Diva Kaleb

Kaleb hates getting his clothes wet and when he does he demands on us changing either his shirt or pants. Even if it is only a few dribbles of water. Yesterday I sprayed the boys with the hose outside and they loved it but once we got inside Kaleb DEMANDED a new shirt which really is easier just to change than to fight him on it. Then he took a drink less then 10 mins later and spilled a little bit and once again demanded a new shirt. At soccer last night William was taking Kaleb over to the playground so I could try and take pictures of Ben on his last day of Soccer. Kaleb ran and fell in the mud. Oh he was sooooo upset. He just hung his head and begged for a bath and to go home. He had such a great pouty lip that I had to laugh and feel sorry for him at the same time. I was able to take him home rinse him off enough so he wasn't too upset anymore and get back to soccer in time to pick up everyone. Kaleb is definitely my clothes Diva.

Been awhile

I did not realize it had been so long since I last blogged. Life seems to just fly by. Well the cold has stuck us inside for a while the -35C temps make going outside daunting. The windchill that gets added on top makes me not want to go anywhere at all.

I am trying to take out artificial colours from the boys diets because of the study linking hyperactivity to these colourants. I think there is a difference as slight as it may be. I was trying to figure out what natural colorings are used in Smarties (the chocolate candies for those who live in the states and think they are the rockets). So I checked out the website and didn't find any definite answer and then emailed them to find out. I received an email stating the colourants used and the one that scared me the most was Carmine. Not because it is linked to anything that I know of but because of what Carmine really is. If you like these candies maybe you shouldn't read but here it goes. Carmine is really crushed red beetles. Yep that is right beetles. Ewwwww.

It is natural but I don't know if that makes it any better.

It is crazy what has colour in it. I bought a jar of pickles yesterday without looking at the label and figured it is just pickles well they have tartazine which is a coloring. Crazy. Cake mixes have colour added, chips, choc milk, even some yogurts contain colouring.

So Benjamin likes to pretend to try and take naps sometimes. Right now he is so tired and wants to take a nap. Sounds great to me. He was on the couch but he switched to the chair because as he told me he tooted on the couch and needed to switch to the chair. Oh so funny.

Christmas presents anyone

Last week we went a Christmas craft sale and I knew that there would be lots of breakable things that Benjamin would love to touch. Because I remember touching everything when I was little and getting in so much trouble I warned Benjamin not to touch anything. If he touched something and broke it I told him that we would have to buy it and that would be his Christmas gift. Bahahaha. It totally worked to. He did try to touch things but everytime he did I asked if he wanted that particular thing for Christmas. Each time he stopped touching it and backed away. One time he was touching a ceramic dish and I asked him if that was his gift he got kinda scared and backed quickly away. I wonder how long this will work for.

The Pumpkin Bum

This year Benjamin wanted ears on his pumpkin so I carved out so holes and called them ears. Well I decided I wanted a pumpkin bum so I carved out a bum. William didn't realize how carved out it was until after he patted the pumpkin bum.

We made it!!!

So after pretty much 2 weeks of being at home with intermittant car use and Joe in Vegreville we made it here. You really do not know how dirty your house is until you move everything out of it. We like our new place and are adjusting to the quirks that a new home includes. I still have boxes that are not unpacked cause I don't know where to put it yet. I love having our rooms on the same level that we live on. And we splurged and bought a front loader washer and dryer and I am amazed at the pile of laundry that I start with and actually end up having clean at the end of the day.

It is crazy how many people from church know other people that we know. We have the Fishers are related to people in Drumheller. The Gillies who are related to people in Drumheller. Our bishop graduated with Joe's sister Michelle. I taught in Red Deer the Grand Daughter of a couple here. Someone from Veg (apparently this is how you abbreviate it) used to babysit one of my nieces from Taber.

The Egg is pretty big. At least it is an Egg and not the World's largest sausage like Mundare.

Night Everyone.

Vegreville here we come. Are you ready?

