PRIMARY PRINCESS

Miley is loving Primary!

She was the cutest thing I've have ever seen on Sunday sitting up at the front of the room on the chair marked 'Scripture' thumbing through my scriptures on her lap, and looking up occasionally to find my face and give me a thumbs up!!

She had been asked to give the Scripture. It was a big one! We practiced all we could at home, but I knew without doubt she would need help. 

Her teacher came up and asked her if she needed some help, and she responded 

"My mom is here to help me."

I was so very happy to be there to help her on this big day!! :) 

She was very confident, and recited the scripture just perfect. We were so very proud!! :)

Her teachers made her this crown as part of her 'I am a child of God' lesson. She loves wearing it around the house. We are so happy with the teacher's she has ( Bro and Sister Whalen). They e-mailed me earlier in the week asking for parents to share some of the qualities their sunbeams possess. We appreciate their preparation! Miley is loving class, and we know her teachers make all the difference. 

Miley has been singing all of her primary songs this week at home, but now has awesome actions to go with the words. I called Karli who is in charge of singing time, and asked her if Miley learned these moves in primary. She assured me that is exactly where she learned them. :) Se also told me a cute little story about the "silly hat." In primary there is a 'silly hat' passed to the one who is singing so well. Karli said she explained the silly hat to the kids, and Miley instantly declared how much she wanted it. Karli said Miley got her game face on... and sang with all her might! She was so focused! Classic story of my Mi Mi. 

We love this girl. We're so happy to see her enthused about primary, her class and teachers.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012!

Miley will turn 4 years old this year!

A little about her:

Miley loves to sing and dance. Color and craft. 

She is extremely helpful around the house, and will never let us leave anywhere in the car without saying a prayer first. 

Mi's loves to be outside for Nature walks, playgrounds, and wagon rides, or inside for playing imagination with Gano, and watching her favorite shows. 

She likes pancakes without syrup, TREATS! TREATS! TREATS, and anything dipped in Ranch.

Miley's needs are more emotional. She's grown out of the phases of tickling and snuggling, and is now extra motivated by doing things on her own, and earning rewards for her good behavior.  

Scotlin will turn 3 this year!

A little about him:

Dooey is our little mano! Still very much into playing, tickling, snuggling, and will let you squeeze and hold him as tight as you want for as long as you want. 

Scotlin favorite things are still his mounds of books! He is happy to have us read books to him for hours. 

He likes to eat cereal without milk, and Apples galore! - (Sometimes 5 in one day!)

Scotlin's needs are more physical. He is extremely active, and NOTHING gets him down. 

He doesn't like loud noises or a crowd. Is happiest at home,  loves to sleep, snuggle, and play with big sister. 

Just will turn 30 this year! :)

A little about him:

He can now officially say he will be graduating NEXT YEAR!

Justin is an amazing Student. He is exceptional with his patients, reaches out and befriends those around him, and leaves a higher standard for others to follow. He is exactly the reason why Dalhousie will continue to recruit from Utah. 

Just is an amazing Dad. I am sure they don't come any better. 

Our Children adore Him with all their might. 

He loves sports, but never really has enough down time to enjoy them. 

Justin is the best friend to many, and gifted with a keen mind.

He is the first one I go to for advice, and he always puts me on the right track when I follow it. 

Just is a faithful priesthood holder, and stalwart leader. 

*

Happy New Year!

May this year be one of great purpose, faith, love, health, and happiness.  

GETTIN' UP THERE

Justin turns 29! 

*

Christmas time is such a special time of year! Some of the most important people in my life were born around this time as well.  I know it is easy for them to feel as if their birthday is forgotten in the shuffle of the holiday season, but I think it is the truly special individuals who are reserved to be born during this unique and magical time. 

Justin is the most important person in my life, and the one I love more than any other... and so, I would never want him to feel as if his birthday was just thrown into the mix. He is worth celebrating! :)

I am getting better ( still learning something new every year ) at turning out Christmas, and a birthday 2 days later. 

