Our trip to the zoo!!

Storey Land Valley Zoo!!!







Well the day was beautiful so how better to spend it but at the Zoo. It was so much fun and to be able to see the kids faces seeing all the different animals was absolutely priceless!
This is the first animal we seen on our way in and would you know it is one of Noah's favorites so he was very excited!! What is it you ask? The Snow Leopard.







Here are the boys with the monkeys, can you tell which are which? LOL

We were just in time to see the sea lions being
trained and fed!

In the den of Nocturnal Animal

Can you find the Sloth?
How about the Armadillo

Well went to see the elephant in the elephant pen only to find out she was out on a walk, however we did manage to bump into her on her walk, up close and personal!! I love the pic of Noah with the elephant in the background!


And here is Mom, trying to keep up with the rest of the crew...they were way to fast for me, but I was enjoying the excersise and watching the kid's expressions on their faces and how excited they were running from pen to pen
















Here is Josh giving us a tutorial on
Lemurs and Endangered Animals


This is the castle front at the zoo entrance and all my princes!





Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, met the Ladue Boys
and had a great fall...whoops I told you all the secret
of what really happened to the poor old egg!!








Engineer Noah and Passenger David






Mick being eaten whole by a Hippo, poor poor hippo
doesn't know what's good for him...lol







Getting eaten by a Shark...AWWWWWWW







And to end the day with a roll down the hill!





Happy Kids + Lots of fun = Happy Parents!!!

Keep watching for more fun and more updates on baby Sarai...yes we are still waiting, but I feel it will be any day now!!

Blessings all

Week 38

Well Hello from the Big City!!

My two boys and I have been alone here for most of the time dealing with teething, flu colds and what not. However we are through it now and are so very excited because Daddy and the other boys are on their way here!! YAY!

Pulling out all the seeds!! Could you believe there were 359 in there

So what have we been up to? Well we have accomplished a lot with schoolwork for Daniel. We are currently working on a unit about fall, pumpkins and harvest! It's been fun and we are so close to being done. We bought a pumpkin and were able to carve it and explore the different textures and talk about the different uses for pumpkins. Our theme for our carving was "Let Your Light Shine for Jesus" Daniel really enjoyed this activity, David however was having nothing to do with touching it...lol.

Here is David doing some of his own work!! Daniel being silly while pulling out

the "Yuckie Stuff"


I hope to complete this unit by Saturday and put the lapbook together so we can post about it.

"Let your light Shine for Jesus"
Jesus takes the Yuckie stuff away so
our light can shine all night and day!

Danny and David with the finished pumpkin

We are working through our Hooked on Phonics and practicing various things in math. Next week we will be starting a Science unit on animals which I think Daniel looks very forward too. We will also be starting on our around the world tour in Social Studies which will fall in place well with animals and habitats. In Math we are going to be starting on Calendars, days, months etc, then moving into time and place value. We are really focusing on phonics and reading as well to get him up to par as well as with writing and spelling and altogether those three will fall into place!

Well i am 38 weeks today...two more weeks to go but I am hoping for 1. I had an ultrasound yesterday and she is doing well. They say she is about 6lbs 9oz now and she has a lot of hair! When they showed me her face she was sucking with her lips and it was so cute. I never seen that with the boys so this was new. Medical imagery has come so far it's crazy. I was up a lot last night with cramping and a great pain (ok not so great pain) in my upper left leg! I went to see my Doc today and I am 3cm dialated and the cervix is getting shorter.....this is encouraging. It won't be long now until we get to fianlly meet this little sweetheart.

For adventure today we are heading out to the mall later on with a good friend to meet up with another friend from back home. I am so happy to see her, it has been awhile!



Well look for another update coming your way soon!!
Blessings to you all

Just thought I'd add a few extra pics!

Here is Danny acting crazy after being cooped up in the room sick for a few days...don't worry we went for a walk after this..lol

Here is David with his Banana...funny story, everytime we go to the corner store all he wants for his treat is a banana, this momma won't say not to that!!

Family and Baby Sarai Update

Noah and David made the first Snowman!!

Well here we are, winter is peeking at us around the corner, and so is our little princess!

We had our first snow at home a few weeks ago and much fun was had by all. From snowmen to snow tigers and not to mention snow balls! The kids even tried to go sledding in the mere 1 inch of wet snow we got. Lol

We also hosted not one but 2 birthday parties within 2 weeks! Talk about crazy.......one consisted of 17 kids between the ages of 1-14 the second was not so wild...only little kids and few older kids, much more toned down from the teenage party. Oh my I can't even believe I just said the "T" word! Well it will definitely is going to be a knew chapter for us but it will be fun....he is such a good boy and he is a child of the Almighty so he is in His hands and we will continue to raise all our boys with the Lord's guidance!