Joe got a job in Vegreville and we found a place. There is no carpeting to ruin but I am kinda worried about the laminate wood floor. The kitchen is small but new and nice. There are so many drawers I have no idea what to fill them with. We have 4 here which is the most we have ever had. There are 9 drawers I think in our new place. Kaleb will have fun. We move on the 13 out of here and into the new place on the 14th. We went today to get Joe set up for next week and Ben was mad we weren't staying at the New House. He wanted to sleep on the air mattress. I think he got over it. Wish me luck with the packing and the cleaning. Both of which are not fun. Expecially since Joe has untaped a few boxes and I packed 1 of my flip flops that I always wear. Not both of them just one.

Kaleb is getting way to Smart!!!!

This evening while downstairs Kaleb stole the bathroom stool. He took it into Joe's and my room and proceeded to try and reach some stuff up on the ledge which was still to high. So he picked up the stool took it to my dresser and grabbed stuff off of there. He has never done that before. At first I thought that Ben had moved the stool and he was just seizing the opportunity but than I remembered Ben had just used it in the bathroom. Kaleb is going to be the sneaky get into everything kid but yet still innocent.

Changes are happening

If you all haven't heard Joe lost his job about 2 weeks ago. I like living in Red Deer and really dread the idea of having to move. But he is searching for a job and luckily I am able to pick up extra hours at Wholesale which will help. I also get medical and dental benefits and 10% off at Loblaw stores which is wonderful. He also will be able to go on Employment Insurance which will help alot as well.
Kaleb got his 1 year shots a little late but that is ok and felt the effects of it. He had a fever this weekend and then got measle like spots all over his body. Poor boy!
Benjamin is running up a storm. I am beginning to think he will wear out the carpeting in this place.
Today was a really nice day here. I am almost dreading summer because I don't know if I can take any hotter temps and it wasn't that hot about 22C(71F) now I really feel silly once I converted it into Farenheit it seriously is not even remotely hot. On the flipside we did just have snow here last week so can I blame it on the quick change?
The house warmed up enough to melt the icing on my cupcakes does that give me any more excuses?
Funny story I remembered at work about Lethbridge Wholesale garden centre
Customer: Do you bring in all of your plants at night?
Cashier: No
Cust: Don't people steal them
Cashier: Well we put in little cameras in all of the plants and if someone steals one then it turns on and we come and find them.
Cust: Oh I see.
I remembered this story cause the GM Manager brought out a big thing of plants and I was told that Red Deer doesn't have a garden centre. So I started freaking out a bit but was reassured that we were only getting a few Hostas and they would stay inside. I hated the garden centre cause half of the codes didn't work and noone knew how to read the price signs so as a cashier we were running in and out to find the codes or double check prices.

One year in Red Deer coming up so soon

I can't believe it. I will have been living in Red Deer for a year in like 10 days. Crazy! It doesn't feel that long. I still feel new here but I don't think I can claim to be new. I really like Red Deer. I enjoy how close to Edmonton and Calgary we are. Red Deer is pretty much smack dab in the middle. The playgrounds here are everywhere. The weather is a bit colder than wanted but hey I don't deal with nearly as much wind as I did in Lethbridge. I especially am looking forward to the light come summer time. I love it being light until about 10:30 at night.
The boys are doing great. Ben is three now. Kaleb is walking up a storm and loves not having clothes on.

Joe's brother comes home from Peru tomorrow!!! I can't believe it has been two years already. He ate cat. Just thought I would through that one out there.

Work is going well for me. People are the same everywhere. Some are nice and others well......
Well gotta run and make sure Kaleb isn't on my table again. Sigh! that kid can climb anything. Just not out of his crib. Knock on wood.

Good deals!

A few weeks ago there was a coupon in the Superstore flyer that said spend 250 get a $25 gift card so I decided to do just that. Here is the wonderful catch I also get 10% off there because I work for Wholesale Club which is a sister company to Superstore which means I have to buy close to $275 worth of groceries. I also had $70 worth of PC points (for those who don't know PC points come from banking with PC financial and a person can redeem these points for free groceries) so I thought how about I cash them in too. Then I realized I also had 2 $25 gift cards in my wallet from a few months ago when they had the same coupon in their flyer and used them. I also had about $20 worth of coupons just waiting to be used so I used those to. This all added up to me walking out of the grocery store with over $300 worth of groceries and paid about$130 oh and I also receieved a $25 gift card to use on another visit!!! I still am happy thinking about this.

