PICTURES PICTURES and MORE PICTURES...

So once again I've neglected this poor blog. Lots has happened since the snowy blustery April post. Like... and entire summer! eeeks! Heres just a few of my favourite photos from Summer 2013. Most of these are of goofy kids who don't like cameras... haha!
I'll try and update again soon!

KANE RYE & TEL

Kane Walker - 4 Years 3 Months and 1 day

Kane, Kaney, Kane Wayne...

Kane is definitly the oldest child. He loves to talk and has 4 million questions about anything. Lots of evenings at the table he'll say "lets go in the living room and just chat" He always makes sure everyone is doing what they've said they would do, & acts like a second mother to his brothers. If one of them gets hurt, Kane is like a siren. "MOM TEL HAD AN ACCIDENT, HURRY, NOW!!"  He can make his own bed, get fully dressed himself, he loves to help, and is incredibley neat and tidy for a 4 year old. He is learning to tell time, and he can write and spell his own name. He likes to help in the kitchen but only if it involves the food, and cooking. He is such a good helper outside, feeding animals, shoveling snow, and gathering eggs. He acts so mature somedays I need to remind myself not to expect so much from him because he's still just a little boy.  He still likes snuggles in the morning, and kisses at night, he still says "buckundle" instead of "unbuckle" and loves knock knock jokes. He loves to say grace for our meals, and has a memory that amazes us all the time. He likes playing trucks and sharks, he gets upset when Rye won't play with him. He gets genuinly excited about everything he does, and is such an awesome and defensive big brother. He doesn't like noodles or perogies, & he doesn't like broken crackers. His voice is always in outdoor mode, he loves music, and making up songs "maybe I love you and maybe I don't" (thats the latest)

he needs a nap everyday in order to function
still needs 2 blankies and a teddy to sleep
love him!

 

 

Rye Tucker - 3 Years 0 Months and 22 Days

Rye, Rye Guy, Ruh-Rye, Tucky

 

Rye is our second baby. He's funny without even trying. When he see's us laughing he just keeps it up! Rye loves to copy what you say "just be nice... right mom?" :) He loves to point out when he's not doing the deed that someone is getting in trouble for doing! He is fully potty trained day & night (WOO!) He loves his brothers, whatever Kaney does he does too. He is gentle natured and when he hurts or upsets someone he is quick with sorry and a hug. He loves to kiss! You get about 15 kisses when you run to town for groceries! Rye is our messy kid he would rather Kane make his bed and is often heard saying "you'll clean up right kaney" He loves trucks, quads, skidoos, bikes, and all things boy! He loves the sandbox and running around outside in the dirt or snow! Rye has the biggest easiest smile you've ever seen. He loves having tubbies and hates napping. He almost never sleeps in the day and is most often found on the floor quietly quadding or hauling cows. He loves hockey, and showing us tricks. When bed time rolls around he says "mama my feels like going to bed" and he's out! Rye is more reserved, and more cautious then Kane. He loves to cuddle in the chair anytime, and always calls me in after he's been tucked in for the night for "cobers please" (covers) Rye loves most foods, and powdered timbits are his fave. He loves to dance, and thinks the word poop is funny. He can say "think, and thanks" but calls his thumb his "flumb"
love him too!

 

 

Tel Oscar - 1 Year 5 Months and 29 Days

 

Tel, Telly, Bean, Ellie, Boo

Last but not the least is our littlest man. Tel is the best kid. He has the most laid back nature, and nothing fazes him. He can fall down stairs and get up laughing. He can get bowled over by his brothers, and just reach for his cheerios still laying in the same postion he was knocked into. He toodles around the house getting into whatever is left for him to get into, the bag of flour, dishwasher tabs, a stick of butter, leftover juice on the counter... he's fairly destructive, if his brothers are building a tower they scream when they see him coming because he'll just back into it and knock it all down. Tel can say "mum mum, dad, ta ta, pup (means up) pop ( means water, milk, juice) ba (ball)" besides that he shows no interest in communicating with words. He prefers grunts to get his point accross. Tel loves his nuckie (soother) and loves his blankie and gives a little giggle when he knows its time for bed (sooo lucky he loves to sleep) he likes to go to bed early and wake up earlier. He loves to eat. He loves being outside and laughs when he escapes onto the deck. He loves tubbies too and drinks about 5 gallons of water everytime. He has bad excema and his toes and feet drive him crazy. Tel is a gentle thing (still lookout when you build a tower though:) and is smiley and happy. He's easy to look after, and so easy to love. He cuddles and kisses and loves to be "pup pup" where he can see whats going on.
we all love him!

