Family Pictures (by Julie Cortens)

I know I've been woefully negligent in the blogosphere lately.
Life is just happening at such a quick pace I can barely keep up myself - let alone sit down and type it out. :)

But just to let you know that we're here and still well - some pictures taken last Sunday by our talented friend, Julie Cortens of Julie Cortens Photography - tell the story. Be sure to look at it in slideshow format if you can - the music is perfect! :)

If you're looking for someone creative and fun to take some shots of you or your family, I encourage you to check out her website.

Pretty much anyone who reads this blog knows what Nana's name is - but if you don't (or can't remember) just leave a comment with your email and I'll send it your way. :)

Please let me know what you think - 'cause I have to pick a few favorites! At least the new header for the blog is already taken care of. (lol!)

You can see the slideshow here.

Cousins

This picture just melts my heart. :)

Hello - and almost goodbye! - May. :)

We Don't Have the Blues...

But maybe the purples?
(chuckle!)

This honestly wasn't planned - but just before supper last night we noticed that all three of us Manz-girls were wearing various shades of purples, mauve and violet.
Kurt snapped the picture to capture the moment. :)

Where Did February Go? (it got buried under all that snow, I guess...)

Helloooo!

Tenley is napping and Peyton is enjoying her daily dose of the Mickey Mouse Club - so I've literally got about 8 minutes to give a quick update.

We got through the family's second round of colds last week. Not as scary as the first: no hospitalizations now that Tenley can actually turn her head to cough. It made for some grumpy days with Peyton - who one day told Kurt, "I feel crummy, Daddy." Truer words were never spoken. She used up almost a whole bottle of childrens Advil - but the drippy nose has finally stopped. So glad that's over... and praying spring will quickly arrive! (Hard to imagine with the 6-foot snow pile by the driveway - but a girl can hope, right?)

Speaking of snow: I won't say this often because I am severely lacking storage space: but I am very thankful we don't have a basement this year. When all that snow starts to melt, I don't have to worry about getting a sump pump in gear. That said: we might just up and float away in this-here trailer... but that's another trial for another day. ;)

These days find me working on being a good mom. And I don't mean that lightly. I ordered the book "Don't Make Me Count to Three" a few weeks ago. The first 3 chapters have already just reinforced to me what a major responsibility it is to be these girl's mommy. Needless to say, feeling that has caused me to seek out God more: making a daily time to read and pray for me (ahem!) them. ;)

I've cut waaay back on facebook and (duh.) blogging time. We've been baking and doing laundry and singing and dancing the days away. We're currently working on perfecting Usher's amazing leg-jives from the video "DJ's got us falling in love." (I did not claim that everything were were doing was profitable.)

We're not going stir crazy yet - but when we get close I enforce the non-optional nap time. It's good to be the boss. (Baa-ha-ha.)

And... (3 minutes left)... it's cold. Super-cold. Even by middle-Saskatchewan standards. -36 this morning. (-32.8 F) before windchill.

That's crazy cold.

Kurt has to haul pigs today - so I'm praying he and they all stay safe and warm as they travel. I'm also thanking the Lord for a furnace that is running consistently (albeit often!) - and a vent right by my feet as I type.

I have to admit that I'm counting down the days until we leave this vast and barren land for the hot version of it down south. Arizona, here we come! :) T-minus 17 days until departure...

Okay - must run - but a picture before I depart!Baba (my dad's mom) made Tenley's toque and mittens - and Peyton wanted to be part of the picture, too. It's winter, people - look at my kids! :)

Ack! Tenley is crying in the other room: short and sweet. Talk to you sometime within the next month or so soon!

kendall

Sisters (at 3 months)

Why I Haven't Been Blogging...

I'm reading stories, doing puzzles, changing diapers, and organizing stuffed animals by the categorization of "farm" or "wild". :)
Not to mention the seemingly sudden entry of our oldest into the 'terrible-twos'. This current and ongoing development of her character is making each day a constant effort to give her all the love and adoration my heart is full of - while consistently continuing to parent her. She's a lot of fun - but a lot of work lately.

Exhausting? Ha! Just look at me in the picture below for your answer!

But I don't care. This is a phase. A short one. I am shocked at how quickly Peyton became a "big" girl... I'm cherishing this time with my daughters.
Daughters. Plural.

Thank you, Jesus, that they are both with us...

Someday - maybe not too far away, actually - I'll get back to it. I'll all of a sudden have a few spare minutes a day when I'm not thinking about making lunch, taking a nap, doing laundry or getting on that pesky treadmill.
Those are all things which make me feel better in the end - but boy! Are they ever a lot to deal with some days! (lol!)

There have been lots of things running through my head in the moments when I'm not "mommy-ing". I'm trying to hide them in my heart to share later. I trust that the important things will not completely vanish into the fog...