Well today guess what I found in the Superstore flyer another spend $250 get $25 free. I also had about $20 worth of coupons to use again. This time I had to pay more but I walked out of Superstore with over $300 worth of groceries and clothes again and paid about $250 plus I have a $25 gift card to use another time too. I like getting great deals.
Kara

Part 2

On Saturday we pretty much just visited with Grandma. We convinced after about 40 min to get in her wheelchair and we would take her for a cruise around Michelson. We sat outside for a few minutes and watched Benjamin run around. We had a pizza delivered for dinner and I don't know if I remember Grandma eating so much. She must have enjoyed the change.
Sunday we were able to get her to church with plenty of time to spare. I went super early and she was ready but then she ended up not being quite ready. But we still had plenty of time. She is like royalty at church. Lots of people came by to say hi and good to see you. She really enjoyed all of the attention she got. So we went back to Michelson and visited some more with Grandma. We were able to convince her to go outside and sit in the courtyard while Benjamin kicked a ball he found around. She just loved watching Ben run and laugh. I tried to take pictures of her with the kids but by the time I got Ben to sit still and then got Grandma to look at me Benjamin was off running. Oh well, I did get some good shots of them. I really enjoyed being able to visit with Grandma. I hadn't seen her in about 2 years but when I was there she was having a few good days and seemed to remember a lot. She doesn't always remember that she is in a wheelchair. Because when we get up to go she almost tries to get up and then says something like "Oh yeah I am in a wheelchair, I don't have to get up".
Mom had warned me that Grandma had been mean to Laura the last time they were up but I think it was more because she was being moved to somewhere she didn't and still doesn't thinks she needs to be because she didn't say anything mean to us.
Where Grandma lives is really nice. There is carpeting on the floors and it doesn't smell like a nursing home. There are pretty pictures on the walls and the nurses seem to be very nice and helpful. Grandma did say to me that she thought was living in a prison and I said laughing that this is a very nice prison then. She laughed with me at that too.
Our adventures in downtown Chicago to come........

To Chicago we go! Part one

We left on Friday the 6th to go and visit Grandma Jeanne in Batavia (near Chicago for those who don't know). We almost were not able to go because Benjamin, Kaleb, and I were all sick pretty much up until we were supposed to leave. We also noticed some car issues Wednesday night and took it into be checked out Thursday. Turned out we needed 3 new motor supports (apparently if the supports were to fail we would have dropped the motor and done some serious damage to probably everything) and a water pump. But it couldn't be fixed in time for us to drive to Calgary. Mom to the rescue. She drove from Drumheller Thursday night and took us to the airport Friday morning and then drove home to Drumheller after that. Thanks Mom for taking us.


Getting through the airport wasn't to bad security was packed and customs was super easy to get through. We arrived at the terminal and Joe goes off to find us food to eat for lunch. Pretty much as soon as Joe got back it was time to board. Now imagine 1 stroller, 1 carseat, 1 baby to hold once we get on the plane, 1 Benjamin running around like a maniac, 3 backpacks, 1 tray of 3 pops, and 1 bag of food to carry onto the plane. Hmmmm we don't have quite enough hands. Especially since Kaleb needed to be taken out of the stroller right before we board the plane and the stroller needed to be collasped as well. That was fun figuring all of that out. We got through it though and LEARNED our lesson: If you need to eat at the airport either give yourself lots of extra time or buy stuff that can be easily thrown into a backpack. Life lessons are great aren't they.


Plane time. Benjamin was pretty good on the plane. Kaleb wasn't. He cried and cried and then puked all over me, his shirt, his blanket yuck. After that though he was better. Were finally landed and Benjamin looked out the window and saw another plane and said to me that he wanted to ride that plane too. Kids are silly.



After some scary driving in Chicago in the dark and not knowing if we were going in the right direction we arrived at our first destination: Sonic. Mmmmmm Cherry Limeades I sure did miss them. Finally we arrived at the hotel and we all eventually fell asleep.