Noah's 4th Birthday Party....will add pics of Josh's party too
As for me, well I am here 1500 miles away from my husband and 3 boys. Thankfully I brought 2 of them with me to keep me sane and not too lonely. We are now playing the waiting game! Not a game I like too much but the anticipation of finally getting to meet our little princess is so great! In just a few short weeks we will be holding her in our arms delivered unto us by our Father. She will go through obstacles but will conquer and overcome! We have many many people praying for her and her health and we are very confident in our Lord, he can do ALL things!!

In our most recent appointments she looks to be doing well. She is very active and responds to voices with her kicking. Oh and did I mention she likes to wake up when mommy wants to sleep?? I am sure she is wondering where that soothing voice she will call Daddy went, soon enough she will hear it again. There are few new things they are observing in the echo cardioultrasound but will not be certain of everything until she is born and they can see better. She does have a small hole in her heart as well which will work to their advantage with her and what they do. As of now plans are still the same for her delivery; she will be born naturally and after birth will be taken to the Children's hospital with Daddy in tow!! Just like a little girl now isn't it....with Daddy in tow!!

(Front of Sarai's Prayer Blanket)
Our family along with many wonderful friends have helped us to make this wonderful prayer blanket for Sarai. Each square or piece of material has been held and had a prayer over it by the person/people who have sent it to be included in her blanket. Once the blanket was completed, mommy and daddy said a special prayer over the whole blanket and it is now put away and ready for her to have with her from the time she is born. My plan for this blanket is to keep adding to it as the years go by and she will always have it. So many thank yous to all of you who helped with this special project!!! Blessing on all who are in prayer for us, may you all in return be blessed by the Lord.

Well just another 9 sleeps and the rest of my family will be here with us to await her arrival. I have to have routine ultrasounds and visits with the OBGYN once a week until Sarai is born. Oh yea her name is Sarai (princess) Faith Michelle. I love the name. It was funny cause I was thinking it and then Daddy said it and so it is! For the next few days I think my boys and I are just going to lay low, do some school work and get a lot of rest!! Yay I am actually excited about it, it seems that we have been going and going non stop so it will be nice to just relax.




Well I have been up since 6:30 am and really need some sleep. Goodnight and God Bless you all!!

Baby Update

Yea Yea I know I know, in my last post I said I would update more frequently! I have got to get on the ball here. However our life has kinda hit a few obstacles and we are getting through the course, all the while having the Lord hold us up!

At the present time I am 31 6/7 weeks pregnant, yes tomorrow I will be 32 weeks!! We have found out that our little girl has a heart defect which will require surgery soon after birth. Having all this news and information loaded on us sure has been trying, but we are getting through and only focusing on the positives each day! We have been blessed with a great team of doctors, nurses and case workers and of course most of all with the love and support of family and friends!! We will have the blog up and running quite frequently to update and have photos of our little Princess when she is born and during the time she is in hospital.

There is so much to do and to get prepared before we are gone to wait and yesterday I was informed that I may be sent out earlier than we thought. I will fly out with 2 of the boys and Brian and the other 3 will come a few weeks later. We will move from the comforts of our home to a hotel suite for a period of about 2 months! We will try our best to create a home atmosphere for our boys and us, but I am sure we will have our challenges.

School is back in full swing for the 3 oldest boys and we are doing some preschool things with Noah, but it is just not going as I planned with all the preparing that is going on here. Who would have thought that the boys would be growing and I would need to sort through clothes to pull out bigger clothes and put away smaller ones! And the fact that winter (yes i said the "W" word) is peeking around the corner, which means we need to get the summer stuff put away and the winter gear out! Well I have almost accomplished those two items on my list, I am so very close!! However I did hear my husband ask me what in the world I was doing when he walked into the garage...LOL

Now the weekend is here, Dad is gone and I am here with the 5 boys!! I was feeling a bit anxious earlier about what kind of stress I may be under with fighting, screaming and the phone that rings 100 times from after school until bedtime, and usually not even once is it for an adult in our home! However I must re look at my outlook on this time with them and enjoy it, for in a few short weeks everything will be in a complete upheaval with our time being mostly spent in the hospital! I love my boys so much. I was sitting here earlier trying to figure out what we can do tonight to keep things at a minimal, so I think I have chosen pizza and movies! The boys can bring out their sleeping bags, stretch out on the floor and we will all watch some great family movies together.

