grandma gigi

i was feeling strong and committed to catching up on our summer fun, and then i realized that i left all of my summer pics on my mom and dad's computer in canada :( looks like i'll have to catch up another time, and for now - my new favorite picture.


this is my grandma hill with 2 of her biggest fans! becks and mads love their grandma gigi, and i do too. she is the best orange roll maker i know. she is one of the most kind and loving people in the whole wide world, and i've learned so much from her about being a good wife, mom, grandma, and friend. she gives the most perfect advice is sooooo supportive in whatever i do. i know i can count on her for any and everything, and i just love her eleventy four! the boys miss you already grams - your stories, your fruit snacks and M&M's, your songs, and your hugs :) love you!

overwhelmed

i'm so jealous of all of you who have kept up on your blog over the summer. i keep wanting to do a new post but where the crap do i start?!?! i'm so far behind and so very overwhelmed. dust says "who cares" and i kinda wish i could have that attitude, but i know i'll have to catch up eventually. sadly......it won't start today. here's a few favorite pics as of late though! happy blog slacking summer :)

cake smashing fun!

this little man turned 1 the other day!


i know i'm a little late, but better late than never with the present opening, cake eating, bike riding, pool splashing pictures from the birthday party for my baby boy right?!?!

beckam "helped" open the presents while....


maddox ate the cards but it didn't matter cuz......


he still got the goods and loved everything he got!


my friend brandy made beckam's 1st birthday cake, but i had no brandy for maddie's 1st :( i had to take it upon myself this time, but considering that i have little to no creative or artistic talent, i was a little nervous to say the least! haha i knew it would be nothing great, and really, i just wanted it to look like what i meant it to look like! so......what do you think???? baseball right?!? success and mads loved it!


he didn't let us down with the cake smashing thing and covered his face and hands in baseball like we hoped! yummmmmmy!


we couldn't forget about dad back in statia, so thanks to skype he got in on some of the action :)


here's cute little emery with her special piece of cake. could she get any cuter?!?!


big brother had to get in on some cake action too, and he did it cake smashing style! love you becks!



we just had family join us for the big p.a.r.t.y, and here's the birthday boy with some of the grandparents. grandpa smith won him over with his funny noises, and he was a wiggly little worm once he got the grandma and grandpa moj! haha love you guys!!!



this happy little 1 year old man makes our family complete (for now at least!), and we just love him so so much! some of the things going on for him now that he's 1 you might wonder (but probably not cuz mostly just parents and grandparents wonder and know about these things. let's be honest, but here they are anyway).........



-started the 3-4 steps wobble walking at 10 months but started the real thing 1 week before his 1st birthday
-LOVES blueberries and watermelon and oatmeal and anything cold but especially freezies (like his dad)
-has recently decided that he's a "blanket" baby and went with the blue and yellow fleece duck one (not my 1st choice but whatever)
-adores his older brother and wants to do everything beckam does already - so cute!
-weighed in at 23.8lbs a few days after his birthday (only 4lbs less than his big brother)
-has the cutest smile EVER!!!!!
-loves peek-a-boo and covers his ears instead of his eyes
-isn't into tv at all.....yet (i'm still working on it though!)
-loves singing time before bed, especially his song
-new favorite toy - stairs
-has a few "words" - ball, bird, mama, dad, baba, cheers, juice
-is a screamer - when he wants something, when he's done eating, when he's tired, when he's getting dressed, when he's happy. you always know where maddox is, that's for sure, and if you don't.......be very very scared.
-loves stuffed animals and snuggling with his blanket and his mom and dad and pretty much whoever is holding him
-is a people person (unlike beckam). he will go to anyone and smile and snuggle and walk and talk and he loves it!
-sleeps through the night unless he poops - can't sleep with a poopy diaper.
-looks like his mama and has a sweet caribbean tan :)


he is so stinkin cute and happy, and he makes us all smile every day. thank you for waking up happy and helping me to wake up happy maddie boy. you are a powerful influence in our family already, and i can't wait to keep getting to know you as you grow up. we love you eleventy four and happy happy birthday mister boy :)

something missing

dust informed me the other day that it's time for a new blog. he's apparently sick of looking at the same picture of us on the curb every time our homepage comes up, and because he's all alone in statia while we're here living up this amazing southern AB summer, i figured i could do him this small favor ;)


there is only 1 thing missing from my new favorite picture friend, and that's you! now, you can look at this picture every time our homepage comes up and imagine you next to mads in the next fort we build when you get here in just 25 more sleeps! we our dad soooo much and can't wait for aug 17th!

ps - i self-timered this picture to prove that i'm there when my kids are being cute and having fun, and i'm even part of the fun sometimes! go figure!

sandy faces

i noticed that there were a few pictures that didn't really fit anywhere on the past few posts, so here are a few of my favorite things that haven't made the blog yet......

