The Keowns

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter Weekend

Sunday evening we got home from our fun packed weekend at Granny and Grandpas farm. We had not been out to the farm for quite a while and the kids were counting down the sleeps before we left.
Friday morning we headed out. It was nice to have no work and no school that day so we could make the trip a little longer.
When we got there Steve got to work with my dad to finish there sunroom ceiling which they were lining with cedar. The kids were right in there in the action and had to do some building of there own.

Aidan enjoying a fresh snowfall.

Cassidy baking with Granny
Liam eyeing the dessert
Saturday the kids cousins Maddy, Olivia and Judah came over and the painted some easter eggs.

Saturday evening Granny did a special activity with them. She had found an Easter story cookie recipe. As the kids made them, each thing represented part of the story and we read scripture along with it.
The white cookies represented the tomb.

At the end, the kids had to put the cookies in the oven and tape it shut tight, so that they knew no one could get in.

In the morning they opened up the oven, took the cookies and broke them open to find that they were hollow, representing the empty tomb. It was a great object lesson for them.

Sunday morning I also made a little treasure hunt for the baskets. I usually do an easter egg hunt outside, but was a little lazy this year and tried something different.

Aidan and Cassidy were thrilled to find Webkinz in there basket.

My nephew Judah (I was able to do some portraits of him and have included a few on my photography website, he was SO adorable I had a hard time choosing one or two to post)

Now we are back to regular schedule. Liam went for another speech assesment today. They are planning to start some kind of program with him. We meet again in a month plus have another ear test. They are concerned with his slur speech and the fact he is hard to understand. He is similar to how Aidan was at that age and Aidan has defiantly come along way.

Aidan also got his report card for this term. It was excellent and again the teacher commented on his imagination and love for science. She also said how much he has improved in his speech. It is hard to believe in three months school will be done for the summer. The year sure has flown by and I can hardly wait for Cassidy and Aidan to both be in school.

I am also going to be doing quite a few photography shoots in the next little while. I have lots booked and a ton of interest so that is rather encouraging. I am not planning to make much money with it but maybe eventually I will be able to. I have been adding alot more to my site so feel free to check it out. Someday I hope to splurge on a nice site, but hey, can't beat free blogger for now!

I am officially back to marathon training. It is SO nice to run in this spring weather. This is my favorite temperatures to run in.

That is about all that is new around here, last thing, next week is spring break, so you can pray for my sanity.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

HAPPY EASTER!!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

nice weather

It is beautiful out today. I don't want to get too attached to the nice spring weather yet. It has been such a nice change though. The kids have enjoyed most of yesterday and today outside. Although it is wet, and they come in drenched, they are happier with all the fresh air in them.
Yesterday, when they got home from school, we enjoyed the sunshine and took advantage of the perfect 'snowman snow' and made a few.

Cassidy made a princess, Liam a mickeymouse, and Aidan was making a giant. Here they are displaying there work.

Over this past weekend we took a quick trip to Brandon. It has been a very long time since we have been there. Steve had a bit of work to do in our rental there and he wanted to work on our taxes with his dad.

It was a quick trip and the kids were sad that we had to leave so quickly. We really have to make it out there more often.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

It was time. . .

It was time for a new header on my blog. Not too creative, but nice and simple. I didn't have the time or energy for anything more.
I just needed to post this one picture of Cassidy, this one is especially for Granny and Grandpa.

Friday, February 29, 2008

It is March tomorow. What a sigh of relief! We have almost done it, made it through another winter.

As I walked through Zellers today (to buy a plunger, will fill you in on why later), I noticed all the summer patio sets, BBQ's and other stuff is out. How exciting is that? I am really starting to get excited about all of our summer activities that we enjoy. This weekend is soccer registration for Aidan and he is very anxious and excited to start again.

Today was another eventful day. Along with the running around between schools, Liam decided to flush an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet, and then he tried to clean it up himself. This whole process happened in a mater of minutes while I was changing Nathan's diaper and disposing of it.

When i walked into the hallway there was water everywhere, and of course, we left our plunger at the old house. But now it is done and I just have lots of dirty towels to wash. Through it all I was rather calm, which surprised me. Liam sure keeps me on my toes.
This past week Jamie and the kids came back to visit, It was also Granny's (my mom) birthay and she was able to celebrate it at our place

We have another busy weekend coming up. I feel like every weekend has been jammed packed from start to finish and they haven't been very relaxing. I think this is why the last few months of flown by so fast.

I registered Liam for preschool last week. This was something we have debated about. I was told it was filling up fast and decided to register him anyway, that way if I decide not too in fall, I will just cancel it. I think preschool will help with his speech.

As for other news, I am looking for willing participants to photograph to add to my portfolio. Especially infants and maternity, but really anyone who is willing and ready. Email me if you are interested, my head is spinning with creative ideas. ekeown@mts.net

Monday, February 25, 2008

Warm weather

Yesterday was a beautiful day! I think we reached about -2 degrees celcius which is defiantly a heat wave for us.

