December's Been and Gone

 Here's some of what we want to remember happening this December!

I tried and tried and finally got it right...mmmm, chocolates (now can be found on my chin, hips, butt and stomach)!  Yay!

We spent Christmas Eve & morning with Uncle Brian (the only immediate family member who didn't desert us for Wales, blah to the rest of you).

I made (successfully I might add) my very first turkey all by myself!  I am very proud of this, hence the oversized picture!

We then headed to Edmonton for 3 days of fun filled excitement for all (except maybe Ffion who had her right ear drum burst, poor baby).

(The Waterpark)

Tuesday was spent at the Waterpark, it was Shannon's 9th birthday too!  She had a great day.  Jam packed with swimming, eating and watching Tangled in the Cinema with Dad and her sisters.   

(The Jacuzzi in our Room)
Yes we did all fit in here, still prefer my jetted tub though!

(Galaxyland)
Oh the joy of going on rides and feeling sick - Richard and I clearly aren't as young as we once were!

(The Build a Bear Experience)

If you've never done it, you're in for a treat.....though your bank balance isn't.  Here's the girls 'loving up the hearts' to go into Ffion's monkey.

Despite having a month of ear infections, finally resulting in a ruptured ear drum, she still manages to smile & enjoy most of her 1st Christmas.  

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas from us!

Open wide and say Awwwwww!

That's right, it's the annual trip to the dentist for the Worsey girls - we'll 2 so far!  Rylee pretty much had a great time, loving every bit of it.....Aylish did not.  That's all I can say about it.

Gentle forcing to keep her in the chair and all they did was going and quickly look at her teeth!

I am praying hard that Keira doesn't need anything more than a check up and clean.  If she does, Dad will have to take her!

Shannon's Date

On Saturday Shannon and I braved the -20's temperature and ventured into Lethbridge for our date.  I must admit, I really didn't want to go (because it was freezing), but like most parents I'd do anything for my kids, and she was super excited about going, so we went.

She picked where we went for lunch - Firestone...yummy (apparently McDonalds is too babyish for her).  She's never been there before but knew I talk about it a lot so that was her choice.  She loved it, and loved the fact that she ordered herself a Dr Pepper - she took full advantage of the free refills too, let me tell you!  Every time the waitress asked if she wanted a refill she would say "yes please, it's Dr Pepper"!

We had to stop by Walmart after the date to find her some new winter boots cause believe it or not the ones we bought her in 2007 no longer fit!

Thanks for the date Shannon.....next time, you pay :)

'Sames"

Shannon came up dressed for school the other day and Aylish decided to wear the 'sames' as her.  I think she did a pretty good job picking out the 'sames' clothes.  When it came time to do her hair it too had to be the 'sames'.  

So here they are my 'sames' sisters!

Ouch

winter - that hurts!  I still can't get over the fact that a couple of weeks ago we had +21 degrees, and now look, today we're sat at 

-10....harsh.  

That's not going to stop Aylish though.  After spending 20 minutes outside I asked her if she was cold, to which she replied "no mommy, I hot in my fat pants".  

Funny, my fat pants don't make me feel hot - just fat!

Anyway, here's our first snowy picture of our house.  Doesn't our yard look great?   Manicured to perfection thanks to mother nature!  I love that my yard looks every bit as good as the beautifully landscaped ones down the street now!  

Well, raise your egg nog filled glass and toast to winter - - - here's to winter!

Took this picture to make my dad homesick.  I have a feeling though my previous 2 pictures might cancel this one out!

Tis the Season

For Skating!

Ooof, it's hard work taking a 2 year old skating for the first time (and probably the 2nd and 3rd times too) but it's just so dang fun to see how excited they get!

Aylish is VERY independent and was insisting that she didn't need my help, that was until she actually stepped out onto the ice and tried to skate off.  She learned a quick lesson on holding on tight when things get tough!  Although it was a lot of work (my back is still aching today) it's so fun to do things with them that just makes them smile, and this did.

Side note - Richard is holding her hand for this picture but that's only because I didn't want him to have to take a picture and stand on his skates at the same time.....if you catch my drift.  Bless his heart, he is getting a bit better at skating though I still think it's hilarious that for our first date we went skating!  I don't think he truly thought that one through, Canadians are pretty much born on ice, he on the other hand was more like that movie star...you know the one, I think his name was Bambi!  

Girls, girls, girls

Yeah, we got a lot of them in this house, all different but all good.  This week we've had lots of fun - all except poor Keira who's had a sore throat.  I happen to come across this video she took at some point this week (I can barely understand her in it).  It makes me laugh when I watch it.  She was not impressed that she had to miss school and spent the week being utterly B.O.R.E.D!  Luckily she is feeling better today after a 2nd trip to the Doctors to get a prescription....yay for drugs!!!  

