We aren't ready for this!

Why does it seem that the older I get, the longer it takes for summer to come, and the faster it comes and turns to fall? Fall....what is that anyway? October 13, and we have snow!! yuck! Not ready for winter boots and mitts.... but I guess we have no choice in the matter now do we?? Glad we went for our annual drive to one of my favorite places around Whitecourt. I really wanted to make it there this year before all the leaves fell, and looks like we made our trip just in time! Here's one of the 2 older kids.... Cohen wanted nothing to do with being in the picture, even with the tim bits I brougth along for bribery!

We've been pretty busy at our house the last few weeks, busier then the norm. Avery started Sparks and loves it. She was sick today and had to miss the Bring Your Friend night and was pretty sad about it. She is LOVING school....and has an awesome teacher and a really great group of kids in her kindergarten class. Jaden is excitedly waiting to find out when indoor soccer begins, he can't wait. I am really enjoying his teacher and class as well.... the school is awesome, and I am happy that they are going to the school that happens to be down the street from us. He is learning to read which is soooo awesome! I *love* listening to him read his books, and seeing how excited he is getting about it too. I have teared up more then once listening to him read and can only hope that he continues to love it so much. Cohen, also growing like crazy and now 17 months. Our days are more scheduled now that the other 2 are in school and it works good for both him and I. He comes with me to the Millar Centre every day while I work out in the gym, he stays in the Child Mind room. I know he's busy, busy.... and so far so good. Still taking his afternoon nap right after lunch for a good 2hrs and in bed around 7:30. You'll have to Cohen, the next time you see him, to show you his "dirty look" it's hilarious! He's saying a lot, but still not understanding a whole lot of what he says...lots of babbling...and quite a few words too.

Rene had an eventful last few weeks with the purchase of a new company truck. He was struggling with deciding between buying a Ford or Dodge...and finally decided on the dodge. Not thrilled with the service he received, or the fact that the tires are not made for the kind of needed (got a flat tire his first day in the bush!) I wonder if he'll get a ford again next ;) I'm sure he'll get used to his new truck soon enough and all will be fine... I really enjoy it, and it's a comfortable ride.

I just finished week 2 of the Biggest Loser contest in Whitecourt. It will continue on until Dec 22nd when THE biggest loser will be awarded with $1,000.00 cash! There are weekly prizes as well, and it is all based on the % of weight you lose. It came at a good time for me, I had just purchased a gym membership at the Millar Centre and this has been a great motivation for me. After 2 weeks I am down 6.2lbs... so I am on my way down...which is very cool for me. It's going to be a long journey but I am really enjoying the work outs and looking forward to reaching the little goals along the way. As well as working out, I'm also working in...hahhaha as in my Photography Business. We are well into the busy season now and I can seriously sit at my computer 8hrs a day now working on sessions, ordering pictures, packaging them up, returning phone calls and emails....it's nothing short of crazy. Somehow I love it though.... so much so or I wouldn't be doing it! I'm looking forward to a few more sessions booked this month and hope to take 3 weeks off in December.

All righty, now that I finally updated this little blog with a few pictures and a REALLY long post... I am off to bed again. It's now 3:25 and I'm feeling a bit better... I think I caught Avery's bug...and fell asleep around 8:30 and got up at 1... tomorrow could be interesting! ;)

Thx for stopping in!

My baby is 17 months!

Just a recent snapshot of him sporting his new winter coat! :) Can't believe he's only been around 17 months.... lol, busy lil guy, full of life and personality. Love him like crazy, even when he gets' bum cream all over my bed!

Check this out!

and while this was taking place, Jaden was sitting at the other end of the bed watching tv. I can just imagine the look on his face when he turned around to see all of this! LOL... he ran downstairs and said "Mom, you better have something better then a time out for Cohen!"

So it's the end of summer.....already.