But for now - I'm really loving this special time with my two little girls. :)

For those of you who still check: thank you. We're well. Keep checking - 'cause you just never know when I'll pop back in... ;)

Monkey See...

Scene:
Peyton fiddling with remote for portable DVD player at table after supper.
Mommy and Daddy casually visiting when their daughter's actions come to their notice.

Mommy: What are you doing, Peyton?

Peyton (without looking up and still pressing buttons): I'm teckting Papa.

Parents exchange odd looks.

Mommy to Daddy (quietly): Did she just say what I think she just said?

Daddy: Peyton? What are you doing?

Peyton (raising her eyes slowly and appearing somewhat exasperated at having to repeat herself when it should be more-than obvious she is busy): I am teckting Papa, Daddy.

Pretty sure that wasn't one of my play-pretend scenarios as a 2-year-old...

Matching Jammies

Kinda a self-explanatory title, isn't it? :)

Never having had a sister, this wasn't part of my life growing up - but I can see why people do this to their kids...
It's so stinkin' cute! (lol!)

(Christy V: Not sure if you read the blog - but just in case: thanks for the awesome pjs! :))

November 2nd

It's true... the day we've been waiting for for months is almost here.
November 3rd is tomorrow.

I still have to pack that darn hospital bag. I know, I know.
Bad. I really do know that.
(parts of it are 'stacked-neatly' in my room - ready for placing in a bag... so it isn't all bad)

But - I dunno... deep down I just kinda know I won't go into labor early. It isn't even something that runs in my family (maternal side, anyway).
Having been through this twice before, I think there would be a few more signs - and I never got that sense.

That said - if I'm wrong and my water breaks in the next two hours - you have my permission to say, "Silly-procrastinator, Kendall."

But the girl's (plural!) room is done.
And absolutely delightful! :)

Kurt did a super job of building a closet-organizer - from scratch. I told him what I wanted (handed him a scrap of paper and said, "Can you build this closet for me by next week, honey?"), and he did all the measuring, cutting, painting, and placement.

Everything fit perfectly the first time. I'm so proud of him.
Peyton - after seeing the completed project for the first time - said, "Wow! Good job, Daddy!" I think that might have meant even more to him than my praise. :)

All of the kid's clothes now have a place in the closet, and the change-table can be kept solely for diapers, blankets, bedding and receiving blankets. A dream come true...

Peyton is beyond thrilled at her big-girl bed. The first thing she did when she saw it put together this morning (we finished up after she went to bed in our room last night) was grab a book off her shelf and "read" in her bed. She also keeps looking at the two new pink walls and exclaiming, "Wow! Pink!" with a big grin. :)

(Funny story: After the first coat, Kurt stood back and said, "We're promoting our own breast-cancer awareness with this room." lol!)

The only things missing are the closet doors, toy box and the new baby's name-lettering.

The first item is in Saskatoon waiting for pickup at Rona. (We had to custom-order them because the size of the opening isn't 'standard'.)

The second is waiting for pick-up at my parent's house (a 3rd generation toy box, no less!). It will likely go at the foot of Peyton's bed (where that tub is now).

The third is an item custom made by my dear friend Katrina - who has her own family (including a baby daughter!) to contend with. :) But we'll eventually get it hooked up - and the letters will go above the crib just like Peyton's are above her bed.

Both the first and second item(s) have to be primed and painted - but Kurt has this lovely thing called a 'heated garage' which makes painting an easy task even in the dead of winter. :)

Having a room which can hold the belongings of two children in an organized fashion made us decidedly more relaxed - versus last week when we were thinking something along the lines of, "Where the heck are we gonna put TWO kids??"

It also helped that I was successful at washing, sorting and organizing all of Peyton's old clothes. I purged just the right amount of "stuff" to assure I'm not overwhelmed later.

Today holds the intensive house-cleaning that has been severely neglected the past few weeks.

(I need clean bathrooms before I can go give birth. Is that strange?
(I already know your answer, Jen V.T. - lol!
Disclaimer: I will not be washing my floors on my hands-and-knees today!)

Laundry (including sheets, clothes and towels) washed, winter-bedding on, dusting, garbage out, fridge cleaned, and - of course - the bathrooms, vacuuming and washing the floors (with a mop!) are all on the list.

Basically, I don't want to worry about anything but sleeping and nursing when I get home. :)

Anyway... thanks to all who are praying for us. Peace of mind seems to be a harder thing to fight for as we get closer. Even last night as we finished the girl's room, I was dealing with, "What if..." thoughts.

But I am choosing to trust God with hope - which is pretty all-encompassing - be it hope that all things will turn out well - or hope that He has done and will always do what is best for us.

I'll do my best to keep you posted! :)

"Mad"

She was already starting to crack up.

Amateur.

Harvest 2010

Praising God for a SECOND day of great weather...
Visiting Daddy in the field.

Posing in front of the "ka-bine"s...

