My tiny girl is 5!!!

Last weekend we celebrated Maddie's 5th Birthday. I was surprised how hard her turning 5 hit me. I guess 5 is the age of school and everything big girl...the baby years are completely gone!



Maddie wanted a "puppy and kitty" party. It turned out to be a really fun theme! Click on the photo to see the whole album.

With Mads turning 5, I have a new appreciation for this new little girl who will arrive in May. I do love babies and baby girls are too much fun! I have a space in my closet with her little pile of clothes and thinking about many more years of hair bows and dresses is very fun!

Granola Crunchers

Maddie and I made granola today. It really is so good and super easy to make. I had a few people ask for the recipe so I thought I'd just post it here! I am not much of a "measurer" (yes I made that word up) so please keep in mind this is more of a guide to follow and you can modify it as you like it!

Banman's Granola


2 cups rolled oats (NOT quick oats-yucky!)


1/4 cup oat bran


1/4 cup wheat germ (these two can be substituted with each other but you need something fine to help hold it together)



2 Tbsp brown sugar (I use demorera )


1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)


1 cup "extras" **see below


1/4 cup maple syrup (I use blackstrap molases for the iron but I also often do half blackstrap, half honey...and I have used agave nectar too...that's a good one.)

3 Tbsp oil (I use olive oil OR coconut oil. others are NOT an option!!)

1 Tbsp water

Throw it all in a big bowl and stir it up (that's Maddie's job!) Once it is all combined, put it on a baking sheet (I use a pampered Chef bar pan lined with parchment paper...parchment paper is AWESOME, makes clean up a breeze. I fold the paper up and reuse it too as we make granola once a week.) When you pour the mixture onto the pan, use your (washed) hands to smoosh it together and spread it out evenly in the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 275. Let it cool in the pan completely before you put it in an airtight container.

**Extras**



we make two kinds of granola at our house cause some of us (eh hem, not naming any names) don't like nuts...

Apple Cinnamon Granola extras:
(combine these items to equal 1 cup)

-crunchy dried apples cut into bits (Lakeview Market has good crunchy ones)
-krispy cereal (like rice krispy treats..Sav-on has it in the bulk)

-Cinnamon

-coconut (I use half small and half large pieces. Again, Sav-on has the big flakes)

-flax seeds



Good Stuff Granola extras:

(combine these items to equal 1 cup)



-raw almonds

-raw pumpkin seeds

-raw sunflower seeds

-coconut flakes

-flax seeds

-raisins

-dried cranberries (the cranberries and raisins should be added in the last 10 minutes of cooking time.)

This is Me

30.5 weeks pregnant.

Mikayla took this photo. I heard once that the best pictures of a woman are ones taken by her child, there's more love in her eyes or something? Anyways, I think she did a really good job. Cute to watch her get up on a chair and tilt the camera a little bit. So serious about everything she does!

Spartan Spirit!

The whole family went to Vancouver last weekend to cheer for Brian (Mike's brother) as his team played in the semi finals. It was so fun to get excited at a basketball game...reminded me of "back in the days" when I went to every high school basketball game as a cheerleader and screamed and jumped up and down for 2 hours every Friday night...except this time I was a little less agile, okay A LOT :)

Cheering Section

We took up the first two rows. It was very fun. Click on picture to see more from our trip!

Special Trip To Fresno

My best friend in the whole world is having her first baby. Our baby girls are due just 2 weeks apart! Mike got me a ticket to fly down by myself to Fresno and help throw Gretch a baby shower. It was an awesome weekend.

Click on the photo below to see all the pics from this trip, with descriptions!

Working on a 3rd generation of friends...Our moms were pregnant with us together in the spring 31 years ago!!

Reader's Digest

I am avoiding my computer chair- it hurts to sit here too long...so the blog posts are not going to be very meaty for a few months (and realistically, with a new baby coming, it may be for a lot of months:)

I figure posting some photos and small descriptions are better than posting nothing! Let me get you up to speed with us....

First of all, here are my little Valentines!

Mikayla helped me make the treats for school.

Thanks Grandma Bev for our Valentine outfits!

Fun Times

We have been busy visiting with Mike's Grandma from Winnipeg and of course the usual school, guitar, dance, etc. Mike went to a big Chiropractic seminar in Florida last week. He had a great time and came back really excited and encouraged. I have been taking a few cake jobs here and there but have scaled way back in preparation for baby.

Yesterday Mikayla came out of her room wearing her black and white striped sweater. Maddie and I copied her. We need to find a sweater like this for Mailee!!! Anyways, we took a few pictures just for fun. Here ya go!

Being silly for the photographer, Caleb (hence the hand in front of the lens)

All stripes!

Baby belly- 26.5 weeks

Fashioned By The Father

Last week was Mikayla's special week at school. At the end of the week she got to do a presentation in the class and bring in her favorite things and people.

She and I spent lots of time on the computer going through the files of photos, picking her favorite ones, printing them out and then pasting them on posters. it was really fun to look back over her life and realise how fast the time has gone by. How is it possible that my baby is 9?

Pointing out her special "stuff"

This is part of her timeline. It went from birth to present with all of the big events in her life. Can you see her kissing newborn Caleb?

The teacher asked Mike to pray for Mikayla and all her friends gathered around her. So Special!

The same day, we also got to watch Mikayla launch a rocket. When a chiled in this teacher's class get a certain number of books read, they get to launch one of the teacher's special rockets. Mikayla is the first kid in her class to get to this point. Here she is in the background as the rocket is launching.

It's A(nother) Girl!

Today I had an ultrasound and got the due date narrowed down to May 3...Caleb's birthday.

We also found out that this baby is a girl!

The girls in the house are really excited. Mike is too. Caleb is not so sure. He was very certain that he wanted a "boy baby" so they could wrestle!

I am sure he will love her once she arrives.

Maddie is the most excited. She has been kissing my tummy all day and talking to her girl baby.

She said "Now I'm not the baby sister, I will have my own little baby sister!"

Happy New Year!

2009!!!

We are glad it is here and looking forward to a full and blessed year. We have a few trips to California planned, a baby coming in the spring, and lots of growing and learning to look forward to as a family. Oh- and hopefully some more blogging :)

just another day of vacation...

Today after church we went out for lunch, Maddie gave the meal a "thumbs up"! Then we went to the movies to see The Tale of Desperaux. It was a really cute movie. Caleb had a hard time sitting still but he made it with a little help from some candy and a bit of popcorn! After the movie we went to the Bittle's and hung out and had dinner. What a perfectly fun and completely relaxing day.

I am beginning to like this vacation thing. I don't want it to end!! I love hanging out with our family when we have none of the pressures of everyday life. I wish we could somehow maintain this relaxed feeling in our home even on those "everyday life" days when we are running around from here to there and in a hurry and can't find the socks and forgetting the backpack....

Snow Day

Yesterday we went 11 miles down a logging road to get to a good sledding spot. The park across the street is possibly a bit more my speed but doing a big trek like this once a winter is definitely FUN! There was a fire and lots of friends... A few times I even forgot that my feet were frozen :)

Of course the trip would not have been complete without some pictures...

Mikayla caught snowflakes on her eyelashes...can you see them??

(The one that looks like it's on her lip is actually suspended in air,

falling from the sky)

Mailee had two big sledding spills early on and after that she was quite satisfied hanging out with me, watching the sledders.

Maddie was gung-ho. She kept going till the end.

Caleb had a good time, too. I offered to go with him at one point and he turned me down to go with Aunty Tammy. Go figure :) She is one FUN Aunty!!