I think the older we get the faster the days go....the longer it takes for the snow to melt, and the summer holidays seem to take forever then end so quickly. Welcome to Monday, August 31, 2009. Tomorrow. We are all a bit excited however that the school year is beginning. For me it means we can fall back into a regular routine, and hopefully that means we won't be so crazy busy. I usually feel anxious about 'normal' life around this time of year, after spending all summer doing whatever the heck we feel like doing, whenever we feel like it...lol. Avery will be starting kindergarten tomorrow, and Jaden in 1st grade. Ahhhhh how time flies....but it's good. A bit strange to be home with just Cohen again, but the plan is to drop the kids off at 8:30 then drive to the millar centre for a good work out. I'll leave Cohen with the babysitters there, then home we come, nap/shower time. Pick up Avery at 11:30, lunch....then work in the afternoons and later evenings on Photography. Now that I type that all out, it doesn't sound less crazy or busy...but at least it will become our routine :) I better get to bed....6:30 will feel SO early tomorrow....I'll end this post with a few more pictures of the kids in Jasper.

Pictures from our family trip

The kids were pretty good about letting me take their pictures in exchange for souvenirs! :)

Avery is sitting just outside of Miette Hotsprings in the picture above.

Glad we went there, but the road in was crazy.... couldn't imagine doing that in the winter!

We asked Jaden to take a few of us, and he did a pretty good job... people walking by looked nervous seeing him hold my heavy camera!

This was at Athabasca Falls.... what a beautiful place!!!

Thanks Rene for taking this one of Jaden, we were waiting around for the tram.


Jaden with his long mohawk, unstyled.... it was clipped off the next day into a nice brush cut. Easy maintenance :)

Both kids seemed to have grown up a lot over the summer.... in the way they look and act. In my opinion it can slow down now anytime. I love them both at the ages that they are =)

Miss Avery striking a few poses ;) She's hilarious in front of the camera!

Found this cool wall in an alley on our way to supper, couldn't resist taking a few here!

These little guys were all over the mountains, and on the road.... they blend in so well with the rocks!

Saw a lotta behinds like this one above! ;)

We stopped on the side of the road at this really cool water area.... so sandy, and the water was crystal clear and nice and warm.... the water was shallow and as you can see we were able to walk out a far ways.... it was a perfect hot afternoon to be playing in the water and extra beautiful to have the mountains surrounding us!

Just wanted to share a few (yes there will be more!) from our days in Jasper earlier in the week. Alix was kind enough to babysit Cohen just to make it a bit easier, knowing that at his age all the driving would have been tough on him, and we didn't think he'd enjoy waiting in lines, or able to go on the boat tours etc... while it did make it easier just have Jaden and Avery with us... we missed Cohen big time. Thankfully he was really good for his aunty and smothered us with love when we got home :) I tried loading these on facebook but I kept getting an error and it's too late to keep trying, so here they are. :)

Whitecourt has a new girl in town....

Alix's good friend Kelsey had a baby girl a few nights ago. We went to visit and snapped a few pictures for her. Congratulations Cliff and Kelsey! Looking forward to your newborn session!

~adrienne

Rene's thang....

IS DIRTBIKING! :)

So we headed to the track the other night after supper..with the kids. We had so much fun, especially Rene. He loves his sport, but doesn't get a chance to go riding as often as he likes because the location of the track is out of town, and well riding season is pretty short! Here are a few photo's from our evening there. I did some quick edits on them.... and they were taken without much thought as to where the sun was etc, etc.... i just shot as I could, while Cohen clung to my leg and ran off a few times.....

Playing around....

Playing with pictures (that I snapped in horrible lighting conditions!), playing outside, playing at West Edmonton mall..........fun times, good summer. Here's a few from our day in the city yesterday. We stopped at a small town on the way where Alix said there were a few older buildings...it was a VERY cool location, but we were there in full sun, lots of shadows, squinty eyes, but took some anyway. They are just for us anyway, and all for fun. Would love to go back and take more pictures another day closer to sun set. We hit the mall and the kids went on a few rides, then we ate in the food court. Next I took the 2 older ones into Gap and bought some school outfits. Jaden was awesome.... loved everything! Avery was po'd that I didn't buy her these "SO CUTE FLIP FLOPS" (because she has so many already!) but she did try on the clothes we picked, and she looks pretty cute I must say. From there I snuck into La Senza and bought a few new items for moi :) then back on the road to go home. We packed a lot into our afternoon, and the kids proved that when I finally woke up at 10am this morning and they were all still sleeping!

;)