In the "semi-tuk" with Papa...

Waiting for the fill with Daddy...

In the meanwhile, the road outside of our house in town is a semi-super-highway!
Lots of dust, lots of noise - and lots of delight for Peyton! :)
Looking back at 2009, it sure is obvious the changes that one year can make.
At least I'm not the only one who looks bigger different. (lol!)

The Tragic Dunking of Zoe Doll

I like to encourage creative play.

It's really neat to see Peyton put pieces of "life" together. She, for example, likes to pretend to "cook" things - complete with microwave sounds.

Not exactly sure what this says for her parent's culinary example, but I digress...

Anyway, this morning, while I was getting ready for the day, she was in my bathroom with me. She had her Zoe doll and said, "Pee-ewww! Poopy!" so I encouraged her from over my shoulder to do what needed to be done for Zoe.

I meant to change the stinky diaper.

I vaguely registered the sound of the toilet lid being lifted and Peyton saying, "Potty, Zoe."
This was followed by a giggled exclamation. "Oh no! Wet toes!"

It felt like one of those slow-motion "Noooooo....oooo....oooo!" scene from a movie - but Zoe was partially dunked before I had a chance to turn around.

Ick.

It was - thankfully - just Zoe's toes that got wet.
As I sponged off the doll as best I could, I explained to Peyton that she was just supposed to pretend to potty Zoe. Which meant keeping the lid down.

With a pert little grin she replied, "Ohhh.... okay, Mommy."

Which causes me to wonder... maybe the child knew she could freak me out?

Hmm.

PS: For those of you who have sent prayers God-ward for us these past couple of days: I continue to remember - not without pain - but without the despair knocking at my door. Thanks times one-hundred million - and even that is not enough.
Much love....

It's Harvest! (Expect pictures...)

Family photo - September 2009
(We should have had glasses for miss-squints, I think...)

Visiting Kurt at work.
(Peyton keeping an eye on the dog...)

The truck Kurt was driving that day.

And a glamor shot for all my fans... ;-D
Peyton looks like she's cut in stone, though... chuckle!

With the puppy belonging to the farm we were beside that day.
A perfect fall day... praise God!

Driving with Daddy (not really... just waiting for the combine.)
Don't you just love the sippy-cup dashboard accessory? :)

Waving to Daddy while he was unloading the wheat into the bin.
(And yet he still managed to take a picture for me... what a sweetie!)

Such a happy girl with her Daddy!

My favorite farmer... and Kurt. (lol!)

I must say it is a lot easier to get in and out of the truck this year. :)

Ta-DAAAHHHH!

I'd like for you to meet the newest member of the Manz automotive family: Our brand-new (to us) 2007 Honda CR-V!
(Okay - it can snow now 'cause I've got my 4x4!)

So this has been a big vehicle purchase year for us - the van in February and the CR-V now... we should be done for a while now, though! :)
(hope! hope!)

She Likes to Move-it, Move-it

So all of a sudden I have this little girl who likes to move around all over the house. She isn't exactly crawling - but does manage to get pretty far between bum-scoots, rolling and just general squirmyness. (not a word, I know...)
Exhibit A:The "I tent my bum and spin in circles" move. Very effective for subtle movement which takes Mommy a while to notice."What mom? You didn't see or hear me moving down the hallway? Hmmm - I have no clue how I got here either!"
Exhibit B:
The, "Hey! If I can get my bum on lino I can really slide far!" move.
She had been over by us on the couch and made her way (with purpose) to the kitchen where she could try and pull herself up on the kitchen chair. She didn't get it that time - but the other day I found her standing up in her crib.
Nice.
Exhibit C:
The, "I don't like to lay where mommy puts me in the crib so I'm gonna sit up and move around until I get so tired I just literally fall over and go to sleep" move. (I don't make these names up, you know... ;-D)I found her at the bottom of the crib all bent over. All I can say is that it's a good thing little kids have almost no stiffly-formed bones and joints - an adult in this position would suffer for days afterward!

Rainy Day

It was supposed to have been a yard-work day. But we woke up to rain and a house that was only 21 degrees! So it came down to coffee in our jammies with the fireplace on - and cuddling while watching the Rider game. Our girlie is very happy to have her daddy in the house with us this morning - a rare occurrence!

As I type, I can hear Kurt is trying to teach her to say, "Go Roughriders!" "Touchdown!" and "Yaaaaay!"

I think we should work on "Mommy" first - but whatever...

A Moral Dilemma

Am I a bad mother if I give my daughter her Dad's cell-phone and say, "Here. Chew on this for a while while I go on the computer."?
:)
She sure enjoyed it.
And it was in a protective case...

Happy Canada Day!

From the little jail-bird...

And her mommy...

Yay for Canada! :)

First Time in the Grass

She is clearly her mother's daughter...

:-D

Captured Personality