This is Justin's last year in his 20's!! I'd say he has so much to be proud of... for who he has become, what he has accomplished, and all that he is and continues to be. He is my world!- and we had a wonderful time celebrating his big day. :)

His day started out right with many hugs and kisses! Gifts, and his favorite breakfast: Pancakes, eggs, and bacon!! :)

Later that afternoon we took the kids to see the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks....

We LOVE to take the kids to the movies! And it is one of our favorite family traditions to do over the break. 

At the movie theatre they had these large cardboard cut outs of the chipmunks the kids were loving!

Scotlin especially liked Alvin because he was wearing a hat. He told me over and over how funny it was to see a chipmunk with a hat on, saying: "That Chipmunk is SWEET!!!" 

The kids couldn't tell us what movie we were going to see unless they said the WHOLE TITLE. 

On the way to the movie theatre all we could here from the back seat was Miley: "I am so excited to go see 'Alvin and the Chipmunks, CHIP WRECKED!" And then we'd hear Scotlin: "yeah, I can't wait to see 'Alvin and the Chipmunks, CHIP WRECKED!!" ... and so we'd join in: "It's going to be so fun to see 'Alvin and the Chipmunks!"

And then in unison from the back seat: "CHIP WRECKED!!!"

We'll never forget what we saw that day! :) They made sure we knew what it was called. 

(I thought it was pretty darn sweet of Just to spend his day catering to what the kids wanted. That's just the great dad he is!!)

We packed little treat bags for the kids, and each had a little mini popcorn and drink. They were in their own little heaven! Totally loving it! :) Both kids sat through the whole movie. Miley was rockin' out in her seat to the music, laughing at the jokes, and yelling out at the scary parts. I had one of those moments when we were sitting there when I looked at her and just realized how big she is getting! Whenever we go to the movies she has always wanted to sit on my lap. This time I offered for her to come sit with me, and she said 'no thanks, mom.' She was looking so grown up as she sat there is the large theatre seat. She  is growing and changing fast! Just and I came home and squeezed the daylights out of both of them before putting them to bed that night - trying to soak up every ounce of them while we can!

Later that night a group of Justin's closest friends came over for a guys night. I wasn't able to get a picture of everyone together, but I was glad to grab this one of Just with 2 of his best friends and classmates, Danny and Mike. 

I made a whole bunch of food for them, and just turned em loose in the basement. 

I went to sleep to the sound of roaring laughter coming from the vents which made me smile. 

I'm glad they were able to get together and have a (much deserved) great time! 

I sure love my sweetheart. And I couldn't be more proud of him. 

I'm glad we were able to celebrate him, and let him know how much he means to so many! :)

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS

Gifts sent with Love from Afar

Having Daddy home, and enjoying time with him

Revrencing our Savior and Remembering His birth

Being with family through skype. Loving and missing them.

Counting our blessings, and feeling the magic of Christmas

Especially through our children`s eyes.

Faces on Christmas Morning...

Time spent together 

And a celebration of another year of love and learning.

-Magical and Merry-

Christmas in Nova Scotia



A LITTLE CELEBRATING

Well, there are a few things you should know before reading this post.
-First being that Justin is really great at giving surprises, and I am not so good at it. But this time I planned one, and I was pretty proud of the execution.
-Next, we went out tonight with some friends to celebrate the end of the semester, and I turned our dinner in to a little pre-birthday party for Just.
-Third, the yule log cake was a generous, and creative donation from Helene. May be a new birthday cake tradition... Might not.
-And last thing to note: there were more people with us tonight, but really there are just a lot of pictures of Justin here. He was kind of my focus. Just know there were others, and we appreciated and enjoyed their company.