The next morning we got up and surprised Grandma. We walked into her room and she was napping in her chair but when I turned back she was awake and had the most shocked smiling face ever. It felt really good to be able to go and visit. She was so happy to have us there.



More to come......

The Flu

The flu has hit our house. First Kaleb and now Benjamin is sick. Kaleb seems to be doing a lot better but he has viral ulcers that have become infected so he is on antibiotics. Benjamin just started throwing up this morning after having a few bites of toast. He also has a fever and a cough.
Joe and Ben did get their flu shots yesterday after waiting in line for 5 1/2 hours most of the time they were supposed to be outside but the nice lady behind them held their place in line so they could go inside. We were all supposed to be there but because Kaleb had the flu we couldn't take him.
Our ward seems to be hit hard by the flu. I have called many families to cancel mom and tots playgroup and I think most of them had sick kids. I feel bad that Benjamin is sick for his first Halloween that he actually understands what is going on. Maybe we will dress him up and have him trick or treat the different rooms in the house.
Joe heard a statistic saying that 25% of the Alberta population will have become sick with the flu this fall. Well we have surpassed that statistic in our house so some strangers of Alberta family better be grateflu we have taken on this illness for them. lol.
I hope the rest of you are fairing better than us. Good luck fighting off the dreaded flu.
Much love, Kara

Kaleb Almost a work of Art

When we were driving downtown Red Deer Joe noticed a huge mural on the side of a building that looked like Kaleb. The baby even had a red jacket on almost like Kaleb has. We decided that we had to take a picture to show everyone our famous baby. On closer examination of the mural we discovered this baby was probably a girl and it had hair. Kaleb doesn't really have hair except for the mohawk tuft he is growing. He has a mohawk because he has two swirls/cowlicks or whatever they are called on the back of his head. Most people on have one.

Plotting Birds

We park our car underneath a tree and we have always had bird poop on our car since moving here. One time (literally we have cleaned our car out once since moving here) we were cleaning out our car and a bird pooped on Joe. I had warned them that the birds were up there just waiting to poop on one of us since it had tried to get me when I had started to clean the car.

Today as I went out to the car I heard the birds chirping away and one threw a long stick down onto the ground it was at lest 2 feet long. I knew that they were up to something but still had to get everything into the car so we could go to mom and tots. Well before I knew it one of the birds flew above me and pooped....... Any guesses to where the poop landed?........ No guesses well it landed on my head. I am pretty sure the bird did it on purpose. Those magpies and pretty smart you know. Actually I have heard they are one of the smartest birds so I wouldn't put it past them to plot a head bird pooping plan.

I keep hearing about how school is starting and I keep thinking okay Joe goes back to school in Sep...... wait he is done (he does plan to get a CPA of CGA in a few years) we can do stuff during the school year and not worry about missed classes, papers, exams, and studying. I realize this will only last until Benjamin is in school but the freedom at least in thought (not money) is awesome.
This summer I have been trying to get the most out of it by being a tourist here. We have gone to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, to a Lilly festival, to the beach, a church pancake breakfast, other church activites, to a few of the MANY parks here in Red Deer, and the list goes on. Mom calls just to see what I did on the weekend. Red Deer has a lot of parks. I will say that the weather here this summer is WEIRD!!!!!!!! We have had hail just about every week this summer if not more than once a week. Somedays it is so cold I have to warm up the house by baking and other days so warm that the house doesn't cool down. We have had some humid days to ughh humidity.

Has anyone seen Handy Manny? If not it is about a man who is Spanish and is able to fix anything. He also has talking tools. Now his hammers name is pat and when he gets confused he says "I'm a hammer". Today I said to Benjamin are you a hammer and he said "No! I Benjamin" Finally he knows his name. I swear if anyone asked what his name was he would just look at that person as if they were an alien.

Kaleb started crawling last week and loves cords and the door. I swear if I don't know where he is gone is by the sliding glass door. I think he is trying to escape and I really don't blame him. Since becoming mobile(ish) Benjamin thinks he can sit, stand, jump over him and so on. Realy I think he is trying to get away from Ben.