 

 

 

RYE TURNS 3

Can not believe our middle man is already 3... He desperately wanted a "harshmellow" (marshmellow) birthday party, and an elephant! However he decided that a skidoo cake & banner would be okay too! I searched for some mini skidoos to make a mountain cake, but couldn't find any so settled for dairy queen!  We had a small family birthday party, and the next day was easter, so they had their sugar intake for the year in one weekend! Rye loved all his gifts but rathered Kane opened them (which kane was okay with ;)

Still can't believe we've had this handsome man for three years, where does time go!!?

thanks for the hockey nets grammie! we all love them :)

CATCHING UP

It always seems like I'm to busy for this blog. And I guess I probably am. However its a good way to keep track of when things happen, and how they're going.

Things like this for example, Rye started potty training less then two weeks ago, and he's fully trained. He is doing so good. WOO HOO! I love only having one kiddo in diapers.

And how Tel can say ta-ta now when he wants something and always waves goodbye to me when he slips off our bed or leaves a room.

And Kane is turning into a big kid so fast. He remembers everything about everyone... all the time. He is my greatest helper, always asking "can I help mama" so we try to make sure there is always something to help with!

Nothing really exciting happens from day to day, but life is still pretty good. Thinking of people facing things that make my heart ache it makes me thankful for the simplicity of our lives.

Anyways these are just a few updated pictures on my phone. sorry the quality isn't very good!

always better when you have someone to talk to

thanks g.gram!

thanks g.gram

thanks g.gram!

surprise... this is how it is everytime

16 months old

recovered the chairs

garage sale treasure before

& after- whitewashed with new pulls!

 

KANE IS 4

Kane turned four back in January, but I am a little behind on blog posts so i'll try and catch up a little!

He asked if he could have a fish birthday... For those of you who really know me I'm not a true crafter. I love to think I am... but its not a natural thing! Anyways the night before Kane turned four, I crafted... anything for my boys :)

He loved it all... so it was a success. The day of his birthday we surprised him by taking the boys swimming. We went in the back door of the rec center, and I've never seen him so excited. For those who read this thinking "wow you should take your kids swimming more often" haha then your right but the closest pool that is kid friendly is an hour and a half drive... so we do our best! We had Boston Pizza for lunch (another treat for us) where they sang to a very happy kid!

His birthday was fun. Only two of the kids invited were able to make it, but it just meant more treats for the ones that did come :) and extra goodie bags are always a good thing!

Here's a few pictures of the day :)

 

hard to see the fish... but they are there!

fish treats

doing crafts

happy birthday!

pinterest inspired fishing rod cupcakes

 

MY WEIGHT LOSS STORY

This blog mainly reflects what I feel are my personal accomplishments. And as you can see by the pictures and posts, my greatest accomplishment is being a mama to three amazing boys. Sometimes however it is important to remind myself that its okay to accomplish more then five loads of laundry, a stack of story books, and to keep the pudding from drying on the floor. I admire moms who can balance work, a career, even hobbies while raising children. I'm very lucky that I can stay home and raise my rascals but of course it has its moments where I think a job or feeling valued on a different level may be nice. But then when I run out to the store and I see three sticky smiling faces pressed against the window, I'm so glad that I am valued on the greatest level possible! And those are my greatest accomplishments!

 

Anyways before I get to off track...

 

This post is to tell you my weight loss story, which happens to be a personal accomplishment of mine :) This is how I got back to, post preggo weight, pre baby weight, pre wedding dress weight, & pre highschool weight 

 

My story is like any other girls probably... Wishing I was skinnier then I was.

After highschool I gained 10 pounds, which got me to 140lbs. When I got married I felt a little tubby but it was the heaviest I had ever been so that makes sense :) Two and a half years after we were married I had Kane, I gained about 25lbs with him, and stayed at about 145 after he was born. Five months later I was pregnant with Rye and gained about 30lbs with him. After he was born I stayed around 148lbs. I never felt fat, but always felt like I looked pregnant. Suprise... 8 months later I did get pregnant again with Tel, and gained 30lbs while pregnant with him. After he was born I felt really good, I was back to around 150lbs and after being almost 180lbs I felt good, for obvious reasons!

