Outside Adventures

 The weather has been so warm these past few days, Matt and I have spent ALOT of time outside...we are determined to fix up our front and back yard.  We were given bricks for our walk way when we first bought our house, so Matt has been working on that mostly.  We got tons of sand from Matt's dad to set the bricks in (Parks was a happy camper!).  The pathway is done and it looks awesome! We now want to make Parks a sandbox in the backyard cuz sand keeps him busy for hours:)  Anyways I weeded our garden and raked the front yard...I want my grass nice this year:)...Our neighbour, that we share grass with, decided to cut his grass today (who cuts their grass in APRIL anyway, it hasn't even had a chance to grow yet!) anyways he decides when Matt, Parks and I were having a nap to cut OUR grass too!! (it was a nice thought, but) NOW my beautiful grass (on one side) is soooo incredibly short and no longer green...and bound to burn once the sun comes out.  I'm mad.  He left the rest of our grass alone on the other side of our path, so that is nice and green and thick!! Matt doesn't want to say anything to him because he is trying to do a nice thing, but i'm thinkin my grass better not stay bright YELLOW!  anyways now we are working on the side of the house...mom, we decided to just plant grass seed and hope for the best:)  Than on to the backyard this week...we'll get Matt's dad's skidsteer and scrape out our weed infested driveway, get dirt, plant grass seed, start looking into where we should buy our fence so Matt can install it (cant wait for a fenced in backyard!), and wood for a patio deck...hmmm what else oh ya and have a baby:)  I'll take pics of the finished front yard when it stops raining/snowing...

We bought Parks a sweet bubble blower machine from walmart...it keeps him sooo entertained:)

For the past month or so Matt has been studying like crazy for his one year exam as a Fire Fighter, he passed with a 94%!! I am so proud of him. He has been juggling 2 1/2 jobs, his energetic 2 year old son, and a very pregnant wife! What a HUGE load off his shoulders, officially on May 18th he will no longer be a 'Rookie'!! no more doing EVERYTHING when he's at the station. Best part of all he still LOVES his job, so we didn't move all the way out here for nothing:)

8 months!!

I've gained 31 pounds so far and feel great, I'm doing way better than when I was pregnant with Parks...I dont know exactly how heavy I got by the time he was born, but it was def 60+ crazy.  Anyways i had my doc appointment yesterday and everything is going really well.  Baby is sitting really low these days and constantly pushing her little feet into my bladder or something low down there:)  Its so hard to go for walks cuz I feel like I'm going to pee myself! haha too much info maybe:)  I get an ultrasound next month to check her size, but I've come to the conclusion that, hopefully, no matter what size she is I will not go for a planned c-sec.  The recovery just sucked too much!  So hopefully she is ontime cuz dr. cant induce me.

Tie Lake & Easter Fun

We had a fantastic time at Tie Lake and were so glad we went, it was so nice to get away.  We spent 3 days.  Matt went snowmobiling with some of his brothers up in the mountains for a day, he came back safe and sound thank goodness, but his dad's snowmobile wasn't so lucky...Caitlin and I took our boys for an off roading, bumpy truck ride into the mountains!  It was so fun!  Than went to a fish hachery (that is for sure spelt wrong! haha) and the boys loved it.  Thanks again Caitlin:)  We did the cabin life thang for the rest of the time and had a blast!


Leave it to big prego Mama to do the double bouncin

Our little outdoorsee boy

I must say this is some excellent picture taking on my part:)

Getting ready for our off roading adventure.

Anderson and Parks standing on a very scary bridge...

This was the spectacular view from the bridge.

The HUGE Trout at the fish place!

Caitlin and Anderson:) so cute!

Here's another gooder

Letting the boys run off a little steam

Parks and I later went on an 'adventure' walk with a wagon and found all these exciting things! haha

Back home for Easter Sunday, Parks woke up to his easter basket...we didn't do an egg hunt...mostly cuz he would get way too distracted after finding the first one...and be on a HUGE sugar high...plus Ammo would end up beating him and eating all the eggs etc. so yeah next year:)

Happiest kid ever!

This is the Easter Fun part...

Grace's Nursery!

We had to turn our walk in closet into a nursery because we only have 2 bedrooms right now...I love the little space, it'll work out perfectly for the first year or so and than she can share with Parks, but hopefully by than we will be in a bigger house:)  We put the change table on the outer wall in our bedroom with the rocking chair (when our room is tidy enough, i'll take some pictures of that set up).

This is the view walking in...

...and turning slightly left is her little crib:)























Christina Macnab drew and painted the beautiful mural! She is AMAZING!

I found this idea off of someone's blog and I have to say it is such a great idea! It is so easy to make too (especially if I can do it).   I recommend it to anyone with a little girl, its a pretty way to keep all her hair accessories in one 'out of the way' place.

YUMMY Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad

Let me just say I have NEVER been a fan of brussel sprouts, this receipe said you are guaranteed to get your family eating brussel sprouts, so i tried it out and mmmm it is sooo good.  It is from CanadianLiving.  PLUS as a bonus you get a fantastic caesar salad dressing receipe out of it:)

Serves 4
4cups of shredded (raw) brussel sprouts (approx. 16 sprouts)
*I used my cuisinart to slice them*

Ingredients for dressing:
3 tbps mayonaise
2 tbps grated parmesan cheese
1 tbps lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp anchovy paste
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce1 large clove garlic, minced
pinch of pepper

In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, cheese, lemon juice, mustard, anchovy paste, garlic, worch. sauce and pepper.  Add shredded brussels sprouts.  Toss to coat and set aside.

In a skillet, heat 2 tbps oil over medium heat and cook prosciutto or bacon until crisp.  (approx. make 2 tbps diced prosciutto or bacon). 
Add prosciutto or bacon with oil to the sprout mixture and let sit for 10 minutes to wilt salad slightly.

YUMMO!

Parks new DO!

Sooo it wasn't suppose to be so short!  I asked Matt if a #5 on the clippers would still give him some length to play with (cuz he loves falling asleep while playing with his hair)...and apparantly Matt and I have different opinions on how long 'long' is.  As I watched my sons beautiful locks of hair fall to the floor...I ofcorse started getting tears, but than the more I looked at him I think this is the haircut he needed...he looks likes his daddy now and that alone Parks is happy with.

I still think once it grows out a bit more it'll be even cuter cuz I will be able to gel up the front;)



All we needed was a lolipop and a mini dvd player

Lolipop gets covered in hair...but doesn't matter...he's still happy.

Now he says he has the same hair as daddy!

My Little baby looks so much older now...