On Sunday afternoon, Steve and Emily made a fort on the yard. This lead to a weinie/marshmallow roast and a drunken rampage from my husband with a rake. We found him in the pile of sheep poo in the morning. We are very much used to his behaviour and do not think it to be strange at all. Why?
I should stop typing now...

Um, yeah, Steve typed that while I was in the other room. So much for recording a wholesome family memory. I lost my concentration now so I'll just get to the vids...
Em toots her horn
and
Steve vrs. sheep

Friday Foties:
Good Morning Sunshine!

Emily Twist

Watching daddy chop wood is the highlight of their day.

Snuggly guy

please no.
click me

Pretty self-explanatory. I won't bore you with the details this time.
I will, however, attempt to bring my blog into a new era...please click here...if you listen carefully, you may hear Tommy saying "wow" to the treetops...it's something he likes to do a lot.

Taken while lounging at the table after breakfast in Maui, I can't believe that #3 was secretly already well on his way to our clan. Like my brother-in-law put it: "Seems rather unnecessary". But in any case, I can't say that I had my fill of the whole baby thing after Thomas. In fact, I think he just wet our appetites for more. And even though my youth is waning...born in July '76-you do the math-it feels good to know that there are still more than a few baby making years left in me. (sorry if you lost your lunch right there).
So, in case you haven't heard, the due date has been confirmed by an ultrasound to be August 17th, meaning we're 17 weeks along-nearly halfway. The point is, morning sickness is behind us, the kicks are just beginning and I already feel like a pumpkin. All just in time for Lesa's wedding this June! Won't I just be a peach in my maternity bridesmaid dress! There should be a font to indicate sarcasm. Well, on that note, we're actually insanely happy about #3 and the adventures that await us, okay, somewhat stressed at times, but happy too. We think (we don't know) it's a boy, so I'll be referring to him as "he" on my blog, rather than "he/she" (or "pookie bum-bum" for that matter).

Emily is always coming up with new ways to entertain Thomas. And don't worry, she kept insisting that it was very comfortable under there! The convenience of them playing so much together is probably one of the reasons why we would even consider taking on a third baby. By the time Emily has better things to do, Tommy will have a younger sibling that's as fascinated with him as he is with Em. It might be easier to have a blooming social life with 1 kid, but 2 has been easier and more fun than 1 for us and them during non-social-life hours. By the way, is "social life" a 90's phrase? Cause I think I left mine in that decade...

If there's wildlife within sight, Steve always spots it, and I never do. Apparantly that's a Cormorant. Live with an avid nature-lover long enough and you begin to think that might be very important information to share.
Every few hours there's a ferry waiting to take you to Vancouver Island at this dock. It'll cost you $45 to get out of Powell River with your family. Another $45 to get back. And that's why the rent is cheap.

Sorry to anyone who actually checks my blog to see what we're up to. It's rather inconsistent, not unlike it's maker. I just find myself forgetting that some of you are occasionally interested in the little things we keep ourselves busy with.

This morning Steve took Em for a donut and a drive to watch as the Auxiliary Coast Guard prepared to go out and train on the great blue sea while Tommy and I napped away the morning. Steve could have been out there with them, but he decided to fool around with us all day instead. Pretty sweet. See those toy guns hanging from the jeep mirror? The other day I was walking across a parking lot to my car when I found a lady and her friend peeking through my windows and acting dramatically disturbed as they walked away. When they noticed me get into the jeep, one of them strode over and stood at my window waiting for me to roll it down so she could poke her head in for a closer look at what was causing her so much stress. "Oh", she said nodding at the plastic ornaments, "they're just models". Can you imagine someone hanging actual mini loaded guns from their rear-view mirror?!

After lunch, Steve and Em took a walk to the beach with her remote control car thing while I supposedly did housework. I actually turned on the tube and watched a perfectly normal, intelligent, 40ish woman in the process of getting her boobs done, and tried to fathom why she wanted more jerks to hit on her at the bar enough to go through all of that PAIN. Then I felt a little bit sad as I sometimes do when I'm finished being entertained by reality tv. People are so broken.

Afterwards, Emily and I washed the floors and cleaned her room together and I think I heard some X-box playing going on in the livingroom, one can never be sure.

I finally got myself out of the house around 4 o'clock. Lesa wants to blog that little story which I already shared with her and Jodi earlier tonite. I only agreed because of her incredible writing style and because she can make almost anything sound intriguing.

Check out the supper Steve and I made together from scratch. Why didn't anyone tell me that shrimp sauted in butter and garlic was easier to make than toast. They mellllted in our mouths. The only trick was to buy it on sale. I threw my whole stirfry into the soup broth. No Won Tons for me, ground meat is no longer my friend. Steve, Em and I got into Wor Won Ton soup (huge bowl of Won Ton made to share that includes piles of veggies, some beef and shrimp) binges together right after we left Rosenort, stopping at all these Chinese restaurants on the drive down here for more of the budget bloater. Upon arriving in Powell River, we discovered that Safeway carries all the ingredients and we finally made our own right there in our cheap motel room kitchen, neat memory.