 

beach days with my boys and rides to the beach! i love when dust gets to come with us and when we luck out and get a ride to save us the hike - thanks eric and cara :)

 

MY BOYS!!!!! i've always wanted a little girl, and i still want a pig tailed painted nails sundressed little gal eventually, but i love my boys and boys in general! these 2 little men are my whole life, and i love being their mom so so sooooo much!

 

we love friends! beckam has so many little friends, and he sleeps with one or two or twenty every night :) i didn't know he strategically lined them up around his face before everyone drifted off to sleep though, and i love it!

 

i love our chariot stroller life. i know i may at times complain about how hard it is to push a 75lbs (kids included) stroller all around this hilly little island, but i love it. i love how beckam can jump in and out on our walks. i love the exercise i get. i love how it fits my groceries. i love how comfy it is for the kids too - as shown here by mads! haha

 

i love our little farm animal life and how beckam named our ROOSTER penny! haha he had fun feeding penny for a little while, but their friendship is over now after penny mistook beckam's finger for a cracker. oops! i also love this cute little truly excited about farm life face :)

 

lastly, i love happy sandy beach faces! sometimes, i'm anal and can't stand that maddox eats the sand and that beckam has it in his hair and ears and nose and everywhere else, but how cute are these little faces!

 

 

so.....if you're ever having "a day" with your little rascals (love that movie by the way), give them a bucket of sand, and let them go at it :) one of my favorite things!

snorkel date

as many of you know, i'm not home in canada, and me and the boys will be here for about 2 months.....leaving dust in statia all alone :( we are missing him like crazy, but lucky for me, we got a little date in before i left!

 

dust asked cara (who i love forever and ever for giving us afternoon away - just us) to watch the boys and got our snorkel gear ready, and we had a little statia date for the afternoon! it was so fun! we ate at The Golden Era, and we were pleasantly surprised. we didn't ask about what the burgers were made of, but we knew that no one we knew of had gotten sick by eating there before, so burgers and fries it was! we were right by the ocean, and we watched the crawfish wandering around on the rocks below us. the food was good, and it was just so nice to be just the 2 of us again for a few hours :)

 

next, dust re-taught me how to snorkel, and it was AMAZING! i love snorkelling and love that we have the gear and the ocean at our fingertips. the water was perfect and clear and calm, and we had so much fun trying to find cool things to look at. dust dove down and got a starfish, and we saw lots of cool coral and fish on our little adventure. we collected some seashells for beckam's collections and just floated around and relaxed a little before hiking home. it was sooooo what we needed before being apart for so long and just a perfect afternoon on statia :)

 

p.s. i never thought i would go snorkelling on a date, and i'm just so thankful for and amazed at our little life over here. still hasn't sunken in that we live here and that this really is our little life!
p.p.s. i just realized that this is the 1st picture of just me and dust over here. guess we need more dates so we can take more pics!

movie night!

i can't express the excitement i felt when i heard that the school was putting on a little movie night! 4pm "Rio" for the kids and 6pm "Pirates 18" or whatever for the big kids. movie night in statia includes refreshments in the form of cupcakes, pop, and microwave popcorn, and we weren't complaining at all!

 

the school also provides the comfiest cushiest most extravagant movie chairs ever ;) seriously......when is the last time you sat in one of these beauts!?!

 

beckam was so excited for popcorn and lasted about 45 mins before he was done with the pirated fuzzy projected on to dust's classroom wall version of rio, but it was so fun! lianna and pearl made sure to get front row seats :)

 

 

mads made it about 1/2 hour before he was whining enough to interrupt everyone's viewing pleasure, so the tolmans ducked out early for dinner, but we already can't wait for another statia movie night!