Tomorrow we may have company, which will be nice. I think I will finish up with getting the summer clothes put away, and with the help of my boys, bring some organization to the garage that has somehow EXPLODED!! That will give me two more things checked off my list and only 16 more to go.....awwww time must slow down.

I am often comforted by the thought of the Lord Holding our precious little girl and comforting her in this time. A friend of ours told us of a vision she had where she seen the Lord's heart beating in time with hers......He loves her so very much and we are confident that He will continue to strengthen her each day. It makes me remember that He is so much a part of us, the life in us!

Well until next time, Blessings to you all

A Ladue Summer

Well well well.......yea I know you have probably all given up on my blog. I have been a terrible blogger haven't I?

Well the summer has been great so far, not too much rain and a lot of beautiful weather. However there has been a great amount of smoke due to the forest fire which is quite near to us, so as soon as the smoke clears up we will spend more time outside.

The Fire

The boys have taken in golf lessons, summer camp, swimming lessons and swim team, archery, camping, and hand games. The last thing we need to do now is take a family holiday!!
Dropping the kids off to go to camp!
The kids won 2nd place at the Hand games tournament, 2 of the team members were missing at the time of the picture...way to go John 3:16
Dad, brothers, sister and Dad won 3rd in the adults division!!

Right now we are at 25 weeks in the pregnancy and have some great news!! We are having a GIRL!!! Everyone here is so ecstatic, as you can imagine. The closet is slowing beginning to have more and more pink!! We have chosen a name for her but will keep it a secret until she is born. So stay tuned.

Here she is at 19 wks in this pic our little "Princess"

Right now hubby and our oldest boy are gone on a work/hunting trip. Lord willing they will be successful in both and come back with a nice cheque and a nice bull moose and caribou!! And maybe sonny will get to get his first kill. So me and the other four boys are going at it this week at the house Hopefully we will get some baking and cleaning done along with some sorting of clothes and inventory of winter stuff, yes I said winter stuff. With the leaves beginning to turn yellow we all know that winter is not too far off!! Maybe my honey's idea of moving way south for the winter's is not such a bad idea, although we would then miss all the sliding and winter weenie roasts with the kids.

And wouldn't you know it, school starts in just 2 weeks. Some of the boys are wanting to homeschool and go to the public school to take part in a few of the courses they offer and the other one is still undecided. We have some talking to do here in the next couple weeks and make a desicion.

In just 5 short days we will be celebrating David's 2nd birthday and then in a month our oldest son turns 13!! Wow how fast time flies. I must always remind myself that these years are such a short time and to take in each moment and treasure it dearly! Children grow so fast they go from being so needy to wanting to do everything for themselves, from wanting to learn everything to thinking they know everything. All these things help us to grow in everyway possible in our Christian walk. Above all we learn so much about LOVE. How to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and strength, and to trust him no matter what comes our way, and how to Love everyone else around us. To be able to show our children these qualities physically, emotionally and mentally is absolutely PRICELESS!! I thank God each and every day for our boys, now a little girl and our marriage and family.

Well my friends, I must get dressed at some point this day and make a trek to the store. I have an order for banana bread and cookies...lol

Love you all and blessings your way

A New Chapter

The Boys on the Big Dump Truck

Well hello all!! Yea yea I know it's been awhile since our last post. Well considering the sickness of being pregnant and our big move, I don't think I am doing too bad!

So where shall I begin.....well after , let me count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 loads I believe...we are finally moved! It was a lot of work but we are here, in our new house somewhat settled and excited about what the Lord has in store for us now. And no there is not a thing I miss about our old house. Only people, good friends and the kid's friend Justin (yea we miss you big guy), Joe, Frankie, David, Carson, Leeland, Jr. and Jimmy oh yes and dare I not forget miss Reagan!!

So about our house..I will post pics later...It is a 5 bedroom house with two bathrooms, dining room, small kitchen (I will have to get used to that) living room and a family room which is now my honey's office. There is a nice size patch of grass in the front and the back yard...well let's just say it needs some work. The only things I don't like is the back yard and the unfinished deck which has some safety issues. But all in all it feels like a home and one of the best things about it......there are NO BUGS!!!! (Yea that's a story for another time)

I love this picture of Noah...read his shirt, and no it wasn't planned

So the town we live is is called Faro, it's not very big but it is absolutely beautiful. You can see mountains out the window and everything is green green green! The people here are very friendly and I have already met a few other moms at a local playgroup we have managed to attend a few times. There is a small grocery store here which has all the necessities to keep one going for awhile, but we will have to do most of our bulk shopping when we go into town. There is no gas station here as it burnt down last year I believe but the next town is only 30 minutes away. So I suppose most people keep a stock pile of gas around. There is an awesome golf course here which, ready for this, runs throughout the town...yes right in town, so always be alert and listening for "Fore". There are 2 ball diamonds, a skateboard park and many smaller little parks around the town. And that is a brief summary of where we are.

