning to take me away for our 15th anniversary!  Hint, Hint!

Summer Highlights

Sorry for my neglect of this blog.  Trying to get settled has taken all our time and then some.  We are still waiting for our final grade and by next weekend we will be able to actually use our driveway.  We are excited for that! But then we need to better organize our garage...the to do list is never ending and some things are out of our hands, so I learning not to worry and waste time on those things.  We'll plan and save and then move ahead when ready.

Here are some of the things that I've missed blogging about:

 Aaron and I went on a field trip to the Aerospace Museum in Edmonton.  It was something different he isn't really into planes especially ones that just sit there in a museum.  There was lots of information and I was able to read some of it but we had to keep moving to keep it interesting. 

You couldn't touch hardly anything but this airplane was one that he could sit in.  The planes were pretty rustic and very basic.  They even had a wooden plane that was neat to see.  Some of the history of the Edmonton City Center Airport was interesting to read about.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with one be blah and ten being amazing....I give it a 4. 

 We can't forget about the selling of our home and we did it ourselves! 

 This is a sideways picture of the highlevel bridge trolley car that we rode on.  That was Spencer's first time.  It was a bit drizzly that day but still a fun experience.  It rides from Old Strathcona to Jasper Avenue. 

Here is a picture of what it is like to ride on the top of the highlevel bridge!  Once upon a time there used to be 4 sets of rails on the bridge.  The CN rails were in the middle and the two trolley rails were on the edge.  Yikes!  You are really high up and no rails/fences on the side for extra safety.  Before they cross the bridge they stop to make sure that the bridge is still there and safe to proceed. 

 The St. Albert Children's Festival.  We went to this a few years ago and then our schedule never seemed to mesh right but this year I decided that this was worth it for our kids and so I took them on a little field trip on a Thursday afternoon.  We bought tickets to the show "Drums of the World".  It was different types of drums and drumming from around the world.  It was a loud show but very good.

 Here is Aaron playing in one of the tents where you can build and try new toys. 

 Here is the "silver man" that acts like a statue and moves only occasionally; enough to make you laugh and scare you.  Evan had a good time fooling around with him. 

 Here is one of the site activities that we did.  They made "wax art".  It was a good thing that all the activities were mostly in tents, since we did have a downpour for a while that day and had to stop our hula-hooping and bouncy house jumping. 

Of course no experience or fun outing would be complete without some cotton candy! 

 A trip down to Calgary included a temple session with a few of my siblings and parents and then a birthday party get together to celebrate my mom's 70th Birthday. 

Here is my mom with her two cakes....a black forest and a German Chocolate cake.  We had quite the fun day.  We went swimming at the leisure center and then back to my brother and sister in law's house for the party.  We had a pasta dinner with all the trimmings, present opening, hanging out and cake eating.  A fun busy day.  We slept over and went to sacrament meeting with them in the morning then headed back home.

Well I knew that this move would pretty much be our summer but we needed to get away and the kids wanted to go to the Cardston parade 'cause they throw candy.  So that is where we headed.  But first we made a stop at Calaway Park!

Lesson learned....go to calaway park when it threatens rain, as hardly anyone else is there and you can walk onto any ride. 

 The park did shut down earlier but we were good with that as we pretty much went on every ride that we wanted to and we still had to finish driving down to Cardston.


I'm pretty sure that the population of Cardston doubles when their heritage day festivities are going.  Lots of people return home for the fun...as we did this year. 

We spend most of one day in Waterton....hiking, watching beautiful waterfalls, having a picnic lunch, playing at the park, getting wet, and eating ice cream cones.  The weather was awesome. 

 Here is Evan cooling off in some water while trying to collect as many "special and pretty" rocks that he could.

 We even made friends with a chipmunk.  I remember feeding chipmunks here when I was a kid....this might be the same one! (or at least a relative)

 



We endured many pancake breakfasts and then enjoyed a candy laden parade that's not too long and not too short.  The kids were catching candy in their buckets! 

 

 

Our journey continued as we drove to the US to visit with Spencer's parents. 

 We drove up through Logan's Pass....of course it was breathtaking...and also very busy.  We couldn't find a parking spot at the top to stop and hike around so we just kept driving. 

 Grandma and Grandpa were very generous and gracious hosts' for taking such good care of us.  We went hiking, shopping, Costco visiting, cheap and giant ice cream cone eating. 

 One day we took off and went to a family amusement center and had a blast....we almost did it all (except for the basketball activity).  Evan and I rocked the go-carting.  Megan was thrilled and scared at the same time to be able to drive her own cart.  Yikes!  If that is our dry run for when she really drives....look out!

Mini golfing and we all conqured the frustrating maze!  Megan finished it first, then Aaron and I and finally Spencer and Evan. 

 Then there was the bumper boats.  Evan and I had a funky boat that wouldn't spray that far needless to say we all were pretty wet when we were finished. 

 

We watched a movie, enjoyed A/C, had BBQ's, and swam pretty much everyday.  We were all sorry that we had to leave by the end of it.