Nathan the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

Nathan had his Kindergarten Christmas party on Friday at school. They had face painting, and here he is as Rudolph. I almost didn't want to wash it off at bedtime. WAY too cute.

Nathan's Kindergarten Christmas Song!

Nathan's kindergarten class. They are singing about the candles on the advent wreath. Nathan's 2nd from the left on the top row. He knows I'm taping him!

Zack's Grade 1 Christmas Song!

Zack's class is the top row, and the special needs class is the bottom row. Zack is 7th from the left.

Another New Experience!

Our friends Chris and Brandi have horses, and the boys were dying to see them, and our schedules finally worked out a few weeks ago (just before it snowed!). So we spent Rememberance Day out at the farm and the boys got to ride horses for the first time.
Nathan wanted to be led around the whole time - he didn't want to bother with the reigns or anything, he just loved the ride. Zack, on the other hand, was eager to learn everything about controlling the horse and was able to ride all by himself. I didn't think Zack would like it as much as he did, but he rode for hours and just loved it. We can't wait to go back and ride again!

Anniversary Cookies!

I made these cookies for Pete on our anniversary and took them to his work just before his lunch break as a surprise.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!! ...and I can't get it out of my head.

My Car. The only girl I'll ever have.

This is my car. I'm pretty proud of it, paint chips and door dings and all. It's a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart and, with my hot mechanic husband of course, it's a race car in progress. As of now, it's got the following mods:

- RoadRace short ram air intake

- Magnaflow catback exhaust

- RoadRace piggyback ECU

- ACT Stage 3 clutch kit

- Cross-drilled rotors with ceramic pads in front and rear

- RoadRace underdrive pulley

Here she is looking pretty in the summer after we waxed every inch by hand.

Here's the first mod she ever got - a RoadRace short ram air intake.

Here's the engine bay... It will always be a work in progress.

Brand new cross-drilled brakes with shiny red calipers.

Here she is lookin' fine with new brakes!

Looks like next on the agenda is suspension work, rims/tires, and turbo kit. She having a great life so far... After all, this car has driven 170,000km.

After all of this I have to say that I'm a woman that loves cars. I have always loved driving, I love learning new things about vehicles, and I love that Pete and I both can share a passion for something. Unlike most women that just think this stuff is "pretty" or even "unnecessary," I actually KNOW how all of these modifications work on my car, how they make the engine run smoother, how they make the car go faster... It fascinates and excites me. I love that I know the difference between a straight 6 and a V6 and a flat 4 and a straight 4... The difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger. It's pretty sweet.

I Got The Coolest Thing!

So I got the coolest thing. I saw a mom at the boys' school with one of them, and I stopped her in the hall and asked where she got it (more like accosted her and begged her to tell me where I could find one). I used some of my birthday money (thanks to Mom & Dad H), went to Gifts & Gadgets, and got this. It's called a "Cupcake Courier" and it's exactly what I've been looking for. It holds 36 cupcakes in stackable trays, and the bottom is flat to transport a tall cake. I've been making so many cupcakes lately, and they are SO difficult to transport!

Recent Pictures

Here are some recent shots from the last few weeks... The first is some viking gear that I made for Nathan - he's been loving the movie "How To Train Your Dragon" lately and asked if I could make him a viking helmet. We had so much fun together. Nathan cut out all the circles for me - they're hard to see in the picture... Here's a Lego Bionicle guy that Nathan made one day. He was so proud of it.

This is a picture Zack drew for me on the front of a card. It's me playing keyboards at church. I love it so much!

These next ones are of the boys (and us, but we're not important enough to take pictures of - ha ha) playing hockey on the driveway. This is an almost daily occurrence for our family. The boys are getting really good, and Pete is helping Zack with his goalie skills.

The boys in the car. I'm actually not sure why I took these, but they're awfully cute. I think we were bored in the car.

