Kalia's Itinerary

The Monday Daddy took off work, we let Kalia plan the itinerary.
Since Annaliesse planned a day the beginning of the month, Kalia has been waiting for her turn.

We talked about it Saturday and Sundat and after much diliberation she choose

• The Climbing Wall
• The Mall
• FHE taught by her and Annaliesse- complete with their choice of treat and to help make it.

First up The Calgary Climbing Wall. Justin took Kalia wall climbing for her 6th Birthday and she hasn't forgotten. She is a total natural, Barker and Annaliesse enjoyed themselves too. Barker did get scared a few times and we had a couple melt downs 15 feet in the air, and ripped par of shorts.

The kids used the auto belay for the morning. By the end of the morning Kalia could hook herself and the other kids up to it. Remy started to get super super bored. She was really good for the most part- but her turn will come in a couple years.

We found out the admission is for a day pass, so after the kids were tired and ready for food, we headed over to the mall for lunch and for Kalia's second thing on her list. Kalia wanted to do Claires, The Lego Store, American Girl Doll, and Build a Bear.

Mom is a total sucker for The Lego Store, we have never managed to enter with buying something... This time the kids got to choose something $5 or less... Kalia and Barker got a Lego Key Chain, Remy a Lego Cup, and Annaliesse a pet kit. Remy already loves her cup and carried it around all day. Kalia spent some money in Claires and Annaliesse loved her one on one time in the American Doll Store. The mall wasn't exactly what I had imagined for our day with the kids, but the 2 big girls LOVED it. It goes to show how much they are growing up. :(

We headed back to the Climbing wall about 2:00 and spent the next two hours there. Justin used to Belay back when he was younger, so he took the test they had and spent the next couple hours Belaying for the kids. The kids liked this way more- they could move around more and hang in the air! Remy napped for the first hour and then her and I headed in. 

Off to home for Kalia's last and favorite part. Her Family Home Evening she planned for the family. On Sunday at Grandmas house her and Annaliesse were kept busy for a couple hours planning. FHE was on temples. The girls held up pictures of different temples and asked which ones they were and told us when they are dedicated. They wanted to move on to the activity but Justin and I intervened and we talked a little about what temple marriage is and why we hold it so dear to our hearts. We then, built temples out of legos for our activity and had Soda Cracker Candy. Thanks Kalia for the great day.

Saturday

Guess who got home Saturday afternoon???

Welcome HOme Justin!

 Early Saturday morning, the kids and I headed out to the ward camp out for a Pancake Breakfast and the kids played in nature for a couple great hours. We sat around and chatted with people from the ward and branch. It was great to see a few friends who have been off on vacations and others who's path I have not crossed at church for a while. We camped at Sliversprings again this year, it's such a great place to let the kids play in the trees, discover, pick Saskatoons and just be kids.

While we were sitting around visiting and a sister in the ward came over to tell us that High River is now doing Swimming lessons- previously this year they had said it wasn't happening this summer, but they hired more staff and are offering them in August. The kids played till about 11 and then went right over to the Rec Plex and registered the kids for 2 weeks in August! Whoot Whoot! 

I am thrilled and so are the kids.

Instead of heading home and moping about till Dad got home we headed off to the park to meet Cathy (Barkers Primary teacher and a good friend) and her Nefew, Cole, Kalia headed to a friends house. By the time The littles and I got home, put Remy and Barker down for a nap and started cleaning the kitchen Justin got home! He had said he would be back about 3:00 but he surprised us 2 hours early!

This pic is the kids waiting for the little dodads Justin brought home for them.

When Justin leaves for weeks at a time, one of the hardest  things for him is constantly having to eat out. We made one of our family favorites to celebrate, Broccoli Cheese Sauce, Baked Potatoes BBQ Chicken and Corn on the Cob. Remy loves the cheese sauce and licked it off everything and asked for more.. She did east some food, but mostly cheese sauce. So yummy!

We ended our great day with a bike ride from our house to George Lane Park. 6.3 KM round trip. The ride there was easy and the kids were so great. The ride back the kids were still great, but tired. It was much further back. LOL

Lake Day

Lake Day with cousins!

Its so great to live close enough to play with cousins in the summer. Sherilyn and I met up at her Lake to play the afternoon away. It was the perfect day for swimming and playing in the sand. The kids ended up playing with all the kids around them, including these awesome sand shovels- every kid on the beach had total envy. Karla and her girls joined us a bit later and soon enough it was time to go.

