A little late, but Easter!

Ahh, my FAVORITE holiday. For those of you who think I'm joking, I'm not. I love the whole egg hunt and the 4 day weekend. And the copious amounts of chocolate and candy. And the weather is usually great too. What more do you need?
This year, in addition to the enormous potluck dinner held at the Knights of Pythias hall, I also organized a huge egg hunt up at Herman and Mieke's place. There were 9 kids total, and I think over 100 candy-filled eggs to find. I think all the kids were happy; the pictures speak for themselves!

MacKenzie

Brityn

Hadlee

Rayne

Arwynn

Monica

Yorke

Mya

A rare photo of myself, with Kenz and Brit

Last but not least Ryan goofing around with the boys and Arwynn

Early Spring - March

March was a little different this year. It was sunny and warm and all the snow had melted early on in the month. I also got laid off from work earlier than usual in the middle of the month and Pascal returned to work at that same time. We had a surprise visit from the Cretelli family one weekend and the kids had a blast with their sleepover in Kaes's room.
The Batman costume. It turns out that I should have let Kaes get the expensive costume that he wanted at Hallowe'en as he was still wanting it4 months later. A couple of his friends have such costumes and he returned from a play date one day inconsolable because he wanted a costume like his friend. He had enough money in his account so online shopping the boys went. He waited as patiently as a 4 year old can until its delivery, and as you can see, he is now all smiles!!!
March also brought about the learning to ride a two-wheeler. This was Kaes's first time around the block and he was just starting to get the hang of it. Things were going well until we went to the park one day with a couple of his friends who are much more experienced riders. He got quite discouraged when they zoomed ahead of him. We haven't really been out since as we also realized he was learning to ride on a bike that was way too small for him. We have since sold his little bike and are planning on going bike shopping this weekend.
Kaes and I took a little day road trip down to Kelowna with my friend Sandy and her daughter Chiara. We had lunch in Polson Park, did a little shopping and took the kids to the Energyplex. If you have never been you should go sometime. It is a 4-storey maze of tunnels, ladders, slides and more. We were there for an hour and a half before we realized how late it was getting and it was time to head home. I had forgotten what fun day road trips are as I don't think I had taken one since before Kaes was born!!

Where did the winter go? December, January and February in a heartbeat...

I know, I know. I realize that I am the worst blogger EVER. It really has been 4 months since I have even thought about this. Oh well, some catching up to do I guess and better late than never, right???I am also a little rusty at this and this post will be a little backwards chronologically. We had such a warm winter, it really didn't feel like Revelstoke at all. These pictures were taken on the Shelter Bay ferry one warm February day when we took a road trip to Nakusp.
We had lunch at the Broadway Deli, threw rocks on the beach and went to Halcyon Hotsprings. It was a great little day getaway.
This picture is for Nana Elaine. She bought Kaes this plaid shirt for back to school in September. I forgot to capture it on film then so here it is now Nana. I think this was inJanuary some time?Such a handsome man!
Renovating, renovating, always renovating. In January we decided to repaint the hallway to upstairs. We are actually still working on it, but are very pleased with the results so far. The yellow that you see here has been replaced by a blue and Pascal has done work on the banister and trim. I am in the process of scraping the stairs in preparation for stain. Will post some before and after pics when all is done.
We only got out snow sledding a couple of times this winter. Seriously, only twice. There really was not a lot of snow in Revelstoke this winter.
And, last but not least Christmas. I was a terrible mother/bit of a Scrooge who only took 2 token pictures of Christmas morning. I am blaming it on the fact that I was working graveyard shift at the time.
And that, in a nutshell was most of the winter. I will save March for the next post as the weather was fantastic and super spring-like so it seemed we got out a little more. Well, maybe I just remembered to take more pictures...

Happy Birthday to Kaes!!!

Wow, our little boy is FOUR. Its amazing how grown up four seems in comparison to three. This year we let Kaes decide what he wanted to do for his party. He wanted a party at home with some of his friends and to just "play".
Pascal set up all the toys in the living room and we waited for the guests to arrive. We had 8 boys total and they were all wonderful!
No, really. It was honestly hard to believe that there were eight little boys playing in the next room. They all played together so nicely. Six were from preschool and one was a friend from down the street who Kaes plays with weekly.
Yum! Chocolate Batman cake! Pascal made Kaes another fantastic birthday cake that was enjoyed by all.

It may have gotten a little louder after the cake...

We had another party for our friends and family later that same day. We all met at the A & W for supper and it was a surprise for Kaes that everyone was going to be there. Unfortunately, I did forget my camera for that one. Here is Kaes playing some of his new Lego with Taylor and Arwynn a couple of days later. It took Pascal a few days to get all of the new Lego put together. Kaes is is very loved and lucky boy who I know had a great birthday!!

Brityn's 5th Birthday

Wow, Brityn is FIVE! She started kindergarten in the fall and is just getting so big. I don't think I have missed one of her birthdays yet and this was no exception. Although her party was not until the following weekend, Pascal, Kaes and I went to see her on her actual birthday. She even had a Pro-D day so we got to spend almost the entire day together. This is her beautiful new party dress from Nana and Grandpa.

We spent the morning with the Crete kids and after lunch took Kaes and Brityn to the mall to look at toys and have some ice-cream. The kids also decided to ride the little kid carousel, cute!

We enjoyed our visit with Mom and Tim as well. A little short, but sweet none the less.

Kaes received an early birthday present from Nana and Grandpa, lucky guy. Here he is playing his new Leapster; can you say gamer like his Dad?

Our new living room!

We spent the first part of November renovating the living room. It is quite a change from the bright green it used to be and we LOVE it! Funny how it spiralled a little out of control though. The new TV as seen above is what started the whole thing. Pascal had been wanting a tv for quite some time and had this one all picked out after some in-depth research. Then, it went on sale and the fun began...

I said a new tv deserves a new paint job. We had rearranged a few weeks prior to starting the renovation and the room really did need paint. The old paint was 7 years old and honestly did need to be refreshed. However, the new tv also led to the new tv stand and the new couch. No, it is not white, but it is very light colored. The guy in the furniture store actually tried to talk out of such a color with having Kaes and all, but we knew what we wanted and then went for it. We love it, do you? If you haven't seen it , stop by and check it our sometime!!

A couple of birthdays and Hallowe'en

Wow is this post a little late. Ok, maybe a lot late seeing as Kaes's birthday has now come and gone. Oh well, better late than never, right?
We wished a happy birthday to both Pascal and Erin at the end of October. Shirley had us over for a double birthday roast dinner complete with presents and cake, yum!
Halowe'en this year was SO FUN!! The weather was chilly and wet but that didn't stop us. We were quite a crew: Kaes, Arwynn, Taylor, Mya and Max plus a whole crowd of parents for a total of 12 people.
We trick -or-treated downtown in our neighbourhood first before driving over to see Oma and Opa, Aunty Heather and Papa Ray and Granny. It is Dec 4th as I write this and we still have candy left. But, Kaes hasn't asked for any for a while so maybe its safe to get rid of the rest...
Am aiming to get November and Kaes's birthday up in the next few days. Wish me luck.