This picture is of Zack and Nathan holding their two favorite baby boys - Samuel (Zita's little guy - Zack is holding him) and Tobin (Erie's baby boy - Nathan's holding him). Sam and Toby are just 2 days apart. So cute! I think it was either last week or the week before that Galaxyland was free for an entire day on Thursday. We pulled Zack out of school and Pete out of work and had a total blast. It opened at noon and we left around 5:30 when the crowds really hit. It was family time that we'll never forget. I don't know how people can afford to go there - it would have cost us $118 to go! Yikes. I didn't get any non-blurry pics of Zack, so here's a couple of good shots I got of Nathan.

Sunday School

I got this message from one of Nathan's sunday school teachers about class this week:

"Anne (another teacher) asked everyone how you could tell someone was a Christian just by looking at them, if it was even possible. Nathan raised his hand and said, "If he was holding a bible and wearing a moustache."

School So Far

The boys are having a great time at school!

Zack is loving Grade One. He had a hard time adjusting from kindergarten though - no more playing all day, instead he's sitting at his desk doing work. The first few days Zack was pretty sad, he came home depressed that all they did was work. Poor guy, only 11 more years to go. Now that he's adjusted, he loves school again. Zack is making new friends, finding the time to play at recess, and is really excelling in his schoolwork. The biggest change in him since starting school? He now talks even MORE. I never thought it would get like this. Zack gives us a step-by-step descriptive replay of every moment. We won't miss a thing anymore! Besides talking, Zack is still into drawing and reading.

Nathan is having a great time in Kindergarten. His teacher, Miss Fraser, definitely has her hands full! Nathan is everywhere at once in his classroom. His favorite thing about school is when they have library day - he's so proud to bring home a new book every week to show us. All of his choices so far have been books on dinosaurs and animals, and we read them every day. At least Nathan still loves to cuddle among the rest of his activities. His favorite thing ever is still Lego, and it's the first thing he wants to play with every day.

I've enjoyed having both boys in school; people have been asking me, "what on EARTH are you doing with ALL that spare time??" Between making sure the house is all clean so that I can maximize my time with the kids after school and my hotels job with Lafrentz, the day is over so quick. It's nice that the boys get the chance to be somewhere they can make noise! When I'm booking hotels for Lafrentz, I'm constantly telling the boys, "Shhhh, mommy's on the phone with a hotel." So it's nice for them that they don't have to spend the day being quiet while mommy's being boring! Especially since my hotels job has grown enough that I need to work every day.

The boys are becoming so much more independent now. Zack is taking showers by himself, brushing his own teeth, and putting away his laundry. Nathan still needs help for most of this kinda stuff, but for everything else, he prefers to do it himself. I think it's a second-born thing. On the days that only Zack has school, he wants me to drop him off at school - I stay in the car with Nathan and Zack gets out and goes inside. He started doing this the last month of kindergarten. But Nathan wants to do it NOW. So when we pull up to the school, both boys get out, put on their backpacks, and hold hands all the way to Nathan's classroom. I still go inside the school to pick them up, I won't stop doing that part. Nathan's still a momma's boy, and he loves to see me waiting outside his class after school, but he needs that independence... Sigh.

Shooting the Shooting

A few shots of me shooting handguns...

Feeling Stylish!

I have discovered something awesome. Buying glasses online. While some people think it sounds stupid or shady or too good to be true, I decided to go for it. What have I got to lose? Well, besides $8.00 a pair (a COMPLETE pair - lenses included!).

A few months ago I decided to take the plunge and order a $29 pair from goggles4u.com. They weren't too bad at all - I've heard stories about people buying glasses online that had mega-thick lenses that they couldn't even see through because the perscription was all wrong. Here's the first pair of glasses I bought:

Once I got this pair (and a pair of perscription sunglasses too), I heard about zennioptical.com and ordered a few pairs from them. I love Zenni - their selection is huge, and their prices go from just $8.00 a pair up to $34.95. So for less than the price of one boring pair of glasses from a random optometrist around here, I now own 9 pairs of glasses (2 of them sunglasses). Here are some of my favorites:

I love being able to pick glasses every day to go with what I'm wearing - it's super fun. I'd totally recommend it - best 8 bucks I've ever spent.

