friday

Today was truely a very long boring day. Steve took the vehicle to work, mainly because I was just too lazy to drive him and Liam needed to nap. But it made for a very long afternoon stuck inside!
So I broke out the camera and tried out some of the new filters. My favorite would have to be the diffuser. It softens the pictures quite a bit. I really noticed on Cassidy's face since she had a few bright scratches and they really blend in using this filter. I am also practising on using only manual focusing rather then auto. I think I am getting pretty good at it! I am still asking Steve stupid little camera questions. I am the one who takes all the pictures, but he understands all the stuff better then I do. I think my skills are improveing. . .although I have adorable subjects which makes taking pictures easy.

As for Cassidy's bed wetting, funny thing is she has been try for the last few days. But she did wake up in the middle of the night with bad dreams last night. This is very odd, she is by far our best sleeper and outsleeps the other two by several hours.

Ever since Aidan had to give up his blanket, Cassidy has been terrified to turn 5. She is so scared of letting her blanky go. She tells us she will turn 4 and then she will turn 6. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

Here are two pictures of the kids. The first one was taken in January 2005 and the second was taken today. Wow they sure have grown!

thursday. . .

Today is a beautiful day!! It looks like the really cold weather is a thing from the past. We were actually able to go toboganning this week with the kids.
I just wanted to inform everyone that we have switched over to SHAW from MTS. So my email is changed to ekeown@shaw.ca. So please update your address books. (steve's has changed as well) SHAW is just cheaper when you have tv, internet and phone.
The one thing that has been on my mind this past week is. . . . .potty training. I pride myself in potty training my children fast but when I think about haveing to do it with Liam soon, I rather dread it. What is it about diapers that makes life so easy? The fact you don't have to worry about an 'accident' when you are out of the house? But the idea of not buying diapers is even more appealing. We have been changing diapers for the last five years and I look forward to saying goodbye to that for good.
So, Liam is not as ready as my other two were at this age. He seems to be such a baby still. We have brought the potty out for him to play with but he has no concept of what it is exactly for. I am guessing by March he will be ready and I will devote an entire week to it. If worse comes to worse, Steve has most of May off for holidays and we will do it then.
Cassidy on the other hand has been wetting her bed. She was fine for a while but recently has been back in pullups at night because I am sick of washing bedding. Even when she doesn't drink a drop all evening she is still wet. I have a feeling she may be like this for a while yet. Frustrating yes, but at least it is only night time.
I don't have much else to blog about. I don't have too many new good pictures to post either. I recently bought some new stuff for the camera and hope to experiment with some new pics soon but haven't had the chance.

HUSBANDS FOR SALE!

~~This was posted on my message board today. I have read this before and thought it was SO funny~~

A store that sells husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights. There is, however, a catch . . .. you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building! So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads:

Floor 1 - These men have jobs and love the Lord.

The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.

The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking. "Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.

She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework. "Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"

Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 - These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the signreads: Floor 6 - You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day! Please send this to all men for a good laugh and to all the women who can handle the truth!

the many faces of Cassidy. . .

So today is sunday. January is coming to an end, thankgoodness. We all ventured out to church this morning even though Steve was working. I thought it wouldn't be that hard but Cassidy refused to go to sunday school because there was a new teacher and ended up in Aidan's class. Liam refuses to go in nursery and wiggled and giggled through the whole service.
In the end, it was alot of work but at least the kids had a good time interacting with other kids and I could visit with adults and have some adult conversation. So even though I missed the entire message, it was still good to get out of the house (and out of my pjs LOL!)
This is supposed to be one of the last weekends. The next few weekends he will be training a new person and then he will be free. . . .or so I hope. Again, I have learned not to believe everything he is told from there but because of his new position, they can not keep him in weekends for much longer.
As for other news, Cassidy has decided she wants to be a 'painter girl' when she grows up. Strange yes! I asked her what she was going to paint. She said pictures. I asked her if she was going to sell them to make money. She says No. I then ask where she will get money to live. She looks at me and says 'From you!' Too bad I don't make any!
As requested, I took a short video of Liam practising his new vocabulary.

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Not much else is new here. Steve's parents arrived home from Mexico this weekend and here is Liam modeling his new hat. My parents and Brad & Nichole arrived home as well from Florida and Noah was a great little guy the whole time. We decided they timed it right since they missed the really cold spell!

almost forgot. . .

I almost forgot to post this short video from Aidan's Party.

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Update. . . .

