Yay! I got my shot!!

I have a back up camera from the office, I am back in business!!

I finally got that much desired shot of my son in his new big boy pants!!

He was even nice enough to show us the cool spiderman in the back!!

Today is my 30th birthday! Feels kinda the same as any other day so far, got up, ate breakfast, doing some laundry...

Oh Happy Day!

My email is up and running and I am one happy little camper.

Thanks Dad for your efforts to get it going, I appreciated the listening ear and genuine concern in my dire time of need!!

Just for you, I am posting a photo of Harry and friends as a "thanks" for your help!!

(don't ask people, seriously, DON'T ASK!)

Still No Email...

I do have a few more answers and you know how empowering knowledge can be:) I guess my good friends over at Comcast have been in over their heads the last few days. Perhaps I shall cut them just a little slack. I have it on good authority that quite a few people are back up and running with their email now and little old me well, I am still without....grrr...

I couldn't decide which "1" to use....
and since I can't post updated photos from my camera these days, I shall rely heavily on the lovely images I find on the internet because CLEARLY

a blog is much more interesting with pictures:)

While I'm On A Roll...

It also sucks that my camera is broken. Right now Caleb is sporting his new spiderman underpants and I am certain this sight is worthy of documentation alas, my hands are tied.

This lame photo off the internet will have to do. He picked these out himself and he is very pleased. I am amazed how fun it is to buy "guy stuff" like this, I guess it is just so different than the girly world I have lived in for almost 30 years (especially the past 8 years)

My Email Sucks

Plain and simple. Comcast SUCKS. I can not log on and I am going on day 3 with no email. I am sure they are making some kind of necessary upgrade but I don't really care. I can't really see past they fact that I am incumunicado! In some ways it feels like life as I know it is over, in others, it feels like I have a lot more free time:)

Any way you slice it, the main reason for this little rant is to let you all know that I am not getting my emails and that is why (in advance) I am not responding. If you know anyone over at comcast, put in a good word for me!!

Potty Training A Boy Ain't So Bad Afterall!!

Caleb Michael is really into potty training these days. I say bring it on! I have adopted an effective method of potty training I thought I'd share. This only works on second, third, fourth children...All I do for my recipe for success is inform all of my kids that anyone whom sits with the potty trainer and encourages them to stay put until the job is done will be rewarded the same treat that the pooper gets (ususally a chocolate chip or an m&m...yes, my kids are easily bribed:) This has worked beautifully with Mailee and Maddie and as you can see from the picture below, my plan seems to be working once again!



side note: This is the book about Nosey the elephant that used to live at the Fresno Zoo when I was a little girl...Maddie loves this book. Sometimes I will come in cause she is crying and when I ask what is wrong she says she misses Nosey (nosey died, years ago and it talks about it in the book)

I'm amusing myself with finding numbers for my little countdown!!:)

Work Day

Tonight, I have a pile of projects to complete:

-patriotic curlies for Kim

-finishing touches on sand ceremony

-sew strap back on a dress for Mikayla (so she can wear it to Grandparent's Day at school tomorrow)

hmm, looking at the list, it isn't really all that much to complete, I just have to get started!!

Thanks for listening to my pep talk to myself:)

A New Bridge for Kelowna

Yesterday was an historic day here in Kelowna. Our town cut the ribbon on the new bridge and all us curious Canadians(I use this term loosly of course) were allowed loose on the bridge to walk the length and I suppose "check it out" for ourselves.

Our personal family pilgrimage was enjoyed by all and will no doubt be one of those memories that won't soon be forgotten. When HWY 41 in Fresno was built, my dad took me and my brother for a bike ride before it opened. That must have been at least 15 years ago and I have not forgotten!!:) In case the memory begins to fade, here are some fuzzy pictures off of my cell phone. (did I forget to mention, my camera died at the dance show, perhaps it was on strike from over-use??!!)

The Banman Family, now official "Westsiders" are quite happy with the new bridge that is promising to shave minutes off our travel time to and from work and school!!

Out with the old... can you see the old bridge, in all it's disrepair, over to the right?