David on the swings at a park.

The first 3 1/2 months of this pregnancy were, well honestly, quite awful! I was very nauseated almost all the time, had very little energy, and very very tired! So packing cleaning and moving were all a blurr between the trips to the bathroom and dizziness! But I made it....and no pills to curb the nausea. My thoughts were if I can just get over this it will be okay, and in the end it will have been so worth it! For some of you reading you are probably like "Yea yea lady...nausea is a part of pregnancy", well not for me! I was not like this with any of the boys, only vehicle sickness, but nothing like this! So with all the said I am so hopeful for a girl! I am 16 weeks today! and I am feeling a lot better...Thank God! I have my days here and there of feeling nauseated but it is nothing like before...and I now need to decide if it would be better for me to travel on an empty stomach or what. I have more energy but am still feeling quite tired. Yesterday I could feel the baby really moving about, it was such an awesome feeling to feel this little life inside of me, this miracle growing within. Noah and I have been keeping track of how big the baby is every two weeks. He is amazed by it. I was actually thinking about doing a scrapbook type of project with him and keep track of the sizes and what he says about it. The other boys are excited and all hopeful for a girl too...Daddy doesn't say much but I think he is really hoping for "Daddy's little girl".

After we moved we decided to let the boys attend the local public school here to finish out the year. With the move and my being literally sick and tired...lol....we thought it would be the best decision for them. They are quite enjoying it and have met all the kids and made a lot of friends! We are happy with our decision so far and the kids seem to be right where they are supposed to be....except for Daniel and his reading but we were well aware that he was behind in that. So he is getting an extra boost he needs and we will continue with the Hooked on Phonics program we have over the summer. I do miss them, and teaching them but at the same time I am enjoying the free time to keep up with the house and the time with the younger boys. However regardless of our schooling choices for them in the fall.....we are going to have preschool for Noah and David.

Well that is us and what is up here. We look forward to the summer holidays and all the adventures to come! I will keep updating frequently now that I am settled.
God Bless

What a weekend, and an awesome beginning to the week!!

Well our trip to the city was fun, trying and an adventure, to sum it all up. Not only did we have our 5 boys, we also had our "adopted" son with us.
The boys took part in a Hockey Tournament, which as you can imagine was a lot of going here going there, waking up early, going to bed late and some sick kids at the end of it all. However the kids did great and came in fourth place of the 9 teams in their category. They played 5 games, won 3 and lost 2.
The highlight of their weekend.....they got to see, and touch the legendary Stanley Cup!!!
I never seen kids so excited as they were when they found it it was going to be in the arena!! What a treat for them.
Yep there's my 5 wonderful boys, awestruck over the cup!! Another treat for them was to see their Nana and Uncle Joey. They flew up for the tournament and Uncle Joey played hockey as well. We always enjoy a visit with them even if it is just for a few days. Too bad Grandpa didn't come but next time!

Since we have been home we have been dealing with runny noses, ear infection, fever and a cranky baby! The joys of being in the midst of all those people and germs, but all in all the kids had a great time and got to play their most favorite sport.....Hockey!

Well we have had a great start to the week. Monday and Tuesday everyone was laying pretty low, due to the colds and fevers. We did however accomplish reading and English. Yesterday morning we found out that we are 7 weeks pregnant!! Yay. It is a few months earlier than planned, but God's timing is perfect! So we will have our last little bundle of joy in November! Just in time for her momma's birthday. We are all very excited. All the boys are very sure it is a girl, a couple of them say twin girls and we are being full of faith that we will have our darling daughter that we have been praying for.

Today we did get a lot accomplished considering I have been feeling ill today too. We did more algebra, fractions, Antarctica and finally started our Volcano unit. The boys read through a neat book we bought, about volcanoes and they did a project with lego and made a volcano with it. It was pretty cool, I will have to take pictures of it and put it on an upcoming post. My printer has run out of ink again so my plans for starting a study on Jesus as a boy and then His ministry, will be slower than planned. But maybe this is a good thing for us.

I was quite happy with myself today for getting more things sorted and packed...despite how I was feeling. My poor baby boy had a fever all day and followed me around the house when he had enough energy to get off the couch. I am looking at him now and it seems as though his fever may have finally broke. Thank God!
Well that is all I have to say for now, I am tired and I have some achey bones. Time for a hot hot shower and bed!! Good night all and God Bless you all