Wow, it is wensday already. Why do these weeks keep flying by faster and faster? First of all, while uploading Aidan's birthday pics, I realized I took these of the kids last week, trying to practise on my growing photography skills. Taking pictures is something I really, really love doing lately. Really only ever since I got my fancy new camera. (and am already eyeing an even better one! LOL!) My kids rarely ever sit nice together and was surprised they did for ONE shot! That was all the time Liam had in him. Cass on the other hand is my little poser.

Aidan's birthday started out with opening a few presents. Cassidy bought him a wooden vintage car which he loved and he also got a new big boy bible. He loves listening to bible stories and Noah's ark is a big favorite right now.

We were then off to Church were Aidan had special birthday treatment in sunday school. That afternoon Uncle Tony came over early and gave Aidan a nerf gun shooter thing. This thing is quite scary and the kids had a blast with it, I think Daddy liked this one the best too!

The rest of the family arrived and we had a fun evening together.

Cake time!!!!

Pinata time!!!

Pin the number on Lightening McQueen game!

Aidan got spoiled as usual. One of his favorties is his remote control car from Juile and Ashton.

Showing off his new race track.

Also, in other Keown news, I had to share that Liam's vocabulary is finally growing. He does have an appointment to have his speech assesed still but I already see an improvement. The funniest thing he is saying is "Cass" but it sounds just like "ass". SO CUTE!! and we laugh and he says it over and over again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN!

Five years ago today I was about 35+ weeks pregnant, I had been in the hospital since the night before with early labor. You see, I had a very eventful pregnancy and even when pregnant, Aidan seemed to cauze trouble! (and this has not changed) I had been in the hospital a few weeks previous for a week with early labor and put on bed rest. Anyways, that night on January 13 they were hoping to send me home in the morning and stop it but my water broke in the night and I started bleeding. They gave me drugs to speed up the labor but i didn't progress fast enough and they were concered that I had placenta previa so they did an emergency c-section at 6:50 pm. That is when Aidan was born, weighing in at 5 pounds 14 3/4 ounces. I remember i stayed awake enough for them to say it was a boy and then they knocked me out because my epidural had fallen out and I could feel the staples. Recover was terrible and I was in alot of pain but I survived and went on to have two more, which were a piece of cake compared to this.
Aidan was small and premature. He spent a week in the hospital because he wasn't feeding properly and gaining weight as well as very jaundice. It was a very long week and finally we were able to come home.
I remember coming home from the hospital and feeling as though I was stealing him from all the nurses who seemed to take care of him. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but we managed. He was a fairly good baby, (not as good as my other two) but pretty average.
Today Aidan is an energetic five year old that defiantly keeps us on our toes. He loves cars, especially old vintage ones, trucks, tractors, really anything with wheels. He also loves school and is a social butterfly. He is not shy at all and loves being with people. Aidan means 'Fiery' and that describes his personality to the tee! Aidan loves to push all my buttons and test his limits. I guess it all comes with his age. lets just say I am terribly excited to have him start kindergarten!
Aidan also loves being a big brother. Although many hours of the day are filled with fighting with his siblings, there are those few precious moments where they are playing so well together that you just want to bottle that time and cherish.
Happy Birthday Aidan!!
Enjoy the small slideshow of just a few of the pics we have taken over the years.



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On one last note, Aidan must give up his blanket today. For those of you who know him well, he has had a blanket (named 'bugs') that he has had since he was a baby. There is a picture of him lyeing on it in the slide show as a baby. We have warned him for a while now so we will see how it goes.

Here is a preview of his birthday cake. I am not too impressed with this one. It seems red icing is as impossible to achieve as red paint on a wall. After two jars of red food coloring, this is what I got. Oh well, Aidan still loves it! I will make another one for his school party on tuesday and we will see if I can find something that works better.

Here is take #2 on the cake. This one is for his school party. I went and bought premade red icing. Why didn't I think of that before???

Videos

Just a couple videos I took the other day. Liam is trying to sing 'twinkle twinkle' he has the tune right, that is about it.

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Back to regular schedule

I have blogged recently but am having trouble with blogger. I keep losing things and I keep having to redo stuff. Hopefully this will be up to stay.

January is here. I always hate January. It is cold, snowy and we all have holiday withdrawl. I always say if we can get through January then we are in the home stretch to spring!! Thankgoodness we have been very blessed with super mild weather here lately. But today it is back to -17 degrees celcius! (-25 with the wind chill)

We are pretty much back to normal schedule here. Aidan starts school tomorow morning.