It was a family affair. We actually walked to and from the Dolphins

(which only means something to a handfull of people whom might be reading this blog as you would have to come to Kelowna to understand it:)

Here is a better picture of the old bridge, to the left...it was a drawbridge or something like that...the kind that stops traffic everytime a measly sailboat wants to pass under.

I quite like this photo because you can see all the people walking the bridge. That will never happen again! Very cool.

The new bridge has lower railings which allows motorists a plesant view of the lake as opposed to the old bridge which displayed an entire kilometer of cement walls!

So Frustrated

My internet has been teasing me all day. It lets me on long enough to get a taste and then logs me off again. So cruel. It is also shocking how desperate I am to be on the internet!!! Perhaps if I could be on I wouldn't want to so bad but because it is not an option, I wait, agonizing over all the things I could be doing online. Sighing and tapping my fingers as I try again, and again....

What if the whole world wide web stopped one day? What would happen to all that information???? I've never had the inspiration to ponder such a thing till today, when my internet is down and I am feeling the pain and anguish of being unable to access the unlimited-ness (I think I made that word up:) that is the internet.

Ah but for a moment here, I am back online, typing away! I will just embrace this space in time, however short it may be, and enjoy this world where nobody needs a snack, a clean shirt, a lunch or their bum wiped...all too soon the buzzer will go on the dryer right about the time the internet logs me off again and I will have no excuse to procrastinate any longer!

My 20's have been good to me, so sad to see them go:)

Less than one week to the big 3-0!


(didn't make this one either.)

My Big Fat Family Photo Shoot

Mike's Grandparents are in town so we decided it would be a great time to get some family photos. (Just to set the scene, this photo shoot took place from 9:30-11:30 am today, saturday. The dance shows were are 2 and 7 today. It was a very busy day!)

DISCLAIMER: I took all these photos, they are just my shots from the day. The nice photographer is still editing the amazing photos that she took for us!

Here is our cute photographer in action

Walking with the great-grandparents. Caleb had a little meltdown before this shot. Man was he ever a pill for a little while! We bribed him with gum and he was back in action!

Little Buddies

aw, I love this one! (the guy AND the photo:)

All the kids- too cute!

Dance Show Delights...

Mikayla and Mailee performed in the dance show tonight. They had two shows so it was a LOOONG day! I just have to say, I love everything about the dance show, the whole excitement and all the costumes and helping the kids get where they need to be... it is such a fun atmosphere! I think I am reliving some part of my childhood but enjoying it even more as a mom cause I can actually watch my kids and see them enjoy all these fun things!

My girls did really well and had a ton of fun. They are already talking about taking 3 classes next year- yikes!!

The girls got flowers for their lovely dancing. Caleb is missing..he was outside with an auntie. Yeah, dance performances aren't really his thing:)

These are flappers, it is three tap classes combined. Both of our girls were in the blue along with a friend from school and their cousin Jenaya.

Mailee in her ballet costume, Minnie Mouse!!

I am pretty sure no words are needed, the costume says it all!

Mikayla in her ballet class. They were lemonade girls...still not quite sure what that was, I guess little girls who set up lemonade stands..? Doesn't matter, they were adorable!!

Six of these girls are Mikayla's friends from school as well.

Mailee is 6, all the other girls in her class are 8 and 9. The teacher sort of made an exception to put her in the class to make the class a nice even number and so the sisters and cousin could be together, which was really nice! Anyways, I was so proud of the way Mailee kept up with the big girls and really shined. She is a talented little dancer!!

T-minus seven days to 30!

So You Think You Can Dance Kelowna...

Tonight was the dress rehersal for the big dance show. I was helping backstage which I fully enjoyed...it's amazing how much it takes to put a show together!

I have just been thinking how precious this time is, when the girls are big enough to do things without me but small enough to still want me there.

They were so cute, all filled with excitement.

I just want to freeze time and soak it all in before they move on to bigger and better things!!

Here's a picture I took while standing in the wings...not so sure that is where I was supposed to be but it felt right at the time:)

Mailee's ballet class doing their best minnie mouse dance. More photos to come tomorrow night-late!!!!!

Word-A-Day

me: (in a loud calling out tone) "maddie, where are you? come here babe"
Caleb : (running down the rall, hands on either side of his mouth, in a loud calling out tone) "baaabe" " you?"