Remy taking a picture of Emmerson with her toy phone... so darling.

Newsies!

I have been waiting for this for MONTHS. MONTHS!

The 1992 Movie is quite different, but I really liked the play- its one of those I would go see again. And next time I need to take my girls :)

Upbeat and exciting, plus the harmonies were phenomenal! 

It was so great. I feel like the actress playing Catherine could have been stronger, but the newsies were the real fun ones to watch :)

Science Centre vs Laundry

Somehow the stars aligned Wednesday for Annaliesse to have a play date with Shelby in Red Deer.

Grandpa had a meeting up there Wednesday morning, and so he agreed to take Annaliesse and drop her off at Shelby's to play for the day. 

The other three and I decided to hit up the Science Centre without her. Annaliesse is NOT a fan of the Science Centre- so to take a trip without her whining about seemed to good to pass up :)

I convinced Lauren to come, and as we were chatting while the kids played, we both agreed we felt like we should be home getting things done.

Instead of being home folding 5 loads of laundry and cleaning the basement before we leave again next week, we spent a great morning at the Science Centre. 

Barker writing his name on the water wall :)

Remy two favorite things... the water piano and the hand washing station. As the other 4 times we have been there with our pass Remy spent 15 playing at the hand washing station... she would have gone longer had I not worked to distract her.

The outdoor area has sure changed a lot since our pass 2 years ago! Swings- fun fun swings and even a little climbing wall.

Thanks for the great time BennettS!

Pumpkin Patch Soap

We made soap in May remember... Lemon Grass Oatmeal Soap

Heather, Dianne and I got together again to make some more :) Heather and I made soap, Dianne was here to observe for a possible Super Saturday class.

Last month Heather and I ordered some 10 or so fragrances online and we wanted to make a couple "Pumpkin Patch" batches so it would have time enough to set so we could use it this fall. The smell of this Fragrant Oil smells just like it sounds.. fall in a bottle.. so nice!!

But once again we had a major, actually 2 major whoops'.

The recipe we used was Connie's Head to Toe Bar. 30-30-30-10.

• 30% Coconut Oil
• 30% Canola Oil
• 30% Lard and
• 10% Grape seed Oil or Sunflower Oil

These are just the oils then you also need Distilled water and Lye, Fragrances are optional. 

We did it without Oatmeal or cream this time.. after the 2 whoops' we just wanted to get it right before we added more ingredients :(

Before we started I double checked all on the soap calculator online and got ready. We made a 1500 gram batch- it fits in a cake pan.

We melted a batch each and combined the lye and oils and added water and Lye, mixed it all waiting for the tracing to occur... and it happened but WAY TO FAST! We had another mini volcano, it got all over the sink and counter. We got it all cleaned up and hoped for better results for the second batch. We thought we had mixed it to fast and trace occurred to fast. So we tried it again with a second batch.... same thing... except it exploded in the oven. Way harder to clean up. Luckily even with the exploding saponification it is still useable- we pour it back in the pot- melt it so it will pour a bit and put it back in the pan. 

Three things make this sad and frustrating... 

1. it makes a huge mess and the lye is still active so you have to clean it up fast, carefully and hope it doesn't wreak anything. It is really really hot and the Lye will burn you- my pinky finger still hurts
2. A lot is wasted. You can reuse it if you catch it all but with it erupting all over- you do end up loosing some.
3. It is not aesthetically pleasing to the eye. At all- it looks rather terrible. 

 A phone call to Connie happened after the second batch..

Turns out we had forgotten about the temperature of the Lye and Oils. Everything was way way to hot and that caused the saponification to happen way to quickly. :( Temperature of the Lye and melted together Oils should be about 130-100 degrees- Just as I was calling Connie, I said to Heather, I wonder if it is the temperature of the oils.. It totally was. Also some Fragrance Oils cause the saponification to happen faster- which was also the problem with the Pumpkin Patch scent.

Our third batch turned out perfectly. We melted the oils and cooled the batch in a sink of ice water and let the Lye mixture sit for about 25 minutes. It poured into the pan like cake batter- smooth and pretty- exactly what we were looking for.We ended up making Pumpkin Patch/Orange Ginger soap, cause our bottles of scents only stretch for 2.5 batches... don't worry it also smells amazing. 