Afterwards, Emily and I, too full to move, sat on the floor and created our own version of Mouse Trap while Steve tried not to fall asleep with the cats on her bed.

Tommy is so in-love with his dad, and vice versa. Whenever Steve sits down in his little corner to do some paperwork, Tommy rushes over with his arms stretched out expecting to be picked up. He has yet to be denied. They just sit there, in their own little world, visiting and listening to music, but mostly just looking super cute together.

The brown eyed girl that song was referring to :)

everyday it's something else

Boy am I glad I brought my camera along to Subway this afternoon. Tommy proved to be wonderful company. First he entertained me with the sneaky smile that he's been flashing at strangers a lot these days-much to their amusement! Then he endeared me by puckering up and making loud kissing sounds, followed by more sneaky smiles and irrational finger-jabs at the camera.

I suppose the theme here is "Spring is in the Air". Beginning with Steve's shot of us on a hot date the other night. Giant gourmet bacon and mushroom cheeseburgers, decent diner coffee and plenty to talk about-just what I needed.
A rare sight these days-clear winter skies reveal the view of Vancouver Island from Powell River. I was born in those mountains and spent my early childhood loving them with my mom. When I turned 4, she transplanted us to Altona where I never forgot the scenery that symbolized my real home. We still discuss the pros and cons of that move, my favorite pro being the lifelong friends I wouldn't have made otherwise.
The rest of the pics are about the kids and I getting outdoors, and the surprise sweater I gave Em today because she hates wearing a jacket outside. I knew the purple would bring out my favoritist brown eyes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JER!

As luck would have it, I was in contact with Jer yesterday, and just so happened to find out that today was his 33rd b-day!

In case you're wondering, this is him in his wedding Tux-10 years ago.

Hope it's swell Jer,

Love Ang and Steve

No more blogg'n for Emily. Maybe in summer when she's not

"TOO BUSY FOR A BLOG".

With 4 days left of our trip, we hopped a plane to Honolulu, or was it Hong Kong? What a cool/weird/crazy place. I'll tell you one thing, you don't want to be there after you've run out of shopping money. But if you do end up in that situation, here are a few ideas:

With all discretion, study the beauty of Asian people. I didn't dare flash the camera in this couple's face, for fear of offending them. But I still asked Steve to take this secret shot. If only I could see her face again. Before this, I'd never seen anything so beautiful as to make me cry, (other than a newborn). Something about the humility and passion in her eyes, and the loveliness of her frame in that outrageous up-side-down-rose-shaped dress completely overwhelmed me. Total cost: Free!

Torture your kid by browsing through the neatest toy kiosks on the planet, and then tell her that she can't have anything. Emily's pretty used to that routine, though she did get pretty spoiled pre-Honolulu. Total cost: Free!

Take pictures of the superior souveniors that your friends and family would be enjoying if you were nice. Then head right over to the budget souvenior store where you can get twice the loot for a quarter of the price. Total cost: $20

Put on a show for some hungry pigeons with your flaming red new ukelele that you bought with your own Christmas money. Then graciously reward your feathered friends with leftover muffin. Total cost: $8.99

Find a funny little tree, then set your kid free in it. Watch how the combination of bare feet on bark and climbing like a monkey fills her little heart right up. Total cost: Free!

Okay, this concludes my trip blogging. Yikes. Thanks for reading, thanks for the comments. Not a lot of typical tropical pictures in my posts because none of it compares to my British Colombia anyhow. The rustic old beach a stone's throw from my house. The old logs that sit there. The dead crabs and smelly seaweed that last night's tide washed ashore. I'd take BC's old growth trees over cheesy palm trees any day. And 18 consecutive days of soul-soothing, pouring rain over 18 days of annoying heat and sun. The grass is actually browner on the other side. Can you tell I'm happy to be home?

Ryan and Heather couldn't spend all their time entertaining their niece and nephew. It was nice to see them get a break from it all (when Ryan wasn't tied to his laptop/work). But I think they got to know what Tommy's all about pretty quick. He's easy to please, happy and sweet. He especially loved Auntie Heather's big smiles and he giggled when he was caught off guard by his nutty Uncle Ryan's dancing. Surely they won't forget the boy with the loudest, most aggressive cry/yell on earth. No one really believes me on this until they hear it for themselves...am I right Heath?

The Happy One-year-old

i found a note to Santa on Em's bed prior to Christmas: "Dear Santa, I would like a lizard for Christmas, From Emily" He brought her many geckos in Maui, and even threw in a moody old crab for good measure.