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Eggs, and chicks and ballerina's and guns????

It's been a long while since I've posted anything. We've had a pretty busy past month. Ash turned 3, Peter turned 39. We went to Vegas with 4 other couples and had the best time. Charlie and Ashley started swimming lessons. Charlie started his karate up again and Ash has started her ballet again too. We had a big Easter dinner at my Mom and Dad's on Easter Monday.

Charlie has been terrorizing Ashley for the last couple of days. He always has a gun at the ready. We tell him over and over that he's not to point it at anybody, but finds himself in situations where he just can't help it. Case in point, the picture below.

Peter took this picture of Charlie aiming to fire at Ashley. Nice!

Ashley, Quinn and Brooklyn

Ashley and her "loot".

A couple that lives in our neighborhood put on a Easter Candy hunt for the whole community and anybody else who wanted to come. It was a great afternoon and there was quite a bit of candy.

"ladybug"

I made some more cake-pops, but gave-up half way into it. I just wasn't in the mood and the kids were bugging me. It's definitely something that is better to do when the kids are asleep. Anyway, here's a photo of the one's I tried to do on bakerella. I'll try again another time.

Last month, we got to go to Ashley's ballet recital. It was so cute to watch all the little girls in pink, dancing around.

She really loves it.

My little 3 year old!

Ashley Sophia Allen turned 3 on March 3rd!

I can't believe how fast the last three years have gone by. I absolutely love this girl and her wild little spirit. She makes me laugh, daily. She is very independant, knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. She adores Charlie and is so happy when he gives her the time of day. Like any other 3 year old, she has her moments. But over-all, she is a joy to be around. She loves to talk (a lot) and dance and play with her dolls and puzzles. She is a huge snacker. Breakfast is barely over and she's already saying she "needs something", usually a granola bar or an apple.

For her "magic" birthday, we had a little princess party. Her cousin, Brooklyn came over and so did her friend, Anna. They wore several different versions of the "princess" dress. Lots of wardrobe changes. They played, decorated crowns and wands, ate cake and everybody had a good time. Ashley loved the whole day!

We got Ashley the castle cake with all the princesses on it. It was a huge hit. The cake was a tad on the dry side, but it looked good.

Brooklyn decorating her crown. The girl's got skills, I tell you. She must get her creativity from her mom, Caitlin.

I'm still on my cake-pop bender. I just can't stop. I copied these Hello Kitty ones from Bakerella. They were so much fun to make (except the edible marker didn't work that well). They were also a huge hit. And tasty too.

More kitties!

Brooklyn and Ash. (Somebody tell the b-day girl to "pick" a winner)

The girls.

Ashley absolutely loved all her gifts and the festivities. She woke up the next day put on a party hat and asked when her guests were arriving.

Ashley idolizes Brooklyn. She pretends to have telephone conversations with her. She plays and talks to her like she's in the room. It's really cute.

When the cat's away.....

Cailin, I know that you've been saying that you've been having a tough time with the kids lately. Well, I feel your pain sister. Mine are pushing all of my buttons right now. It's constant. I love them dearly, but COME ON!!!!!! The fighting, the whining.....it's driving me crazy!!!!

This afternoon, I was on the computer (hiding from them). After a while (honestly, it wasn't that long), I started to notice how quiet it was. It was really nice. I listened closer and I heard the beautiful sound of children laughing. Could it be that Ashley and Charlie were actually playing together? And...getting along? I decided to go and watch my beautiful little darlings. This is what I saw.............

Charlie was smart enough to run upstairs and hide. Did you notice that the marker in her hand is a Sharpe?!??!!!! Oh yeah!!!

She's trying to play inncocent. She did all the fancy work to her belly, shoulder's and arms. Charlie is responsible for the tic-tac-toe game on her face. They both had pudding all over their faces, too.

My "wild child". I love her to pieces.

Thank goodness for long weekends!

I'll start off my post with some pictures of the cake pops that Caitlin and I made. I know that she posted pictures on her blog too. These ones really weren't that great tasting. I was so bummed, because I'd been wanting to make these for so long. I fiddled with the recipe and made some more and they were sooooooo yummy. I took some to Charlie's school for his Valentine's Day celebration and everybody loved them. I'm going to make some more today for my mom and dad's anniversary.

As I said in my last post, I am so sick of winter. But it helps when you can get out of town for a weekend here and there. Charlie was off school last Thursday and Friday, then had Monday off too. We were invited back to our friends cabin in Invermere and jumped at the offer.