Here is a plate of our first batch fail and the last of my Lemon Grass Oatmeal Soap. The Pumpkin Patch scent also cause the soap to turn a beautiful buttery yellow color. My house smelt like Fall for days :)

Above the first wreaked batch of Pumpkin Soap with the Oatmeal Soap we made very first.

Below the perfect batch of Orange Ginger Pumpkin Soap with the other wreaked batch of Yellow Pumpkin Soap.

Tarts

We just got back from Moms and Dads- we always go over there for Sunday dinner. This week Mark and Lindsay were up and I made Saskatoon tarts from the Saskatoons we picked at YW and Ward camp this week. 

Making tarts is simple enough. I cheat and buy already made tart shells. For the filling per 4 cups of Saskatoons you combine a scant cup of white sugar with 3 tbsp of cornstarch... Simple enough start eh?

Ya well, I dropped moms massive can of cornstarch ALL. OVER. Mostly on me and my one shoe-it got everywhere- thank you to Justin and Mom for helping clean it up! 

We got back to tarts... Add enough water to melt the sugar and cornstarch together then add the Saskatoons and cook over low heat until the berries start to bust and boil and the filling thickens. At this point add a bit of lemon juice, Cool the filling down a bit then put it into the tarts and cook at 375 for 16 minutes. 

As I was serving I dropped one on Moms foot. At that point I walked out of the kitchen and let everyone serve themselves... The tarts were a hit. So yummy. 

After we headed home and put the little two to bed. The big girls got to have a late night with Mom and Dad to watch Malificant. Barker is right mad about it and Remy was not impressed. 

Can I just say we love having Daddy home! And we love having Grandma and Grandpa close- we are so blessed. 

Snapshots

Its been a few weeks with no random pictures.. to many things going on, I blog a whole day instead.

Barker made this for Justin a few Sundays ago... Dad, Thank yo for Jesus. Sweet boy.

Barker found the game Battleship at Grandmas and Grandpas- we worked together to annihilate Grandpa! Barker used his letter and number skills he is working on and loved the time we spent playing.

Annaliesse got a spider bite or something while we were camping. She was actually covered in mosquito bites and at first we thought it was just a infected one. It looks way different now- hope it will heal correctly.

Last.. this picture is fantastic. Makes me laugh!! Goals. People. Old People Goals.

Home Days

Sunday started out smoothly but by the end of the opening prayer in sacrament, and the fact that Justin wasn't home, like he originally was going to be, everything went down hill...

Barker tossed a kicking and screaming fit durning the sacrament hymn in which I had to drag him out- Annaliesse pestered all of her siblings the entire meeting and Remy whined on my lap on and off the entire meeting. Things calmed down after we got home and had lunch with quiet time and naps- I had time to check on my garden, which I was pretty sure was beyond repair after that hail storm at the end of June. It wasn't pretty :(

Our grass that we planted in may after leveling out the yard is growing great- it was up to Kalia's shins almost!

My peas are not coming back after that hail and my radishes all went to seed for some reason- the hail also stripped my tomato plants of all flowers... my carrots and zucchini might make it though...

But by the time we headed to Grandma and Grandpas for dinner, things were getting outta hand again. But then this happened...

Bedtime seemed to easier after that, and my patience and long suffering lasted just a little longer....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday we were home. I had a mountain of Laundry to climb, sleep to catch up on and cleaning to do.

We had a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

The kids were horrific. The best is when I was changing laundry, which was literally up to my shins, the kids bugging me about sewing lessons and the spray park and the sprinkler, I go "Not today, today is a down day so I can get stuff done" and Kalia (age 8) shouts "We never go anywhere and do anything fun. You say NO to everything!!"

Seriously?!?! Did she just say that?!!?!

I think we have been home for like 6 days all of July... not to mention the million and one things we have done since school let out!!!!!


The day continued in that fashion with the kids tossing fits every two seconds or fist fighting.. no joke.

I took them to the park after Remy's nap thinking to get some energy out and maybe just maybe there weren't being terrible maybe Mom needed a break too - but they just fought there.

We got through the day thanks to Grandpa for stopping by and mowing our back yard, Grandma stopped by to say hi to the kids for a bit and Aunt Laura came over for dinner and helped with jammies. The kids were all in bed by 7:05. Remy and Barker asleep before Justin called at 7:10 wanting to talk to the kids... sorry honey but it was survival of the fittest... and I finally won!