Making Progress

Would someone mail this to Regis and Kelly please. He should probably win something for this.

Black Friday 09

If you know me at all you know I really like to shop. I admit, it's shallow. But, for whatever reason, it brings me great happiness and I'm at peace with myself. I'm not addicted and my Visa bill is always (okay mostly) under control. I LOVE a good deal but I don't like to scour the city or dig through a dirty bin just to save a few bucks. But this year, I became one of the crazys. Black Friday rocked my world. As luck would have it some furniture I ordered in the states came in and was ready for me to pick-up on Thanksgiving. (tender mercy) So, for the first time in 12 years, I was going to be south of the 49th parallel for American Thanksgiving. Well, almost. After a week of heated debate about taking the kids with us, I lost and they all came. We got up early Thursday morning and made the 10 hours drive in record time - arriving at my parents house as they were eating the last bites of pie. Not to worry, my mom made 18 pies for 17 people - 10 of whom were under the age of 12. But then came the real dessert. The world's best sister-in-law: Lindsay Byram brought out the real treat. They were beautiful, thick, smelled new and brought the festivities to a fevered pitch... behold, The Black Friday Flyers. Lindsay has been a Black Friday warrior for many years, the rest of us - clueless of this beautiful sub-culture. We poured over the places we would go, drew our battle plans, discussed tactics, and scrutinized our strategy. In the end, we dubbed Lindsay "BFTL" Black Friday Team Leader. She lived up to the title and was awarded the Purple Heart. So, when 4:00 AM rolled around, I was up, dressed and teeth brushed in 4 minutes flat. My troops picked me up at Lindsay's house (she was gone... left with the earlier squadron.. okay just Alison, but still) The drive to Idaho Falls left us time to hone our final battle plans. (for some reason, even though I'm the oldest you would never know it at this stage of life. My sisters all boss me around like crazy, and I let them.) So, when Kristen, my youngest sister said, "Erika, I feel like you're the most useless, go stand in the check out line." I gave her the thumbs up. Turns out it was a brilliant move. Here's how it went down. 4:45 am Pull into the parking lot of Target - in awe of the massive wall of people waiting in line. 4:46 am score the world's best parking spot, on the side but right in front. 4:47 am stand humbled, looking at the live-truck, massive security guard, caution tape and the start of the line. 4:48 am get worried about the battle that's about to take place. 4:49 Random stranger #1 join us, we joke mentioning "hey next year let's wear red and khaki and go in the employee entrance." 4:51 Random Stranger #2 joins us and says, "You know, there are enough of us, we could just charge the security tape and break through it." 4:52 am lots of laughter over that one. This is one funny lady. 4:59 am more chatting and I decide to get out my video camera for the big moment. Plus, we've come to terms there is no way we're getting in the building before 7 am. 5:00 am Bell rings, crowd cheers and random stranger #2 charges the security tape, distracts the guard and slips in the store. Serious. My camera was rolling. 5:01 am the line is moving fast, we start waking to get to the end of it. 5:03 am Random Stranger #3 yells at us, thinking we're trying to cut in line. Kristen looses it and yells back, "We're not cutting and you have on a really bad vest." 5:02 am pretending to be shocked over Kristen's "crowd mentality" I reply, "Kristen, what kind of person are you? You just yelled at someone who has clearly made some poor life choices." 5:03 am Target employee offers Breakfast Burritos to the line. (my bad, I thought they were free) 5:04 line is moving really fast. 5:05 am Operation Divide and Concur is in full force. Andrea hits toys. Kristen, electronics. Me, the check out line. (which no one is in yet because the doors just opened) I grab a sweatshirt that's not even on sale just to look la git in the line. 5:06 am The Toy Department. Andrea steals some guys cart as he turns to grab a toy. This proves a crucial move, how's a girl supposed to carry 2 easy bake ovens? 5:06 am Electronics. Kristen makes her way to the front of the counter and starts telling people where they belong in line. This proves a pivotal moment as she scores the last 4 of the $88 digital cannon cameras. 5:07 am people are starting to line up and I panic. The only thing I have to show is that red sweatshirt. I buddy up with another random line holder, offer to help her put things on the belt and then tell her she can go ahead of me. Where is the rest of my team? 5:10 am Kristen appears in the horizon of the line crowd. Triumphantly holding the $80 chi's and the camera's. 5:12 am Andrea emerges. Easy Bake ovens and all. 5:13 am - more adrenaline as we start to check out. 5:21 am Mission accomplished! We call BFTL (Lindsay) to report our success and listen for our next marching orders.

If you want to know what happened next, blogstock Lindsay or Kristen. I'm tired and Darren just flooded the kitchen. But, Black Friday was a blast. Put it on your bucket list. And no, I didn't finish my Christmas shopping.

Christmas kid-off

Darren's work hosted a Christmas party for the kids this weekend and WOW, they know how to throw a party. There were horse drawn sleigh rides, tons of games, petting zoo, a clown, 2 bounce houses, x-box marathons, crafts and Santa came with awesome presents. But our personal favorite was the Face Painting. Thank you Gowlings.