Changing the subject completely, but keeping to this week, I went on a date with Rylee.  Richard and I feel it's really important to let our girls spend time one on one with each of us.  I loved as a kid when it was my turn to go out with my mom or dad on a date and I wanted my kids to have the same awesome memories.  We have one Mommy/Daughter and one Daddy/Daughter date a month.   This month is Rylee's mommy date and Aylish's Daddy date.  I love taking the girls out for a bit of one on one time, it's a fabulous way to just let them know that you love them and just talk.  

Rylee and I went skating and then out for ice-cream.  The girls are all taking skating lessons and Rylee spends a lot of time on her butt (poor kid) so I thought she would benefit from some one on one skating time.  She had a brilliant time, and so did I.  You might not know this about Rylee but if you can get her talking - - - there's no stopping her (oh, and she now like ice-cream again)!

Happy Halloween

I'm not all that into Halloween (or at least not this year for some reason), but with 4 little girls who are VERY much into it, I kinda don't have a choice.

Here's how our Halloween preparations have been going so far......

Aylish and I spent yesterday afternoon doing this (I know what you're thinking.....ohh the talent!)

This year there happened to be a pumpkin shortage...what a pumpkin shortage?  Yes, it is true, the radio said it and they never lie on the radio.  Anyway, the Worsey's were without until...I offered 2 dozen chocolate cookies for a pumpkin on facebook...we had one within minutes (thanks facebook, and Amberlea).  This is our carvin' creation - we got the pattern for the face from one of Richard's school photos, he was WAY more ginger back then! (I'm laughing even if you're not!!!!)

Ok now serious, time for the costumes (please excuse the bathroom shots, with so little time to get all four ready I didn't have the time to even leave my hair/makeup station to take pictures in a nicer setting, at least you can't see the toilet right?!):

 Yeehaw, Keira the cowgirl (farmgirl as she calls it).  Richard is convinced this isn't a costume in Southern Alberta, he's right.  This costume is totally her idea, all stemmed from 2 braids I did in her hair a couple of weeks ago - oh how I inspire my girls :)

 Aylish the fairy princess, such a delicate thing (yeah right, I've already had to fix the wand twice)!

Shannon the....popstar, she's a popstar people, not a ____!

Rylee decided not to dress up this year!!!  LOL!!!  Yes that is her hair and yes I'm dreading combing through it later!

Ffion was disguised as a newborn (her outfit is newborn size and she's 7 weeks today) - she totally pulled this off!

All in all, I think we're having fun, and I have to remember that if you put your whole self in and you shake it all about, you do the hokey pokey and you turn your self around (now to the point) THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Yummy

Nothing better than digging in to a yummy cupcake!  Thanks to Amelia for bringing cupcakes for the kids to decorate at playgroup this morning......as you can see Aylish pretty much loved it!

One of those days......

Do you ever have one of those days when the sound of the little feet running to your bedroom just make you feel like crying?  Not because you don't just adore your kids but really - is sleep time over already?

That was me this morning.  Let's just say I really didn't feel like doing ANYTHING.  If it wasn't for my kids cross country race I might have considered having a jammies day (something I've never actually done).

BUT

I didn't, I got up, got the kids and myself ready and then...this is what happened......


7 loads of laundry



2 kids running in the cross country race

3 loaves of banana chocolate chip bread made

3 batches of playdough (I love the picture of the city the girls made, they spent an hour and a half on it, it was a special surprise for Dad)

1 trip to the park

2 homemade pizza's

1 apple crisp

and finally - 1 floor mopped!!!!!

All this while still maintaining my sanity with 5 little girls who were all home this afternoon (and let's not forget Ffion who hardly slept all day and had a rather healthy appetite).

I think I also stopped a couple of times to go pee, though I could be mistaken!!!  I love being a mom and all that it entails - though I think tomorrow I might rest from my labours somewhat!

Isn't HE a beauty?

What more can I say?  

Thanks to my WONDERFUL hubby for the FABULOUS gift!  

Ffion's Blessing

On Sunday, September 12th, 2010 we blessed our beautiful daughter 

Ffion Lillian Clarice Worsey 

We were hoping to do it at church before my mom and dad flew back to Wales, but it didn't go to plan so we blessed her in our home.  It was still just as special, thanks to everyone who attended.  She was so blessed to have so many worthy priesthood holders surround her as daddy blessed her. 

After the blessing we had a great family dinner I think there was just over 40 people here!!!  The entertainment was provided by Dale who skillfully vacuum up millions of flies that came in while we had all the doors open.  It was kinda funny, 40 people watching him as he sucked them up one at a time, almost cheering ~ yeah, we're pretty lame, but watching was addictive!  Despite the funness (not sure that's even a word) of it, it was pretty gross, I kinda felt like I was in an outhouse, not in my home!  Yuk!