Then sure enough weight started sneaking back on and pushing up the 150 mark.

 

One afternoon in May 2012 I had lunch with some friends. Two which were doing weight watchers. They were very happy how the program had worked for them and emphasised how easy it was to follow.

 

I have to mention that so many times I'd look in the mirror and think "hmm I look okay" I thought I was good enough the way I was. But then 30 minutes later I'd look in the same mirror and feel totally gross. So I wasn't convinced totally that I needed to loose weight, because about 30% of the time I felt good. However when I broke down the numbers I realized in the 6 years I had been married, I had gained 3-5lbs per year and if I kept up with that average for the next 5 years... well I'd be unhappy about myself 100% of the time.

So I decided in a moment that I was going to do something. I was ready to change and I would do whatever I could to make that happen. I found the weight watchers meeting through facebook and went that night. The night I went I got a few groceries before weigh in and happened to bump into a good friend, and I told her where I was going. She was encouraging, the cashier who laughed and said "what are you going there for you look fine" was not. But I went. My starting weight was 157 pounds, (I'm 5'1) and in the first week I lost 5.5lbs. That was my first sense of how personal accomplishment felt. The rest of the summer I lost weight every week. I loved the program and it worked for my lifestyle. It really was easy, if I cheated it was okay. Our leader often refered to cheating like falling down the stairs. Just because your falling you don't let yourself keep falling down the stairs, you grab the rail, pull yourself up and keep going. Its maybe unfair to say but I never struggled with weight watchers. A few times I needed to refocus but I never gave up totally. By the beginning of October I had lost 22lbs, and was getting close to my goal weight which was 132lbs. I attended the meetings faithfully because I needed accountablity for my weight, whether good or bad. In December I became a lifetime member of the program because I had reached 132lbs. I have continued loosing and now weigh 125lbs. I have lost a total of 32lbs. I encourage anyone who wants a lifestyle change thats actually affordable and attainable to try this program. I still love brownies and chips but its not the whole pan or bag now, and weight watchers taught me how to make that possible. Fruit is a staple in our house now, veggies not so much but we'll keep working on that! And as you can see in my "after" pictures I still have evidence of 3 babies living inside me... and we'll keep working on that too :)

 

 I feel like you really have to commit to a change or it won't work.
It has worked for me and I am thankful for that!

If you actually read all this, thanks! Right after I started ww my sister and mother in law did too. Then about 5 of our friends. Its been so awesome to have people going through the same experience and encourage you to keep it going. This is just my story, I hope it can encourage someone else to consider helping themselves too!

Before - 157lbs 

 

dec 2011

oct 2011

After - 125lbs

October 2012 - 134lbs

January 2013 - 125lbs

HOLIDAYS

December we drove to Idaho to pick up a load of sleds, our kids are champs. Never whined or fussed at all which made the 2000 mile trip seem fairly reasonable :)

Brennan's family were all here sometime during December which was so nice, seems like we hardly ever see them in person. But only because that is our fault, we owe them countless visits! Anyways with the extra five boys throughout the holidays it was so much fun for our boys. They love all their cousins, and we're excited for the arrival of their second girl cousin in April! We all ended up sick at some point during December, but we managed to have a bit of fun in between!

Grammie (Brennans mom) left Christmas day for Cambodia, so the boys are missing her in a bad way! Rye keeps asking "when is grammie coming home from the ayeport?" And Kane asks if he can sit beside her on the way to most meetings... he forgets she won't be there! Anyways we see and hear news from her that makes it a little easier for their minds to understand!

 

 

Christmas is a tradition for me and my family that I carry on for my kiddos. So we had our little Christmas celebration with gifts etc, as our little family (along with my brother!) and then spent the day eating and visiting with Brennan's sisters and families. Christmas day was freezing cold (-30) so the plan for sledding had to be put on hold. We did sled later on in the week, then spent an afternoon decorating rice krispie cake houses, and then we all got sick... and that was the end of most of the fun!

Here's a few pictures from last month :)

heading home with our sleds!

after a year with no soother... tel found one and loves it!

christmas time!

the boys

decorating

so excited!

so pumped for his new microphone

checking it all out!

skidooing!

ride back to the house!

at the top of the hill

kane loves it!

enjoying some sunshine