A New Experience

So Amanda and I have talked about going to the gun range with her dad (a firearms expert for the government) for a few years now. Every time we've planned it, it has fallen through for one reason or another. So a few days ago, Amanda sent me a text asking if I could come to the range on short notice and we made our date. So yesterday I shot a gun for the very first time. It was stressful at the beginning - knowing that you're about to have fun with something that kills people is a tad intimidating! But luckily Amanda's dad trains people to shoot all the time, and is an excellent teacher. I got to shoot a revolver, a 9mm automatic handgun, and a rifle. After a few hours (and LOTS of ammo!), I got the hang of it. Here's my target from the rifle. Not too bad at all!

Santa

So the boys (but especially Nathan) are all about Santa. I mentioned in the car that I was planning the Lafrentz Kids Christmas Party (as I have been for the last few years), and that I needed to call Santa when we got home so that I could book him for the party. Nathan gasped and said in an excited squeaky voice, "You mean you have Santa's PHONE NUMBER??" Of course this was followed by many, MANY questions about Santa's whereabouts, how on earth I could know him, and if I could ask him to bring Nathan Lego for Christmas.

First Day Of School!

Well, last week, both my boys started school. They were so excited that I just couldn't be sad! Zack started Grade 1 - he's in a 1/2 split with a great teacher, and Nathan started Kindergarten with the same teacher that Zack had. I hope she knows what she's in for!

In The Car

The boys are so different when we're on a car ride. Nathan is almost always sleeping, while Zack is awake and enjoying the view. Here are some shots from our trip...This last one is when all the boys had to pee... I snapped it JUST after Zack finished, but they were all standing in a line.

My Favorite So Far...

I did a bouquet a few weeks ago, and I think it's my favorite so far of the bouquets I've done. It's white casablanca lilies with blue orchids. Love it.

Manitou Beach

Well, the drive to our destination in Saskatchewan was not without it's interesting moments... After pulling onto one "Secondary Highway" we were surprised to see the road up ahead:

Which, on a brand-new windshield, didn't leave us without a reminder of it's charm...Our camping trip to Saskatchewan led us to Manitou Beach, just outside of the town of Watrous. This is a really neat lake; it is a salt lake and it is more dense than then Dead Sea! We would have loved to float in it but the weather was SO cold! There's salt foam coming off of the lake, and it blows across the grass like tumbleweeds. The lake was so high this year that it came right up to the road in places, swallowing the sand beach that surrounds it. The view was beautiful though, and the lake was pretty cool to see. You can smell that briny ocean smell, even though you're landlocked. A close-up of the salty foam on the shore.

There was a little playground by the water that we played at for a while.

Zack and Grandpa looking out at the water.

This part was cool - the lake has expanded so much in places, that it is now on BOTH sides of the road that goes around it, making the drive pretty strange as we are on the road that now goes THROUGH the lake!

Where did they learn this?

A couple of months ago, the boys and I made cookies for the shop guys and went to visit Pete on his lunch break. While we were in the lunch room, Nathan noticed that Pete's boss, Bert, had a cigarette tucked behind his ear. Nathan, realizing what it was, looked at Bert very seriously and said, "Bert, smoking makes you die."

In the past couple of weeks I've decided that, instead of using a can of Coke every morning for a caffeine boost, I'm going to drink coffee instead. Yesterday, while I was working on the computer and drinking my coffee, Nathan looked at me and said, "Mommy, coffee makes you crazy."

Family Camp-Out!

This weekend brought us to a place we've never been, in an situation we've never been in before. We went for a Heinbuch family camping trip. We picked up the boys from Grandma & Grandpa's in Rocky Mountain House, and we all drove together to Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan to camp for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Pete's sister Sarah and her husband Shaun and their dogs came up, and Pete's grandma and his brother Dave and wife Rachel came up from Wisconsin and met us there, too. Not only was it our first BIG road-trip (10 hours driving there from Rocky), but it was also our first experience camping. Here's our home away from home. It fit us really well - lots of room and we could even stand up on the inside, too.
We set up in the cold and rain, but once we got settled, it didn't really matter. We had such a great time with everyone. More pics to follow!