Sleep talking

The last week or so Joe has said a few hilarious things in his sleep. The first one was "I have bats in my ears. Get them out." All the while he was thrashing about. When asked what is wrong he just repeated the above and finally calmed down. The second one "Get the bees out of here. There are bees in the room get them out." He was much more calmer with this one.

Now the funny thing is last night while getting Kaleb up Benjamin who I think was asleep asked me if I have a hat on my head. I told him no but he didn't respond back which makes me think he was asleep. I also caught him in sleeping funny before I went to bed last night. Benjamin was laying on his stomach width wise on the bed with his head slightly covered by his pillow and stuffed animal and his legs hanging off the bed. Silly boy.

Edmonton!!!!

Some of Joe's family came up for a little visit this weekend. His Mom, Meg and Ryan, and William to be exact. Ryan really wanted to go to Edmonton and see the Gretzky statue at Rexall Place (an arena for all you non hockey people) which is just one of the many stops we made. Meg and Ryan needed to go and get a picture of one of Ryan's ancestors we took Joe's mom and William to see the Edmonton temple and continued on to West Edmonton Mall. If any of you were wondering we still only have our olds cutlas and we fit two carseats and 4 adults into it. Not comfortably but we made it to our destinations. At the Mall Ben, Kaleb and I watched the sea lion show while William and Joe did some shopping. Meg and Ryan, and William all went swimming at West Ed while Susie, Joe and I and the boys all went to the Telus World of Science. We enjoyed ourselves their and Ben sat on a tongue (plastic).

After all of that you would think we drove home right???? Wrong!!!! We continued on to find the Legislature building in downtown Edmonton and played in the many wading pools out in front. We also met up with one of Joe's cousins and his kids at the pools and had dinner with them.

We had a very enjoyable day!!!
Kara

Just Updates

So last weekend we went and visited Meg and Ryan in Raymond. It was nice to see them and Benjamin fell in love with Ryan. Everyday since we left all Ben can talk about is "see Ryan, play basketball, watch baseball, see Ryan, long car ride, Ryan". As you can see he really misses Ryan.

Kaleb is determined to sleep as little as he can during the day. He sleeps fairly well at night but I like him sleeping during the day as well.

Benjamin, Kaleb and I all came down with the stomach flu the last two weeks. I was first and then we had a few days where no one was sick and then Benjamin started puking and then Kaleb started puking (it was hard to tell if he was sick or just spitting up). Finally they both got over it and I am able to leave the house without fear of the boys vomiting or the other.

The weather here has been fairly nice which is good cause our house heats up really easily.

I did turn a quarter of a century old on Sunday. Mom and Dad came to visit and brought a delicious turtle cake (recipe thanks to Laura) and we were supposed to have some of their garden lettuce but decided to pass when we found the caterpillar that was making his cocoon in the lettuce. I am sure it would have been good.

Well that's about it. Kara

Ali - What??? Alimentum

So we went to the pediatrician yesterday to hopefully find out why Kaleb vomits so much. Well the Dr sad it probably is a combination of acid reflux and a protein intolerance so he has him taking Losec which is for the acid reflux and Alimentum formula which is hypoallergenic for the intolerance. So far he has spit up / vomited way less and he has only had like 4 feeding. I feel kinda like I might be starving him because he isn't eating all the time like he was before. He also is not vomiting like he was before either so the more that stays in the less we have to feed. Yeah!!!!!
The Dr also wanted to rule out some sort of bladder/kidney infections that can also cause vomiting and so we had to collect Kalebs pee for that. Now how the heck do you collect a baby's pee you ask. I little bag that is specially made to fit over his "little bits" as the lab tech described to Joe, of course. From where we put into a collection bottle ourselves and also on some sort of dip stick thing with a little plastic syringe thing. That is my medical explanation and hopefully he peed enough because for once he didn't pee very much at one time. I really don't care to do it again.
Anyways thought I would let you all know that so far Kaleb is doing better and let's keep it that way.
Kara