Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving moment I just had to share.

Brea has been helping us cook our Thanksgiving feast. All day long, she's been pulling things out of the pantry, the fridge, helping mix the marinade for the turkey, painting the marinade on the turkey and just watching all the ingredients come together. This is the first time I've made a turkey for this occasion, we have always had family over or been to family who are turkey makers but this year we are somewhat on our own. Craig is still making a ham, albeit a much smaller one, in case turkey doesn't work out.

So, Brea had helped with the turkey and was off playing when Craig called her in to help glaze the ham. She climbed up onto her helper chair, took one look at the ham in the roaster and exclaimed in a concerned little voice:

"The chicken turned red! Where are the wings?!"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you are celebrating with your loved ones.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunflowers in the Rain

Brother and sister

The more I watch my children, the more I am so happy that they have each other. Brea is a wonderful big sister and Rhys is a great little brother. There is nothing I love more than to see them at play.

Lately, I have noticed more and more how caring they are towards each other. They have their fights and tiffs over toys etc. but on the whole, they do a lot of sharing when they are together.

Often, Brea will carry out a book for each of them and they'll sit side by side "reading", Rhys usually with his book upside-down. And whenever Brea asks for a snack, she'll always make sure that Rhys has some too - sometimes, Rhys will ask for food that he can't reach and Brea will vocalize his wants to us for him. I can always hear a one way commentary from Brea - "Rhys come here...", "Rhys, one step at a time", "No, Rhys, jump... like this!", "Here Rhys, this one is for you".

Rhys loves his sister to, when he recently received some new cars from Po-Po, he was overjoyed (I'd never seen such a big smile), after a moment, he looked over to see Brea watching him play and handed one over for her to see. Rhys is also big on hugs and his big sister is one of his favourite people to wrap his arms around.

How cute he is...

We went out for sushi tonight with Po-Po and Kau-Kau. Brea has really been loving her new-found "C.G.A. Rolls" - cucumber, ginger, and avocado - at our local sushi dig. The sweetest part of the evening had to be when Craig reached for his udon noodles (after pulling out most of the noodles for the kiddies) and Rhys noticed it had steam coming off of it. He has been perfecting his blowing technique to cool down food so he immediately pursed his lips from his seat at the end of the table to help Daddy blow on his soup, a mighty feat from two seats away but oh so cute! I just love to share these special moments of having such a wonderful little boy.

Some of my other favourite little boy moments of late...
Rhys pushing reading materials under the door when he sees that someone is in the washroom.
Rhys climbing ONTO the train table to fetch a toy you've asked for when he can easily walk around.
Rhys parading around with his favourite find in the laundry basket when I'm trying to fold - underwear.

Wordless Wednesday: On the side of the road

Wheeler, OR

Volunteer Fire Dept. No. 14

Venture forth on the Oregon Trail

We managed a quick getaway at the end of summer that I never got a chance to write about. It was nice to be able to coincide a getaway to Oregon with a visit with Nana and Grumpa. We headed off to Rockaway Beach to camp out at the trailer park with them. It was our first road trip with Rhys since he's become more mobile so we weren't sure how he would take it. Lucky for us, the kids were amazing! We had a wonderful time seeing family and making new friends. The highlight of the trip was Brea's birthday present from Nana and Grumpa, a train ride on a real steam engine! Brea was feeling a little under the weather (we think she was a bit tired and in need of a nap) but Rhys LOVED it beyond belief. My favourite part of the ride was when a familiar figure in red stood on the side of the highway to wave at us... our Grumpa had the whole train waving back at him. We had a chance to camp in a tent, play at the beach, visit cheese factories, and shop. Unfortunately, we had a minor set-back on the way to visit our family in Penticton where we stopped in Wenatchee, WA at the Super 8 Motel and encountered bedbugs - yikes! But after a stop back at home via a crazy night of driving and 6 hours of cleaning, laundry and steaming, we managed to reach our family for a visit and cheered on our friends who were competing in the Iron Man competition there. All in all, it was certainly an adventure before heading back to work.

Our little man ready for a train ride.

All aboard!

I managed to coax a smile!

Munching on snacks before we got underway.

It was a tad drizzly to start.

What is that, Mommy?

The sun comes out!

Strutting his stuff in Garibaldi, OR.

Loved the way this shot turned out!

All I wanted was a picture of the locomotive - see the red speck on the right-hand side? Brea had to run the length of the train to scream "no picture, don't take a picture of me!".

Some steam action!

We met some friends of Nana and Grumpa's who shared a birthday with Brea!

Riding in the Cheese-Mobile!

Brea's 3rd Birthday!

We have been rolling through summer and the end of summer highlight as always is Brea's birthday. At the end of August, our little girl turned 3! We had some rumble tumble fun at the rec. centre with friends. The kids had a great time running, jumping and being kids. I had my camera but it was difficult to take pictures while getting things organized and keeping tab of everything. I will be getting some pictures from some of the photographer parents but here are some general pictures of the party:

There was some time for creative play.

Rhys revving up the rocking horse.

Malaya following some dance steps.

Mahal enjoying some free time.

Lovely Mommy Reg and K.

The peanut gallery.

Going for a ride with an older little Lady.

Going for another ride with another older little Lady... hmmm...

Which is Rhys's favourite?

The Bouncing Birthday Brea.

A leaning tower.

The Three Musketeers.

And of course, some cake!