{would like to insert a picture here if anyone took one of the flies}

Anyway, it was a wonderful day.  Thanks to all my wonderful family and friends for coming!

Ffion and her first week

Well, she's here and she's beautiful!  Ffion arrived safely after a 4.5 hour labour from start of induction on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 2:45pm.  She weighed in at 6lbs 12oz and measured 19 inches long (49 cm).

In my earlier predictions, I might have been dreaming with most of them, but honestly - many dreams came true!

She's a picture of health, she came on a day that suited most, she weighed 6lbs 12oz (now how's that for a prediction, 1oz off),  she did arrive after just one push and I did manage to get into my pre-pregnancy jeans.....ok, so I won't brag, it took me till day 3.

So far she is a fabulous baby.  She feeds between 9-10pm, sleeps till 4am, feeds, poops and then sleeps till between 8-9am.  How did I manage that one eh?  She is wonderful.



The girls adore her, especially Aylish.  She LOVES to help - sometimes a bit too much.  She has already had her straw from her pop in Ffion's mouth (of course Ffion was thirsty) and a couple of days ago she picked her up out of bed and brought her to me yelling "mom, I got her"!  If Ffion can survive Aylish I truly believe she will survive ANYTHING!

Shannon, Keira and Rylee love her to bits too.  There is always a queue to hold her, it's the first thing they want to do when they wake up in the morning, it's really sweet.  I am so lucky to have 5 beautiful, healthy little girls, I love each of them so much.

Richard is as usual, the perfect husband.  Always willing to help and support me.  I'm amazed at how blessed I am.

Mom and Dad have been here the past 3 weeks and it's been wonderful.  I love them so much and appreciate all that they do for me and my family.  Today is a sad day for me cause they flew home.  I know that in time we will be together again, I just wish it would hurry up and come!

So here she is, the newest member of our family.  

Ffion Lillian Clarice Worsey, the perfect little angel.

The Bike

This summer we decided that it was time for Shannon to hand down her bike to Keira and get a bigger one for herself.  We decided that we would use this and teach her the need to save.  We didn't ask her to save for the whole thing, just $30 towards it.  That shouldn't be hard right?

How wrong was I?  Oh my goodness, I never knew how hard it was going to be.  Shannon did very well at earning money towards her bike but had a difficult time with not spending it (I know, I know, that's most of us right?).  She frequently visited the gas station with friends and treated them to whatever, spending $10 - $15 a shot!  It was sooooo FRUSTRATING!

We finally decided that drastic measures needed to be made for her to take this task seriously.  We lowered the seat on her bike and told her that the bike now belonged to Keira and she no longer had one to ride until she had the $30.  Believe it or not there was still one more episode of 'spending' money after we had done this!  She was $9 off her $30 for a couple of weeks when finally her younger sister got so tired of waiting for her to earn this money she kindly donated her portion of the recycling money towards the bike.

It was a very exciting day for ALL OF US on Saturday when she finally got to buy her bike.  We've all learned a lot from this, especially me, I don't think I'm as ready as I'd like to be for my kids to grow up & make the mistakes of life!

37 Weeks...the countdown is on

This is me, 37 weeks pregnant with our LAST baby.  We have already been blessed with four beautiful daughters and will soon be welcoming the 5th little girl into our family to complete daddy's 5 a-side girls soccer team! Three cheers for Dad!!!!

Here are some things about this pregnancy:

• 2nd best pregnancy for me (only beaten by Shannon's, but I was 22 then, not so young these days)
• I can get heartburn from anything....I mean anything - I think I get it from breathing
• I cannot eat pickles, peppers or cucumbers - chocolate is ok
• No water retention, despite it being summer (yay)
• I still hate under the bump maternity clothes
• Was most tired with this one for the first trimester
• 3rd trimester has been relatively easy
• I've measured small throughout the whole thing (never happened before - I always measure big, with Aylish I'm sure I measured enormous)
• Moving at 7 months isn't fun
• The whole pregnancy has felt shorter than previous ones, though when I count the months on the calendar they've all been the same length
• I've had great support from family and friends but have missed having mom around

Here are my predictions for what's to come:

• I will have a scheduled induction on a date that suits EVERYONE
• 1.5 hour labour from start to finish
• 1 good push and she'll glide out (she better glide - I'm sure Aylish made the path big enough for me to deliver a calf!)
• She'll be a picture of health
• She will have lots of beautiful red hair
• She will weigh 6lbs 11oz
• She will be 22 inches long
• My hair and makeup will stay in place throughout
• I will shower immediately following her birth and dress in pre-pregnancy jeans

Yep, that's how it will all go - just like I've planned.  I will block from my mind what we all know to be true...the pain.  My mom's doctor told her when she was expecting me that "it goes in easier than it comes out" - how true that is.

Wish me luck!

P.S.  Meals, flowers and gifts greatly welcomed!!! Hehehe!