In Point Form- July

• Chris took the kids this weekend for the next week, camping with his family. I am a bit jealous-- only because his Mom and I are really close and the campsite is a great place to camp. I am lucky to have great (ex)in-laws, great in-laws and great parents. Seriously. All three of my sets of parents would do anything for me, and anything for my kids and Will's and my happiness. With the kids gone, I have been able to throw out a bunch of broken toys they were too attached to, and hopefully get ahead of the laundry and the cleaning. Not if I spend too much time blogging, though.


• Will and I took the two oldest kids (Big Guy and Em) to the Calgary Stampede on Saturday. Sucked, though, as it rained really hard and we were cold and wet. And, after a few rides and one too many handfulls of cotton candy, we also had horrible tummy aches/headaches. The last ride we went on literally made ALL of us queezy, so it was a good thing we saved it for last.


• It was Will and my 1-year Anniversary on getting engaged on Sunday. (See THIS POST if you forget our awesome day). By going to the Stampede, we were able to walk to the same spot where it all happened, and show the kids. It was really fun to 'relive' that amazing moment.


• We spent a day in Waterton, with his parents and the two big kids.


• The boys spent last night until 9pm working on the house! :) Only, it is super cold today (JULY, MY BUTT!!) and because they took out a door to the outside, our home is really cold now! :( Hopefully, they'll get it insulated and drywalled quickly (today???). The pantry is also on its way to being ready to actually HOLD my food! YAY! Soon I won't need to worry about mice getting into it! :(


• I'm such a cool step-mom, I CLEANED Em's room (no small task) and tonight we're painting it PURPLE!! Yep. Cuz purple is a happy colour. She's seeing things much differently lately, and we're talking a lot about stuff. I am glad that she is doing so much better lately! :)

Six Word Saturday-

All the kids are shipped off!

(for more 6WS, visit Cate at www.showmyface.com and play along)


Em is at a graduation party that started last night and went ALL the way through the night. Good thing I am related to the hosts, as I wasn't worried about her moral safety! She only fell asleep a few minutes ago (maybe 6 in the morning?) so she's pretty much done for the day. And, it's a Saturday. And she's 15. So, the likelihood of her accomplishing much more than sleeping today wasn't really EVER in the plans, was it?

LL is in a parade with her Brownie/Guide group today down in Warner. She won't be back until dinnertime. I have never seen a girl SOOOO excited to be walking in a parade of a town of LESS people than here in Mo-town! No matter, it's giving her something to do. Maybe she's more excited that I spent hours last night sewing on all of her newly-aquired badges (patches, for all you Americans) and she's thrilled to SHOWOFF her fully-bejewelled sash!

Bear is doing his usual Saturday thing- fishing with "Grandpa Paint." The two of them LOVE fishing, and are found on the lake EVERY week. Like usual, Bear catches something. He's a good fisherman and always has been.

And Mimi? She's here. But she was up so late last night, watching movies and then sleeping in the fort-o-blankets the kids made that her and Em will be content to just chill on the couch all day.

So... that leaves Will and I.
We may go for a 10k run.
We may go gopher hunting (don't knock the country girl in me- I tried it for the first time just recently, and have a GREAT shot. So, if you mock me, prepare for me to shot you and cut your tail off! :) )
We may head off to 'the big city' to shop.
We may head to the USofA to pick up appliances for the kitchen reno.
We may head off to the mountains to fish.
We may not even leave the bedroom, ifyouknowwhatImean! ;)

But never fear, we WILL be enjoying the day sans kids!

At Fifteen

Yesterday, I had a huge reason to be thankful:

My eldest (import) daughter, Em, turned 15. I can't believe I'm the mother to a 15 year-old teenager. Holy weird. I sound like my mother when I say I feel like I was 15 only a few years ago.. The only difference between my mother's words and mine, is it actually WAS only a few years ago. So many times I think that I'm not that much older than Em, but the weirder part is that, this year, I turn TWICE her age! LOL



15 was a huge year for me. Because of that, my heart aches and jumps for joy and the things she's going to experience this year-- both the good and bad. The memories she'll make. The lessons she'll learn. The imprint she'll continue to make in my life.



Em is amazing. She has the heart of her father-- sensitive, emotional, easily offended, and willing to lay her life down for other's happiness even at the expense of her own sometimes. She is fun and vibrant, and like any teenage girl, goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows within one single conversation.



I know sometimes she hates me and I'm ruining her life. :) I'm an evil stepmother, it's my job. But I know she loves me too. When she calls me "Mom", there is no better thing she could say to me.



Em is the best big sister my girls could have ever imagined. She's a great example of honesty-- and although I'm the much smarter mother than mine was :) and I catch her in most of them, she hardly ever lies to us. Even when she knows it's not something we want to hear. She confides in me, she respects me, and she obeys me. For not being my biological daughter, this is a huge display of love. I'm so lucky to be one of her two mothers.



She recently watched the kids EVERY. DAY. for two weeks while Will and I were part of the play. She fed them dinner, she got them into bed, she kept them safe and dealt with their nightly fights and their separation anxiety while I was never home. Without a doubt, she's beautiful inside and out... turning heads of young men everywhere she goes. Yikes.



I love Em to pieces. She's lived with me since September, and I admit that because of that I am closer to her than to her other full-siblings. But that's just expected. She's seen me cry, seen me get angry, seen me yell, but she's also seen me hug. and love. and pray. She is a daughter ANYONE would be proud of.

Happy 15th Em!!!! xoxo

Things We Do For Fun

Oh, welcome back to another tour of Mo-town. Mo-town isn't just ANY Mormon Town. Nope-- Mo-Town has a LOT to offer.

Like, free family skating. I don't even LIKE skating, and have found myself enjoying it more and more each time we go. Will loves skating, and, if I didn't know he was currently working right now, I'd expect him to be outside babying his backyard hockey rink. He's BORN for the ice. Me... not so much.

But, Bear is just like him. Heads outside in ANY weather, and wants to be JUST LIKE Will. Even cut his hair like him recently.

LL and Mimi don't skate as proficiently, but in just a few tries, Mimi will let go of his hand for a few minutes. To pick her nose, but whatever. I personally think she just would rather skate with Daddy Will because Mom-- well, Mom isn't that helpful! :)


And Em skates well. She's USUALLY with her friends who just so happen to MAGICALLY show up (by themselves during FAMILY skate time) and distract her. Not that I hate that.

But, either way you spell it, family skate time is one of those things that us Mo's enjoy here in Mo-Town. Not because it's pretty much the ONLY thing to do, but because we actually like it.