Weekend Fun

This weekend we are on an adventure. Well, not really but we did drive out to spend the weekend in Medicine Hat. My cousin Kyle is getting married and so we have come to celebrate.
The girls were so excited to see all the Westcoast family. We are so incredibly lucky to have our amazing Aunty Shelly. I am not sure why she still has anything to do with me since I was not the greatest cousin growing up but she is AMAZING! and goes far beyond for my kids. We are so loved by her that it is beyond belief. Great gran is also here do we know that tomorrow will be a great day :)
Today the girls did the waterslides here at the Medicine Hat Lodge. Charlee went first and was fearless! She loved going down and shrieked excitedly and had to bound back up the stairs for more. Mckinna took a little convincing at first. I even had to just kinda force her onto the lower slide. But, after a couple rides with mom she was confident to go on her own. It made her seem amazingly big when she ventured up then down several times accompanied by her incredible cousins.
Surprisingly Kamryn did not want to even venture onto the slides tonight. After her fearless display of roller coaster riding in Disney I mistakenly thought that she would LOVE water slides. I am still hopeful that perhaps tomorrow she will at least try one, after all on the Disney boat she did the water slide unassisted with no water wings....she says this one is to high up. At least she had a good time swimming and making friends in the pool.
My incredible husband sent me for a pedicure earlier this evening and in the morning I am going for a massage. I am so thankful that he allows me to indulge in this not cheap habit of mine. Have I mentioned that I think he is amazing? He has been really stepping up his game and helping out with the kids a ton. Bedtime has become a lot more teamwork which is so helpful. He has been able to help with pick ups and drop offs. It is so amazing to see him grow and change and really step into being a hands on, caring father. He even came in the pool tonight and helped out despite the fact that I don't think his knees were feeling up to it. I am so thankful for the sacrifices he makes for our daughters and our family.
Now I am tired but again I remind myself as I lie here in a warm hotel bed with my beautiful daughters sleeping safely and securely, I am BLESSED!

If I should die...

I know that it seems kinda morbid but I am a realist and I know that we all leave this earth. Some are blessed to live long lives stretching through decades and others leave before even taking a breath on this earth. One thing that I know for certain is that when my life comes to an end I want to make sure that I have said a few important things.
No matter when I leave this earth I want everyone around me to know how incredibly blessed I am. Sure there was pain in my path, as there is in everyone's but in perspective of the suffering that many endure I have lived a life full of privilege. I am truly and remarkably blessed to have been born into an amazing country with many freedoms. I have a family that loves me, supports me and provides for me. I have an amazing roof over my head, food on my table, water and electricity. I could go on but you get the idea.
I also want my family to not focus on the things that I will miss when I leave this earth but rather be thankful for the memories and moments we shared. My heart is full with the love filled memories of the day I married my amazing husband. I tear up when I think about the blessed births of each of my four beautiful daughters. Holding them as they took their first breathes in this world....amazing. I am so very blessed to have been able to see them grow out of baby clothes, learn to walk, to talk, to ride bikes and start school. There are many parents who will never share these moments with their children. I. Am. Blessed.
I want my girls to know that I am proud of them. Not for what they will become or what they look like but for who they are. I want them to know that they are here for a purpose and sometimes that purpose is just to bring love and joy to a single person.
I know that for a long time I focused on doing something big and amazing with my life but I know that I have done something amazing. My love for another person has created four beings..that is as big as it gets.
I guess that what I am trying to say is that when I leave this world please don't be sad thinking of how unfair the circumstances may be. Rather rejoice in the fact that I had time, no matter how long or short it may have been.
Most of all remember always that I LOVE you all with my whole heart, so much that I can feel it.

First tooth

This weekend was a busy one. I had a booth at the Children's festival so Jordynn and I hung out for the day. Anthony took the rest of the girls with him to grandma and grandpas. It was fun to spend the day with Jordynn in the wrap. Not too long and she will be walking everywhere and not needing momma to carry her.
Saturday night I pulled out Mckinnas first tooth. I didn't have to pull hard, it pretty much popped right out. She was so excited.
Today was such a beautiful day that we went out for a bike ride/walk to the park. We picked up snow bobs and had a picnic supper. The girls played on the park and we watched and threw balls for the dog. It seems so simple but we are so very blessed to live in a country where we can do things like this. It is so amazing to be safe and secure and to have so many great parks so close by.

Thank-you basket for a job well done.

It was six years ago this month that this Graco carseat was added to our family. Two months before our first baby was due my eBay shopping lead me to buy a single stroller, double stroller and this carseat. All matching and all coming illegally from the USA. Fast forward six years and we have a basket that expired in December 2010 but is still carrying our baby. Yesterday it went on its final voyage, next stop is the garbage but before it head there it deserves a good thanks for taking care of our babies. I am sure that one day my kids will look back with disbelief that we could put our babies in such an unsafe device lol

We have a walker...kinda...