Caleb seems to say a new word everyday. It is so cute and always takes us by surprise! Today his new word is "babe"!!

Drama Queen

Mike informed me yesterday that I am dramatic. I'm okay with that. Life wouldn't be very interesting without a flair of drama here and there, don't you think??

Only eight more days till I "arrive" at 30...Still wondering if I might feel any different? I'm pretty sure I won't feel older, that already happened a few weeks ago when I tried to teach the girls how to do a headstand and got so light headed that I almost passed out.

Geez, that used to be so easy!!??

Family Fun

Mike's Grandparents arrived today...very exciting! The kids were especially thrilled because Grandma Crick brought candy and treats galore!!! No, seriously, she had a rolling suitcase, a storage tub and a plastic grocery bag each filled with homemade baking!

During this visit they will get to enjoy the dance show with three great-granddaughters performing in it, be involved in a family photo shoot, and come to Grandparent's Day at the kids' school.

So fun! Before we know it they will be back on a plane so we are going to try to soak up every minute together.

Here are all the kids with Grandma Crick and their sticks of candy:)

Nine days left in my 20's !!

Project of The Night

Accessories for the girls' flapper costumes...the big dance show is this saturday...

stay tuned for more on that!!

For amusement's sake, I am counting down to my 30th birthday...10 glorious more days in my 20's and then it's off to the real grown up world!!

(I did not make this cake, I just grabbed it off the internet:)

Digging Duo

We had a guy come out to do some "landscaping" (I always thought landscaping meant planting flowers, trees and bushes but apparently when you only have dirt, landscaping includes moving the dirt around!) At any rate, Caleb got to "Ride" the digger with his Daddy! Here are my guys on the digger.

Cousins are Cool!

I love watching our kids and their cousins together. They all love eachother so much. They all go to the same school and see eachother daily. Even on the weekends, we enjoy doing fun stuff as a big family. Today we played mini golf at a great place here in town- just look at that view!

I am quite impressed with myself for arranging these 7 children in order of age and snapping the picture with everyone of them looking quite darling- yay!

This right here is the number one reason we moved to Kelowna! (and I am not talking about the view!) What an awesome blessing for our children to grow up being a part of a big, loving, close family!!

Madsaladsa

Maddie is just as cute as ever these days! She has taken on the role of the talker in our family. Man can that girl talk! Not only can she talk, she talks in a louder tone than the average talking tone. She is so funny, she follows us around asking questions she knows the answers to, informing us about which sibling is breaking what rule, singing whatever song is in her head, and it goes on and on.

The only time that Maddie stops talking is when she has her blankie. When she is holding her blankie she goes into the "blankie zone" and the whole world around her disappears!

Here she is with her blanks and also taking a big lick of her first ice cream of the summer (cotton candy flavor, of course).

Free Spirit

Mailee Joy is the free spirit in our bunch. She does things her own way, thank you very much! In the past week alone, I have captured 3 glorious moments of Mailee exercising her right to free, um, spiritedness!

New goggles being put to good use on a school field trip

I love her tiny legs with these big rubber boots, and choice of the frilly top and skirt to go outside and play in the mud!

It was really sunny so she is squinting but you can still apreciate the bike, it is the smallest size you can get. Maddie's is bigger but Mailee is happy on this one and does not want to upgrade. These shoes are perfectly cute but for no apparent or explainable reason she has refused to wear them for the past 4 months and then on this particular day she was scrambling around to find them cause she HAD to wear them with this outfit!! Also note the rock and roll scarf complimenting the ensemble. She wears this scarf quite often because "it flows in the wind" .

I am so thankful for Mailee and how comfortable she is with what she likes and how she likes it. She is such a sweet and fun girl! Although I have fought her a bit over her wardrobe choices, I am learning to appreciate and embrace her unique sense of style and beginning to realise how integral that is to the special person that she is!

The "Buddy Party"

Caleb refers to his friends as his "buddies". Here are some photos of his fun party. He loves diggers and dirt and construction so we held his party in the playground accross the street so the kids could dig up a storm. Caleb had a great time and it took quite a bit of pursuading to get him inside to eat his cake!

I am so thankful my son in a house full of sisters is turning into such a guy's guy!