It was such a great weekend. We lounged around, ate lots of food and played games. We even went up to Panarama for a day of snowboarding. Lots of fun.

Ash made some new friends. Chloe and Lola.


Ash having a melt-down cause Lola bent her Valentine card.

My boo-bear! She was so happy to spend the weekend with us too.

We spent Sunday on the Lake, playing hockey and snowmobiling. Great fun.

Later that day, we made pizza. Here's Charlie eating the pizza that he made.

These pics are backwards, so here's Charlie watching his pizza being cut.

In goes Charlie's pizza. (This is our friend, Doug. His cabin)

The "forno".

Anyway, we had a great weekend away. It helps to break-up the long winter. Still really looking forward to Spring. I just need to get me some hot weather now.

Just some old stuff

Nothing is new here, but I haven't posted in a while. I thought I would post some pics of some of the few things that we've done. Most of you have seen these on my facebook account. I don't know about you all, but this time of year is the worst. I desperately want to get some sun. I was looking at Charlie and Ashley the other day and they are transparent. Do you remember that book "Flowers in the Attic"? It reminds me of what my kids look like.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to our friends amazing cabin in Invermere. It was so cold, but we had a great time. The boys skated on the lake and we watched all these guys ice fishing. I don't get it. They make these little huts, cut a hole in the ice and just sit there. Most of them have cameras that they send down and they sit in their trucks and watch and wait for a fish to take a nibble. Where's the sport in that? There were tons of these guys out there. Anyway, how Canadian can you get?

This is Charlie and his little buddy, Alex.



Peter and I thought that it would be great to have a rink in our back yard. I thought, Yeah. We'll just take the hose and spray it all down and we'll be skating in no time. Well, that was about 4 weeks ago and it's still not ready. Mostly in part to our uneven, slanting backyard and to the uneven weather. I tell you, there is science in ice-making. Next year we'll have the best ice, I'll see to it.

Anyway, I can't wait for Spring and Summer. I just want to be outside. I want to send the kids out in shorts and a t-shirt. I want to be at our cabin on the water when it's scorching outside........is that too much to ask for?

In the mean time, we're looking forward to having a play-date with Caitlin, Meaghan and Laura on Monday. We're going to make felt hair clips and the cupcake pops from the bakerella.blogspot.com website. If you haven't checked this out, you should. This girl is so creative. I love the cupcake pops she did for Halloween.

I also found a company that you can publish your blogs on. It's called blurb.com. You can have your blog printed into a bookstore-quality book and have it shipped to you. I'm definitely going to do it. It would be nice to have a hard copy of all my old posts.

Happy New Year!

We finally got Ashley potty-trained, just in time for Ballet. I am so excited. It was so fun buying her shoes and bodysuit. I really hope that she likes to dance. She's been talking about it for ever and it was the big motivator for potty-training. We kept saying that when she's a big girl, she can do ballet.

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that the year is filled with health and happiness to all of you!

We had some friends stay over New Year's eve. We made a traditional Swiss fondue (scrumptious), and stayed up until 4 a.m. playing cards. I can't remember the last time I stayed up so late. We paid for it the next day, however.


Before our fondue, we took the kids out sledding. Charlie thought that his scuba goggles would be great protection from snow flying in the face.

The next day we went to the old Pioneer's Lodge for a McKinnon family (Peter's mom's side) get together. You think the Rawsthorne family is big?

It was really neat. They had their family tree on display, old photo albums of relatives and lots of stories. The lodge is a really neat place too. Charlie and Ashley were fascinated by all the animals on the walls.

All these animals and a big roaring fire-place in the corner makes it really cozy!

Christmas stuff!

Just before Christmas, Nena arranged an invitation for our kids to go to the Arbour Lake Dental "Meet Santa" event.

This is the best thing going! I swear, this Santa is the best. I don't have a scanner otherwise I would post the photos. But trust me on this. Santa even brought his reindeer!

Carson and Quinn with the reindeer.

Here's a photo of Jack at Angie and Craig's Party. We were all in the living room, chatting. We look over and Jack is on the table eating (with his hands) the adorable cakes that Angie's mom made. Too funny!

Ash and Brooklyn.

Christmas Day, Ashley fell into her wardrobe trunk!

Mom and Georgia.

Mom and Dad and most of the kids.