So I think that I am ready to make it official. Over the past couple days Jordynn has been trying her best to take some steps. Today she succeeded! She has been cruising from object to object and has managed to take as many as four or five totally unassisted steps to bridge the gap between objects. She is a brave little monkey and throws herself fully into whatever object she is aiming for. Almost overnight she has grown by leaps and bounds. She claps and dances, says the regular mama, dada, nana. It is hard to believe that in under a month she will be one. Amazing!
Mckinna is still working on getting her first loose tooth to fall out. She had hoped it would fall out almost immediately but now has resigned to the fact that it may take some time. The new tooth has sprouted up behind though so who knows how long it will take.
Kamryn is on a horse, wedding kick right now. She is all about marrying Brennan from preschool but apparently her and Jack Huggins also recently got married. Jack informed his mom (Tammy) that I cannot know of this marriage because I will probably give her a time out. Every night before she goes to sleep she asks me where we are going to meet. Often she suggests the barn or the racetrack for us to ride our fast horses. I am glad that she still wants to be a cowgirl. I was worried that after she fell off the pony she might not be so keen on the idea. She is a strong, brave little lady that is for sure.
Charlee is getting better and better at talking. She still manages to confuse more then a few people with what she is saying but it is getting better. She is very excited to have a birthday and has expressed her desire for "Mick mouse clubhouse" cake. Should be interested seeing as I am such a domestic diva lol
Have I mention that I love my life? Well trust me I do. I have the most amazing husband and children and we are so blessed to live the life we do. I want to be thankful for each and every single day that I wake up because life is precious and does not need to be taken for granted. I am so thankful that I have gotten to see my children grow to this point and hope and pray that we have many years ahead.

An Easter to remember

Easter weekend is coming to a close and we have had such an amazing time. There was no "one" great event that made the weekend so memorable but rather a wonderful chain of activities that left me with so many wonderful memories.
On Friday night we all gathered on the couch to kick off another family movie night. This weeks selection (moms choice) was We Bought a Zoo. This movie was also very fitting since I had just listened to Jared Heidinger speak about losing his amazing wife Krista but that is another story. This was the first movie night that I can remember where we all sat snuggling for pretty much the whole movie. It came after a little threat of watch the movie or go to bed but apparently that worked because I was surrounded by the three oldest girls and Anthony spent time snuggling with Jordynn.
Saturday night was dinner at the Doyle's with uncle TJ and nanny and pop pop. Not only was dinner delicious but the Easter bunny had made an appearance there and the girls raced around searching for eggs. Following dinner and dessert overload my mom took the kids for a little swim in the hot tub. Jordynn missed out on the swim but was busy practicing her walking in the living room while the rest of us turkey stuffed adults visited.
Sunday was busy but boy was it fun. Started off with Easter baskets and a hunt in the backyard. Following that we packed up the Chaos and headed off to church. There were baptisms to celebrate and Mckinna made me laugh when she asked about the hypnotisms. After a quick lunch and nap we headed off to Jackie and Ryan Matchetts house. We had rubber duck races, an egg hunt and enjoyed a little BBQ supper. Between us, the Huggins and the Matchetts we had ten kids and I think the oldest was eight lol The girls had a great time running around playing and I had a great time sharing in some adult conversation.
The day ended with a bath. The kids are all still little enough to bath together which is fun and crazy at the same time. I know that I say this often but I am SO blessed and as I watch my family and share in each day with them I cannot help but want to say thank-you to God for every. Single. Second. Of this great life he has given me.

Amazing Love

Today is Easter Sunday. As I lay here in my amazing house surrounded by safety, warmth and happiness I begin to ponder what I ever did to deserve so much blessing. I am vastly aware that in the world I live in I have more blessings then so, so, so many people. I am a perfectionist and have always strived to be successful and "attain" things even though in my head I know that I will never be "good enough" or "deserving enough."
I was hit by a deep thought of sorts, at least for me. When each of my children were born I fell in love, like deep, vast, unending, heart hurting love with them almost instantly (the shock that I had yet another girl may have hit me first lol) I loved these little beings before they had done anything, and I mean anything. My love for them didn't hang on what they looked like or what they could or couldn't do. It didn't matter that they kept me up all night or cried even when I was trying my best to get them to stop. I just loved them for being them. I know and scripture tells me that Gods love for me is greater then any love that I can feel. Since this is true, I know that God loves me just for being me...no string attached. This is a simple revelation of sorts but when I think and ponder on it it becomes deeply personal.

Joys of Technology

So it is late and by late I mean 1:25am. I have like a zillion things going through my head. At the forefront of those thoughts is my desire to be a better blogger. Mostly for two reasons. 1. As much as I say and think I won't forget the important things, I do 2. I want my girls to be able to one day look at this and know that from the very beginning I prayed for them and wanted only to be the very best mom for them that I could be (I screw this one up a lot)
Now this leads into technology how you might ask...well, my amazing, handsome husband upgraded my phone and I just discovered an app that allows me to blog on my phone. To me this is amazing. To any other tech savy person this is probably basic phone 101. At any rate, perhaps just maybe, now that I can blog on my phone I will do it more often. I still need to write about our Disneyland adventure and the fact that Jordynn is just one month away from being one year old. Wow! This has been one amazing year.