First Loves

Today something exciting happened, well in our little world it was exciting.   It's all because of our amazing boys.

So earlier today the boys and I were just hangen out and I said "Braiden, I love you".  Right after Caleb in his talk said "I-uh-yew".   In case that makes no sense to you, it was an I love you to Braiden.  It was the first time he's said that, and I've gotta say that I've never seen Braiden smile so big.   I'm not so sure that Caleb knows what it means, but I'm very happy that he has heard it - enough to repeat it.  

A big part of why it was so awesome - and made us all so happy, is that Caleb is not a big talker.  Oh trust me, the kid babbles A LOT!  But he doesn't say very many words at all.  He is with a speech therapist now, to help him out with saying more words.   So when we heard him trying to say the actual words it was very exciting around here.  We of course tried to get him to say it again, and he did - 2 more times.  And the thing is, is he would only say it to Braiden - which of course made Braiden very happy.   After that though we have had no luck getting him to say it again.  Which really isn't an uncommon thing for him.   But I do hope he does say it again soon

      It doesn't surprise me that he would say it to Braiden first.  Even if he doesn't understand the meaning of it, it still feels right.  Caleb idolizes Braiden.  Caleb always wants to be with him, and will do everything that Braiden is doing.  They are pretty great brothers.

Something that we have learned with Caleb in speech is that we are to pick a few words that we would like him to be able to say and repeat them over, and over, and over....  So that he will eventually say it himself.   And so far it does take a ton of repetition for him to copy what you say.  So it makes me feel great to think that in order for him to say this - there are a lot of "I loves you's" going on in this home.

Winter day

Yesterday I was feeling way to cooped up - as I usually do in the winter.  I did have a lot of stuff I needed to get done around the house, but I just had to get out.   We decided to head out snowshoeing.  We haven't done any yet this year mainly because I wasn't sure how it was gonna go with Caleb.  He's getting pretty big, and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to haul him around.  Come to find out it wasn't so bad for me, since Blaine was the one who carried him. :)  

 About to head out.  We tried to stick to areas where we were not having to forge through the woods to much.  A couple times Caleb would get whacked in the head by tree branches, so we attempted to stay in more open areas.  

 Blaine hauling Caleb on his back.  Caleb was loving it - he didn't complain at all.  I did feel bad for Blaine though having to carry that heavy boy around.

Later in the afternoon we loaded up the sleds, picked Braiden up from school and headed to a sledding hill.  It was a lot of fun, I'm always up for sledding.  And I was really impressed with Caleb that he walked back up every time.  We didn't have to carry him up the hill at all.  

 Here is Braiden sledding.  He would go on the area that was a little bit higher - but it had a few crazy jumps on it which made it even more fun

 Caleb and I heading down.  Man can you say cheese?  haha  Caleb was pretty funny.  As your sledding down he had to yell WHEEE!  And even sometimes before you even started sledding he would begin yelling.  I'm pretty sure he loves sledding as well.

It was definitely a great day yesterday and it just felt really good to get out.  Especially since now I've gotta get all that cleaning done that I didn't do yesterday - but oh it was worth it!

thankful for candy?

This year we changed the date to celebrate thanksgiving.  It was to make sure that we could get everyone there, so we ended up having it on the last Sunday of October.  It was a good thanksgiving.  We had a bunch of family and friends that could come.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it.  I must have been having too good of a time.  The boys ended up all going into moms office to play computer.  They linked all the computers together so that they were all playing the same game.  I had to get a picture of that though.

Here are the boys playing their game.  Excuse the blur

Braiden told me after that they ended up getting 4 computers going so that Skylar could join in.  After we ate we didn't hear from them again till it was time to leave.  

A couple days later it was Halloween.  Blaine was able to get off work which he loved of course, since he loves halloween!  He took the boys out (which I love).  He was only going to take Caleb out for a block or two and then bring him home so he and Braiden could hit the town.  Ended up that Caleb figured out really quickly how awesome trick-or-treating is and didn't want to quit.  He stills hits the door and says Elmo.... his way of asking to go trick or treating again.

As you can see Braiden is Iron Man and Caleb is Elmo.  They had fun of course and had to show me all the goods they got.  It was a successful halloween!

PARTY!!!

This year for Braidens birthday he decided he wanted a birthday/halloween party.   So we started planning.  I have to say that I was actually nervous about it.  I have never planned a party at the house before, we have always done low-key things, or taken some friends out bowling - things like that.  I was really worried that I wouldn't be very good at this.  We told Braiden he could invite 7 friends since he was turning 7; and my parents came as well and my brother and his family.  It actually turned out really well.  And I have to say that I am so glad for the extra helping hands since Caleb was a little wary about what was going on (and all the kids running around) that he wanted to be held a lot. 

Here is the birthday boy before people arrived 

Here are some of the decorations for the party.  We had to go and get quite a lot of halloween stuff.  By planning this party we realized that we really don't decorate for this holiday very much.  We really didn't have anything.  

The gift bags for the kids at the end of the party.  I loved these!

 Seeing as it was also a halloween party we had everyone dress up.  Doesn't Blaine make an awesome Ernie?  haha   He decided to work his costume with Caleb who was Elmo this year.  He really wanted me to do the Bert and Ernie thing, but I guess I was a party pooper.  I ended up dressing up as a witch.

Once everyone got here we got the games going.  We hung donuts from the ceiling fan and had people try and eat them with no hands.  It was actually pretty funny to watch.

The adults had to get in the games as well.  What was so funny was that as people were trying to get the donuts the fan would start turning and everyone would end up having to chase the donuts down as well.  It was hilarious to watch.  Blaine said it reminded him of horses being led by carrots.

Some more donut chasing.