Steve's job has not changed yet. I am beyond frustration. I am too a point of expecting nothing is going to happen. But. . . supposibly, it will. If his job didn't pay so well, I would have said enough already. They are still working out the new positions and he will have a 9-5 job. Monday to friday. This is what we originally wanted I just wish sometimes prayers aren't answered in such a complex way. Originally when we thought he would be on early mornings, we were a little stressed over the vehicle thing. We only have one right now and I need it for Aidan's school. Buses don't run that early in the morning so we were praying that would all get sorted out. So our prayers were answered in that regard since he will not have that shift anymore.

9-5 job would be perfect in many ways. So we will wait some more I guess. I think this is a true lesson of patience on my behalf. Really, a year ago he was a temporary worker with no guaranteed hours and now he is permanent full time supervisor. We would have never imagined him to climb the ladder at Canada post so fast.

Aidan's birthday is this weekend. Steve has taken sunday off to celebrate since we originally thought he would not be working. Steve also has two weeks off in February of vacation that he has to burn up.

Yesterday, I noticed that I had not taken any pictures for a couple days. Mainly because my batteries were dead and I hadn't gotten around to charging them. So i quickly snapped some new pics to post.

2006

When I look back this past year, i honestly wonder where the time went. We have done more in this past year then we usually do which made it fly by extra fast.

The first week of January, are house was filled with a wonderful gift from the kids cousin. CHICKEN POX! The kids were covered from head to toe but survived!
Januray was the first full month of our house being on the market. Very frustrating having people through it everyday and crappy offers. Brandon has a tough market (unlike Winnipeg) and you need patience and time which we did not have.
This month also marked Aidan's 4th birthday. We celebrated by having a big pool party at a local hotel.

Steve was not working at this time as he was still on paternity leave.
February marked my 25 birthday (although I am sure I am at least 35!) and we ended up taking our house off the market after two months. We instead decided to rent it out and keep it as an investment property.

March rolled around and we were packing like mad! Steve was moving to Winnipeg to live at his sister and brotherinlaws place while I stayed put till the end of March. We had renters lined up to move into our house on April 1st but we had yet a place lined up in the city. Steve was part time working in the Canada post downtown plant.
We started serious house hunting but felt very intimadated by the bidding wars. We had made three different house offers and finally found a place. The place we did buy we bought UNDER market price because it needed ALOT of help. We decided because the place needed so much work we would rent for two months while we worked on the house.

April came and went, we moved into our townhouse in Windsor Park and May 1st we got the keys to the new house.

May was spent working hard on the house. Ripping it apart and putting it back together. Steve also started full time nights. It was a hard long month as we spent every spare moment working at the house.



May 26 marked Liam's 1st birthday. We were able be in our new house and had a party there to celebrate.

Summer came (and went just as fast!) We bought an older tent trailer and made good use of it taking some trips up to Falcon Lake and St.Malo. We also spent lots of times at the paddle pools, the beach, tinkertown and across the street at the park.


August, we took off for a couple days to Edmonton. The kids had a blast at the hotel and at the West Edmonton mall. It was a quick trip but alot of fun and they still talk about it.
August also brought a new position on for Steve at work. He became a supervisor in UTS (urban transportation service) at the Canada post plant. This job was a change from the 'monkey' job that he had but a good challenge and he enjoys it.

September brought Cassidy's 3rd birthday! Hard to believe she is three already. We had a small party here in Winnipeg and then went out for another party in Brandon. She was defiantly spoiled with two Sleeping beauty cakes and lots of presents.
September was also the start of a new school for Aidan. He started at Springs Christian Academy preschool and loves it. He goes every tuesday and thursday morning.
Fall was uneventful. We stayed close to home and started getting the house ready for Christmas. The start of December, my sister Jamie and her family were able to come from BC so we could meet our new precious niece Keziah. We had a great family gathering together and early Christmas. It was also the same time my Aunt died very suddenly and went home to be with Jesus. It was nice that my entire family was home and able to attend the funeral.

Christmas was a little less stressful this year. We didn't have to travel anywhere since we had Steves side of the family gathering at our place.
The new year has come and we are thankful for the way God has orchasetrated the move to Winnipeg. How he has found us a great church close by and a place to live. As most of you know, I hated this house for a long time but am learning to enjoy the work we have done. We are also thankful for the way God has moved Steve up the ladder at Canada post very quickly and still continue to pray that this whole new position thing will get sorted out. We are thankful that we are finally adjusting to the city. A year ago I would have never imagined driving downtown and now I do it almost everyday without even thinking about it.
Although our kids can drive us crazy, we thank God for them and are blessed God choose them as ours.

We look forward to what God has in store for us in 2007. HAPPY NEW YEAR!