The obsession continues....

Lately, Hayden has been obsessed with trains, train tracks,
whistles, and the many things to do with trains!!

The train we rode in Saskatoon,
the ones we saw during our camping trips,
the one at Calaway Park,
the C-Trains along Crowchild Trail.....

......I HAVE to get him to Heritage Park this year,
he'll be beside himself!!

He has always liked Thomas just fine,
but now he really likes Thomas!

"Choo-choo!"

"Take picture me and Thomas, mommy,
cheese!"

Here's hoping that when I ask him what he wants
to be for Halloween, he doesn't say Thomas!
(The poor kid would end up wearing
nothing but a blue cardboard box!!)

Wij hebben kroketten gemaakt.....lekker!!

English translation....
We made krokets.....yummy!!
September 1, 2008

We have been very disappointed with the
quality of the krokets we were buying at
the Dutch store.
So, we decided to make our own!
Eveline had the recipe, so she taught
Tessa and I the ropes.
We were very eager pupils, and look forward
to the next kroket-apalooza!

First we made a ragout with spices and meat,
which is spread it on baking sheets to cool.
We rolled the mixture into shape, covered in breadcrumbs,
dipped in egg, then breadcrumbs again.

This was a VERY messy process,
but we were hopeful that the hard work
would pay off to a delicious result!

We, of course, managed to have a few laughs!

I got teased for being a bit anal retentive.....
almost all of my krokets were
the same size!
Don't they look pretty?!

The other great part about this tasty Dutch treat
is that they are deep-fried.....

......and covered in mustard!
(We had them on buns, but you can be a purist
and eat them on their own.)
They were delicious!!
We did very well for our first attempt,
and we all had happy, full bellies
to prove it!

Camping Trip!

August 22, 23, 24th, 2008
Bow Valley Campground

"I'M GOING CAMPING,"
Hayden would announce......every time he
entered the tent-trailer!

My filthy little boy......
and he was LOVING it!

Sometimes, it's hard to let go of
the comforts of home!

Our first weenie roast of the weekend.
Classic style.
No Chien Chaud in the forest!

Speaking of the comforts of home.....
Hayden can't live without
a little Dora each day!

Even Zeus immersed himself
in the camping experience!
He got to go swimming in the lake, chase squirrels
and use every corner of the forest as his
personal toilet.
He could hardly move by the last day
from all of his running around.

We enjoyed lots of great walks through the
forest trails along the river.
Hayden and I looked a bit dorky
in our matching Huskie sweatshirts.
Who cares, right?!
Camping does NOT equal fashion!!

The flowers Hayden hand picked
for Mommy.

Ralph HATES it when I try to get
a picture of the two of us.
That's why you'll hardly ever see any.
It's not for lack of trying.
This kodak moment was no exception!

I love how the sun is shining through
the trees onto Hayden's
happy little face!

My boys.
We had a great time, just the 3 of us!
We relaxed.
We read. We did crosswords.
We walked. A LOT.
Ralph taught me how to play crib.
No where we needed to be. Nothing we had to do.

Oma & Opa completely surprised us with a visit,
and spent the day with us on Sunday.
They even brought donuts from Timmies.....
a delight after "roughing" it!

We know you aren't supposed to feed the wildlife.
But, the squirrels were
totally addicted to the Dill Pickle Spitz!
They loved us.
And they were so cute and tame,
how could you resist!

Hayden's New Room!

August 19, 2008
Hayden's room is just about done!
I couldn't wait to show off how cute it looks.....

The inspiration all started with the
crazy little "Rube" character
that, I think, suits Hayden VERY well!

Kudos to Word To The Wall
(www.wordtothewall.com)
for doing an amazing job of the lettering!
There's no way I could have
done it on my own.

(All of you Dr.Seuss fans will recognize the quote!)

Mommy cleaned up for the photo shoot....
it rarely ever looks this way!

Aawwwww, the big boy bed!
Hayden does a great job of staying
in bed.....just not long enough!!
I was spoiled by our sleep-ins, and now we're
up by 7 AM.
But, he still has a 2 hour nap in the afternoon
and I'm not sure either one of us
is ready to give that up!

"POP-sicle!"

There is nothing better on a hot day
than a delicious
and VERY messy popsicle.
Especially if they are Grandma's
recipe for homemade fudgsicles!
I remember these tasty treats
from when I was a kid.
And now I know why they always tasted SO good.....
1/2 a pound of sugar!!

You gotta' LOVE technology!

August 8, 2008

12 weeks.
That's a long time to wait.
Especially when you have great news to share!

Now, the waiting is over.
You guessed it.....
We're pregnant with baby #2!!

Baby is 5cm long, (2cm of which is HEAD)
healthy, and happily bouncing about.
Whew.
NOW it feels real.

A little wave to say "hello!"

"No more pictures, please!"

"Aaahhhhh, back to sleep!"

Baby #2 is due on February 19, 2009.
Hayden will be 3 on April 20, 2009.
Wow.
I'm going to be a mother of 2!!

Saskatoon in the Summertime.....

We FINALLY managed to get to Saskatoon
when it wasn't covered in snow!
We had beautiful weather this past weekend,
and saw lots of great stuff about town.
One thing is for sure,
Grandma and Grandpa are going to need
a long nap to recover from this visit!!

We were BUSY!!

Day One: Dad and Ralph went golfing
so Mom, Hayden and I went for slurpees
and played at the park!
Grandma even went on the slide and the swings!
She played A LOT of soccer in the yard too!