Happy Birthday 2011

Justin turns 29

(Just a funny side story... Scotlin was obviously traumatized by the time he burnt his finger on the flame of his own birthday candle. ;( I'll never live it down. Poor kid couldn't handle the sight of the flaming yule log. )

One of the nice things about having a daughter is you will always have someone right by your side to open presents with. Mi's is the perfect present helper. She'll be right there when you need her. :)

Little background needed:
So, Justin went to a guys night a few weeks ago, and came home telling me all about an X-Box one of the other guys had that he had rigged up to do all sorts of other cool types of things that guys like... (see how clueless I am to what guys like.. I can't even tell you how or what it did or was supposed to do... But, all I know is, we have a friend here, who can basically take any kind of tech equipment and rig it up until it is a guys dream come true.
Anyway, long story short is, I told Justin it was great if he wanted to do that on a guys night, but that we were not going to have one. Well, little did he know, I had the help of not one, but two other guys, and both their wives to get him the X-Box, and get it rigged up just right. Things only a guy can truly appreciate!! ;)
All I had to do was throw it is a box from Deseret Book, and he thought he was getting a new pair of scriptures. ;)

Love the look of surprise on his face! He was totally thrown off.

And that is one happy smile...

Happy Husband. Happy Wife. Great Night. 

Glad we are getting our celebrations off to a good start.
I absolutely LOVE having him home... it is definitely worth celebrating!! :)

BEST FRIENDS and SANTA

Finals are just plugging right along. Justin keeps his nose right there in those books, and we do our best to 'support' by getting out of the way.  Hels called this morning, and off we went with our kiddos to see Santa at the mall. Christmas time is so much fun when your kids believe in Santa Claus...

There was a line up when we got there, so we had to wait patiently. Miley bounced up and down clapping her hands in excitement, and asked me 5 hundred times a minute when it was going to be our turn. 

I had to laugh at the coaching session she gave Scotlin on the car ride over. She was talking him through meeting Santa for the fist time, and giving him the encouragement he needed not to be scared...

We waited, and waited...

Snuck in a few pictures, and looked on with great anticipation...

Better not shout, cry, or pout right about now...!

And when that final moment arrived, SHE was the one who was SCARED, and he wasn't. 

Scotlin marched right up to Santa Claus to tell him he wanted "CHOOCOOLATE!" for Christmas! Miley hid behind the Christmas tree, until I forced persuaded her to come out and talk to Santa. 

Although she was a bit shy, she was able to tell him she wants a camera and bath toys for Christmas, and even pass on a little hug before the opportunity passed by. 

We were given sweet pictures of the kids on Santa's Lap, which Miley and Scotlin were both so proud of. 

After our Santa stop we walked the mall, and enjoyed lunch together from the Organic Market Place. 

(there aren't normal food courts here...) The kids played in the toy store, and Helene and I had a good laugh about how rarely we get out, and over how much we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves!

Glad to have great friends, and grateful for this time of year!

Just a little update:

Scotlin is doing great. He can walk well in his cast, and is doing pretty well with it off too, but only for very short periods of time. THe most complaining he has done has been to say: "Mommy, will you please take it off..." and then saying to me: "Mommy, don't hurt me..." when I try to wrap it each morning. :( It is heartbreaking to have him in any pain... so we have been taking extra special care of him. :) 

I think he has moments where he feels pretty strong, and so he`ll try to run, or jump, or just play like he would normally want to, but then he will realize that surge of energy only made his leg hurt, and very sore, and then he`ll spend the rest of the day hobbling and asking me to carry him. :( But the poor little guy is really trying to hang in there. We will see Orthopedics tomorrow...

Our Tiny Tim

Remember the time when Scotlin broke his leg right in the middle of finals week, and just days before Christmas...

Oh, wait...

That is now.

On Sunday night we had a birthday party to go to. I asked the kids if they wanted to make cupcakes to take, and they were both excited to pull their chairs up to the counter like they always do to be my helpers, and pour in the ingredients.

You would think that since Scotlin is such an active toddler, he would have had some kind of seriously accident that would have broken his leg, but as ironic luck would have it.. he broke his leg being on his best behavior. While he was standing on his chair helping me bake, the chair fell backwards, catching his legs, and pinning them to our hard wood floors. 