 One of Braidens favourite games it one that we always played on Christmas at my Grandma and Grandpa Wildes house.  The one where you wrap up a present a whole bunch of times.  And you are madly trying to unwrap it while the next person rolls the dice to get a six, so that it becomes their turn. Braiden asked if we could play that game so of course we did.  Blaine even found skeleton gloves to use.  (you gotta always put on gloves to play - I think my grandma also had us put on the toque and scarf as well)

Caleb checking it all out.  He really wanted to get into the dice game.

Braiden chowing down on some good food.  We had mummy pizzas and halloween cupcakes.  

The party ended up being really fun, and it seemed as though everyone had a great time.  I hope they did.  After everyone went home we had to have some extra fun here.  We ended up keeping the three cousins over night.  We had an awesome time.  We played just dance 4 and watched halloween movies - cartoon ones.  I wasn't into giving anyone nightmares.  It was a really great day.  I had to get a video of the guys dancing.  I love the way Zack really gets into it - too cute.

A week of Birthdays

This week in October is always a busy one for us.  We have both Braiden and Blaines birthdays.  We started off the birthdays last Friday.  We headed up to Calgary and went to the temple open house.  It is beautiful!  And I have to put a shout-out to my amazingly talented sis-in-law Candise who worked on the temple for months.  She worked on the decorative painting on the ceilings.  The gold paint of the wheat and roses and other things.  I'm not describing it very well at all, but all I can say is that she did an amazing job!  Oh to have that talent!

After the temple we met up with Blaines mom and sister at the zoo.  We haven't been able to get there this summer so we were so excited to finally check out the penguins!  They are very cool - we all loved them.

Here is Braiden checking out some of the penguins.

We always have to check out the dinosaurs.  If you notice the lovely sign that tells you not to climb on the dinosaurs.  What a bunch of law-breakers we are eh?  :)

Checking out the gorillas.  Always a favourite

Caleb and Emily watching the big gorilla.  Caleb just loved the zoo.  He loves animals, so every animal brought on a lot of excitement. 

We went into the building that housed all the butterflies.  At first I was a little hesitant, but in actuality it was very cool.  Here is a picture of a HUGE moth that was in there.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was massive!!

We stayed in Calgary that night and then the next morning was Braidens birthday!!  First thing of course we had to do was open presents.  Always the best part of a birthday right?

A very happy birthday boy!

Later that day we met up with family again and went bowling - Braidens choice.  It was a lot of fun.

After bowling we got to meet up with some more family at Boston Pizza.  When I asked Braiden how his birthday was he answered "Best Birthday Ever!!!"   haha

I think this picture is hilarious!  He looks like a devil child.  We took this the night of Braidens birthday so I figure it's ok to put in.  Besides, I just love it...can't help it....

Today is Blaines Birthday!!!   We absolutely love this guy - he is the best!

He got off work this morning and came home to a very excited little boy (ok, and wife) all ready to give him his presents - Caleb was still sleeping.  It also made it exciting because we hadn't seen him for a few days; but that is an entirely different story

So here he is opening cards.  Braiden waiting sorta patiently for him to open everything.

We have "the" present for Blaine but it is one of those presents that he has to be there to help choose.  So we had to get him a couple presents that he could unrap on his Birthday.   Or you just couldn't call it a b-day.

Opening up his couple of presents.  He really liked his presents (which always makes us happy too)  He was so pumped about the level.  Kinda funny - oh the things that make people happy!  His actually went missing a few years ago, so he has been wanting a new one ever since.  

We are so lucky and blessed to have these guys in our family.  They are amazing people and we love them so much!!!

Happy Birthday Blaine and Braiden!!!

planning ahead

Something that I have to do everyday that I'm not a huge fan of doing is making supper.  It is one of those things that I just really don't enjoy doing; and what I actually dislike even more is the whole "what am I going to make for supper tonight?" which always happens around 4:00.  Awhile ago my oh-so-awesome Aunt Ros had posted about how she had made some freezer meals for the week and how easy it was to do.  I have done this before, but the last time I did it was right before I was about to have Caleb, and I did about 7 or so.... I think....  So anyways, I decided that I was going to plan out a day and get a whole months worth in the freezer.  

So I sat down at the computer and found a bunch of recipes, went shopping then got to work.  My original plan was to make 30 meals.  After searching my brain and the internet for meals I ended up with 26, and I figured that was just going to have to do because I really was sick of searching.  

It was awesome.  I made sure that Blaine was home so that I didn't have to worry about the kids, and I have to put in a bit of praise in for my amazing hubby.  He made sure that I barely even saw the kids, and that I was able to just concentrate on getting my stuff done.  I couldn't have done any of it without him, that's for sure.     

Here is a pic of most of the meals I made.  I only had 6 left to do!

I love that all I have to do now is go into the freezer the night before and pick what we are going to have for supper the next day.  

I already have it planned to do another freezer meal day next month and this time it's gonna be with my mom.  Best idea ever!!

** As a side note - while I was doing the cooking I remembered that my sis-in-law did this once a while ago.  I probably should have talked to her before doing this... next time I'll be calling you Candise!

Strong Kid

To begin with I have to write that we have known for some time that Caleb is quite strong.  He has got this death grip that is insane!    And now to jump to something else (it will all make sense later)  we also have this cupboard full of movies.  And what else could bring more joy to an 18 month old than a whole bunch of dvds to open and destroy?  Can't think of anything.  In order to keep the movies safe from his little hands, we use one of Blaines ties to tie the handles together so the doors can't be opened. Caleb tries quite often to open them, and can usually get it open enough to try and reach his hand in to grab one.  Today he accomplished much more.  

He broke the door!!!  

If you look close the hinges are still attached but the door is actually broken!  Crazy!  We were so shocked, all we could do is laugh.  I think some strong man competitions might be in his future...