Day Two: We ventured over to River Landing
(on another sunny Saskatoon day)
and spent some time at the cool new water park
they have built for kids.
It is a very pretty city in the Summertime.

Hayden got caught in only one
water hazard, (courtesy of Grandpa)
so he went topless while the sun dried him off.

Hayden has been OBSESSED with trains lately.
There was a really cool wooden train
to play in/on at the Saskatoon Berry Farm.
This was way more fun than picking berries
in 32 degree heat!!

Next stop, Kinsmen Park!
This is the train Hayden has been talking and dreaming
about since we decided to make the trip!
We had to go on it 3 times!!
He SOOOOO could have gone "one more time!"

That is pure JOY on Hayden's face.
Talk about being happy to live life
through a 2 year old....he was in his glory!

We also went on the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round.
But, the train was the favorite BY FAR!!
(Incidentally, Kelly and I rode these exact same rides
when we were growing up!)

The Gould women.

Auntie Kelly joined us on Friday night,
after she was done work,
and she spent the rest of the weekend with us!

Hayden was very brave and splashed around
the wading pool awhile.
He was SOAKED....and he didn't care!

Hayden went down the slide a few times
with Grandpa, in an attempt to dry him off.
This had the opposite effect on Grandpa's pants!!

Day Three: The Saskatoon Zoo.
When Dad mentioned going to the zoo, Hayden
started naming all of the exotic animals
from our Calgary zoo.
Dad just kept saying; "no, we don't have those."
We have gophers!! We have bears!! We have goats!!
We have the new baby Bengal tigers.....!!
And they were beautiful.
I was pretty impressed by how close we could get
to most of the animals.

Hayden even got to pet/feed some deer!

Hayden bonded with one of the baby tigers.
They were so CUTE, you wanted to have a snuggle
and take them home.
Until you look at the size of their "baby" paws.....

The biggest joke of the weekend were our
sleeping arrangements.
We took the Pack-and-Play
thinking we could use it once more.
"No dice, Mommy!"
Hayden slept in the Queen sized bed upstairs
all by himself.
Like a "fart in a mitt."
(Grandma's words, not mine)
Ralph and I slept on the pull-out in the basement.
The Double.

He will be reminded of this when he's older.

Pint-Sized Picaso?

July 23, 2008

We were entertaining the thought of
possibly, one day, getting a new coffee table.
Apparently, Hayden thought that should happen
sooner than later.

This is the "piece of work"
I discovered when I came downstairs...
(having left him alone for all of 5 minutes!)

My reaction?
"OH MY GOD?@#!"

I know my favorite color is purple,
but NOT in the form of permanent Sharpie
marker on my wood coffee table!!
And his Poang.
I almost started laughing, to be honest.

What are the odds?!
I shudder to think what my living room
would have looked like
if I had gone for a shower!!

Don't you just love(?) that he only colored the wood?!
Not the carpet.
Not the new leather couch.
Not the walls.
Not the cat.

What could I do?
What's done is done.
He had a time out for being a "bad boy"
(his words, not mine).......

.......and then I put him to work!

Toothpaste is supposed to take permanent marker
off of wood surfaces.
Meh.
Now my table is smudgy-purple and minty.

Goof-off works better,
but I feel a bit high from the fumes,
and it's not totally out.
More elbow grease?

OR

New coffee table?

.....from Hayden's piggy bank!!


P.S. My Mom saved the day, as she often does,
without even knowing it.
As per her suggestion,
a Mr Clean Magic Eraser did the trick!

I think she just wants to save her Grandson's hide.

Strike a Pose!

July 21, 2008

Hayden has INSISTED that he put on

"big boy underwear"
the last few days.
(Tow-Mater from the movie Cars is his current fave)

My philosophy....if he wants to potty train this way,
I'm okay with the extra laundry
I will most certainly encounter!
I'm sure I must have asked him a million times
if he needed to go pee.

Hayden made it 3 hours without an accident!!
And then....
Poor Mater.
Mommy got to clean up a nice big poopie.
Pretty gross.
If he weren't so attached, I probably would
have thrown Mater in the bin!!

Hayden was pretty upset.
He's such a sensitive little guy.
I just kept telling him that it was okay,
we would clean Mater,
and start again.

Game Over.
He wanted a diaper.

Guess we'll try again tomorrow!
No sense rushing these things.....
we'll just work at his pace.
I think it's pretty good for a two year old!!

Zoo luck!

Tessa and I ventured
out to the Zoo this morning
with Brody, Sienna and Hayden.

The lovely thing about having a season pass,
which I highly recommend,
is that you don't feel guilty if you only stay
for a few hours each time.
And with toddlers....
seriously.

Some highlights of this trip:

Starbucks coffee.

A VERY close encounter with a giraffe.
(We were so enamored, we forgot
to take a photo....duh?!)

Richard the turtle who was out for a stroll.

The baby peacocks that joined us
in the line-up for a hot dog.

The hot dog.

And our very OWN monkeys!!

And, we peeked in on the baby elephant.
So cute you could take him home.

These two were cute enough
to take home too!

Gotta love being a mommy.
Spent another day in the sun while
Daddy is stuck in the office.

And, we made it home before the thunderstorm!
That's one thing I have....
good zoo luck!

A million calories, anyone?

The worst thing Keri could have done
was relinquish her
homemade Oreo Cookie recipe.....
she's evil.
But, still I love her.

And the best thing about them
is the cream cheese ICING.
(I make way too much on purpose.)

Hayden, of course, likes to help....

....by licking the beaters!!