It all happened really fast, but I remember whipping around and picking him up from under the chair as fast as I could, and knowing that he was really hurt.

 :( Poor little fella. 

I put in a call to the 24 hour nurse hotline. Justin and I debated for a long time on what we should do while we waited for the nurse to call back.

The nurse called and gave an evaluation over the phone, and told me based on what I had told her that we should take Scotlin into the emergency room that night.

So I took Scotlin into Emergency. They took X-rays, which came back good. They told me to come back in 48 hours if Scotlin was not walking.

48 hours later he still wasn`t walking... He tried to walk, but just ended up crawling aroung the house trying to chase after his sister. It broke my heart everytime I say him hobble to his feet only to fall over.

We decided to make an appointment with our family doctor, and go that route instead of going back to Emergency. ( all of our emerge reports go to her anyway).

She didn`t even examine Scotlin. She thought it was broken just from the things I told her.

She didn`t want to see us waiting all night in the Emergency room, so she referred us to the x-ray department again, first thing in the morning.

The next morning we were there, bright and early. They took x-rays again, and sent us home. I waited all afternoon to get the report back from the Dr.

Her nurse finally called and ordered us straight to the Emergency room once again.

I`ve lost track of how many hours we spent here this week.

Once back in Emerge, we were told he has what they call a `toddler`s fracture`which basically means he has a twisted shin bone. Good news is, it should heal reather quickly. And in the meantime he is able to wear a removeable cast so I can take it off to bath him or anything else. Bad news is, if he isn`t walking by the time we see the orthopedic specialist next week, then he will be casted in a hard cast for 4 to 6 weeks. :(

I made a little `boo hoo` sound jokingly to the dr when they told me about the hard cast. Scotlin readed his little hand up from where he was laying on the bed, touched my face and said `Mommy, don`t cry...`

I couldn`t do anything but kiss his sweet little head. I love that tender little guy!

Scotlin had all the dr`s and nurses in love! They told us he was their favorite patient of the night, and how much they meant it! We all had a great time laughing at the cute a funny little things he would say as we all worked together to prepare his bandage. He was such a little charmer!

He was also off the wall hyper tonight in the ER. Much different than our first time on Sunday night!!

***

I had a few `straw that broke the camel`s back` moments this week since the accident.

Justin is in the middle of Finals, which means 99% of his time is taken.

Carting Scotlin around for the last few days has returned the sore back,  I have worked for months in Physio to fix.

Going back and forth from emergency to x-ray to the doctor, back to x-ray, and emergency by myslef all week with the kids has been just a little on the stressful side.

But, I know very well, that I have nothing to complain about.

I also know every little boy ( especailly one as active as mine) is bound to break a bone at some point...

I know I have so much to be grateful for. This could have been worse, and I am grateful it isn`t.

Justin and I are still kind of scratching our heads about the way the Canadian Health Care system takes care of things, but we are sure glad all of this is paid for!

***

I love the Ocean...

As I inched along the Bedford Highway today stuck in heavy traffic, I could just look out my window over the basin. The skies were foggy, and the clouds heavy and grey.

I looked out at the water as if it mirrored how I was feeling... It was rough, choppy and unsteady, and I thought, `how does the water always know what I am going through...`

It`s calm, clear, and glass when my heart is at peace and full of sunshine, and it resembles a raging sea when I am doing all I can to take a deep breath and take things one day at a time.

Patience is something that can always be added upon.

Mine keeps doubling, and I could always use more.

During just a few of the rough patches this week we were in a bit of survival mode, but it helps knowing he is home now, safe and sound with his leg wrapped up and healing. So, we are all doing a little better! :)

Dooey is in great spirits! We are so proud of our little mano. He has been a trooper these last few days especially considering the pain, and all the places I have had to drag him to.

Glad our little Tiny Tim won`t have to hobble around much longer.

Thanks for the concern and love.