A Day Devoted to Chelsea

A Sweet, Silly, Social, Six years old! We love our little blonde and are continually grateful for the fun she brings to our home. In her 6-years she has proved herself the most magnetic personality in our home. She simply makes life fun. I love how she gets lost in her own little magical world where she reigns supreme. I love how she is never afraid to talk to an adult and is more than willing to carry on a conversation with anyone. I love how she is so content with her life. I love her high pitched squeeky little voice. I love her beautiful tiny hands. I love how she never grins but always smiles. I love that she can play and imagine with anything. I love that she practically weightless and I can easily still swoop her up and carry her. I love that she is Cala's sister and hope some of their traits rub off on each other. I love that she fills our house with music. I love listening to her sing. I love that she can shower all by herself. I love that she can make her own bed. I love that she unloads the dishwasher. I love that she is best friends with her little brother. I love that she says a million funny things a day. I love that every milestone she reaches is so amazing to her. I love that she could spend the day in her pj's if she could. I love when she suggests that we go shopping to buy her lots of fun things like clothes and toys. But mostly, I love that she is mine. Happy Birthday CC.

H1N1 & Halloween

Wow. I wasn't prepared for the week we just had. Last Thursday the school sent home a note saying "Do not send you child to school - if they display ANY of the following symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, fever...ect." So, Friday morning when Cala's asthma flared up a bit - I kept her home. Coughing did not stop and by Monday afternoon, she started to really get sick. And I mean sick. Fever of 105 that would drop to 102 with adult doses of extra strength tylenol, horrible chills, aching so bad she asked me, "Mom, how did I break my hips? It hurts so bad." Her heart was racing and she was having a hard time breathing. Tuesday afternoon I took her to the doctors office. She said, take her to the hospital right now. Her lungs aren't clear, her heart is racing and her fever is too high. She needs tamiflu. (H1N1 anti-viral medication) The hospital was unbelievable. Sick kids everywhere, worried parents, nurses and doctors running - and everyone in a mask. After assessment and 2 hours of waiting we decided to leave. Darren called a friend and doctor we know and he directed us to an urgent care centre that could also give the drug. We dashed there, were seen in about 30 seconds and got the medication. After she got the anti-viral, things changed very fast. She's exhausted, still has a dry cough but doing well. We had company this week - which turned out to be a complete blessing. Ben Gehmlich gets An A-plus in the manny department - and we're really sorry for getting you sick. Connor and CC have colds - but so far, nothing like Cala. Now I know what they mean by pandemic. Now we're making decisions about waiting in line for the vaccination - if we're able to get it. We were very blessed this week and hope we've had our run with H1N1. One good thing, I don't have to worry about how to get rid of all the candy the kids got. We only went to about 15 houses. It was that or nothing - I think they chose well.

This guy got loads of compliments at each house - everyone loved his costume. He was supposed to wear it last year - it was too big for him. Connor got a great workout and was literally running from house to house once he realized what it all meant. Seriously, we could have got him to wear a dress and heels. He would have done anything. The level of commitment and dedication was astounding - wish that would transfer into to potty training department as well.
Cleopatra will have to wait until next year - but Cala willingly went as a pirate so she could stay warm and actually go trick-or-treating. She was VERY happy to see her friends! It was so sweet. The 3 girls she went trick-or-treating with all ran up to her and gave her a big hug. It was a good moment to be a mom.
And how do you make the sweetest almost 6 year-old in the world look like a mean witch? You don't - you just wipe off white make-up from everything she comes into a 2 foot radius of. This will be the last year of make-up that smears. CC was sooo happy we caved and decided to let them hit a few houses. She was happy hanging out with Cala and her friends and even said, "Mom, everyone included me."

Summer to September CC Style

Welcome Back. CC has made some huge strides the past few months. She graduated from preschool in June.


Had her ballet recital in June - and even got her own bouquet of flowers. She loved being on stage and smiled like crazy even though she was a bit nervous.



She got to be in a parade this summer. We left crummy Calgary weather and celebrated the 4th of July Idaho style. All the kids rode on Grandpa's float and threw candy. It was 80 degrees and way to hot for the Canadians. CC got heat stroke. (woops) but ate tons of candy to make up for it.


And this was a highlight of the summer. CC got her first pedicure and will never be the same. Since then she and her friends have been busy giving each other pedicures and Connor now has the most manicured feet of any 2 year-old.



And the big day. CC is now officially in kindergarten. She got to take the bus on her first full day even though I wanted to drive her and watch it all. She told me I could just drive her to the bus. She won. She goes 2 full days one week, 3 full days the next so it's nice to have her home at least 2 days a week. Her teacher told me about a good laugh she had. Mrs. Scaddan was asking the kids questions about the calendar and writing answers up on the board. CC raised her hand and said, "Mrs. Scaddan, you need a pedicure." The teach had on sandals and said to me, "how many kindergarten kids know what a pedicure is?" Luckily Mrs. Scaddan realizes the mentality of 5 year-olds and wasn't offended - just amused. Aren't you supposed to give the teacher an apple - no insult her?

Waterton Weekend

Ever heard of Watterton National Park? That's where we were this weekend and if you ever decide to visit Alberta - this stop is a must. We stayed with our BFF's Ben and Janell and had a great time. So, if you go be sure to.... rent these babies - but only for 30 minutes. We did an hour and whew what a workout.Be sure to hit "The Big Scoop" for some really good ice cream. Darren had his allotment for the summer thanks to Ben. (that's what you get when you know the manager)
Roast hot dogs around a campfire and don't worry that your kids burned more in the fire than they ate.
And let your 2 year-old shadow this guy. Ben was nice enough to let Connor help with the lawn mowing. (at 7 am - a sign of a good friend) And good friends they are. We love having them back in Canada for the summer and can't wait to see them again. Thanks for a great weekend guys! oxoxo