It was good to send the kids outside, although Liam is still battling this awful sickness. It is now day 9 of the flu and he finally is improving. He has developed a terrible cough and so after talking to a nurse on health links, they sent me to the hospital to have him checked out. After almost 4 hours, a few x-rays later, we come home with a clear chest. We just have to let it run its course. He was able to get more fluids and food down today so that is defiantly progress. The other kids have felt fine so that is a relief.

I am just sick of runny poop and puke! Honestly, I feel like my house stinks like it. So today I went shopping and bought several hand pumps of hand sanitizer to put in every room, bleach and lysol spray. I am trying to get things clean and sanatized. I know my house is fairly clean to begin with but whenever the kids are sick I always feel better with a good cleaning.

Here are a few pics of the kids outside.

Last week my sister Jamie and her two kids and my parents stayed at my place for a few days. The kids had a good visit with each other. Cassidy was quite taken with little Keziah.

We celebrated my birthday, and Steve even sent me flowers (he was in Montreal) I think he felt guilty for being gone!

I noticed on the calender that March is next week. Wow, that means spring is almost here. I am so thankful we have almost gotten through this harsh winter and soon we will be enjoying warm days. My kids are defiantly experience cabin fever and Aidan and Cassidy can't get enough of the outside now that the weather has warmed up. Liam on the other hand, hopefully he will feel better so he can join the fun too!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Friday, February 15, 2008

it's still so cold. . .

I am finally hooked up to wireless. No more dragging my laptop downstairs to the spare bedroom to unhook the cable from the other computer and hook up mine, just so I can check my email. The wireless setup was my valentines gift from Steve and the kids. Better then the box of chocolate we bought him! I have been rather addicted to Adobe Light room and Photoshop CS3 lately. I can't get enough of them both, they make my old version of Photoshop seem pretty wimpy.

But, with wireless, I hope to stay on top of blogging since I won't have to hide in the basement bedroom to go on the internet.

It is still cold here. When I say cold, I mean freezing. I don't remember a winter this bad. Hopefully March will bring warmer days and melt all the snow that I hate! But sometimes I don't want the snow to go away because it will reveal all the work that needs to be done on this yard

Steve leaves for Montreal on monday afternoon and will be missing my birthday on wensday. It really doesn't matter, I am not one to 'party' on my birthday. Although not doing laundry or cooking supper, especially not unloading the dishwasher for the day would be nice. I even had to think about how old I was turning.

Tonight we have the Calvin Christian Fundraiser banquet and Granny is coming for a sleep over with Josh and Kailyn. The kids are very excited.

Other then that it is the same routine in the household. I think I finally have gotten used to running around and driving to and from every day. I look forward to next year because Cassidy and Aidan will be at the same school. We are still debating on preschool for Liam next fall since the cost of Aidan and Cassidy in private school is sure to make a dent in the pocket book. He can go the following year since he won't attend school until 2010. I often think preschool this fall would help him in his speech but on the other hand, he has two mornings a week already at sunday school and at moms group where he is in a classroom type setting. I don't think he needs it for the socialization. With the other kids and Nathan here, Liam gets enough of that. Funny how things are different with the third child then with the first.

On the topic of school, Aidan started his speech therapy at school this month. He meets with a speech-language pathologist twice per six day cycle for about 20 minutes. His report said he was improving and I too have noticed a difference in his speech. He is still struggling with his letters but continues to do well in math and other areas. I ordered him Hooked on Phonics from his book order at school, (half the price, but on backorder and hopefully here in the next month) I am hopeing this program will help him in his reading areas and I figured it would be good for the other kids too.

Last but not least the kids are very excited to see there cousins Micah and Keziah next week.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Why won't this bitter cold end already. I honestly thought we had suffered enough but the cold just keeps comeing. Oh how I long for the days I don't have to put three layers of clothes on to go running, and the days I dont have to spend 20 minutes getting the kids ready to go out anywhere.
Things have been uneventful here. The kids went to the doctor last friday and Aidan had his needles. Aidan weighs 46 pounds, Cassidy 43 1/2 and Liam is a measly 28 pounds. Cassidy defiantly has the "keown" jeans and I think will pass Aidan in size eventually. Liam on the other hand is a short little "harder". I remember when my sister Jamie and I were young and we were so small and in size 6X forever. We used to get upset because we couldn't shop in the 'cool' stores, only Saan's for Kids! Oh the good old days!
Aidan then got an allergic reaction from his immunization. After calling health links and talking to some other parents, we know it was nothing to be alarmed by and now it is all cleared up.
Last night i went to visit Noah and Nichole in the hospital. It was hard seeing him there. So helpless and hooked up to everything. I kept thinking back to seeing him just a few weeks earlier, happy and getting so excited when Steve was playing him the guitar. It just didn't look like him and no one deserves to suffer like he is.
The kids have been faithfully praying for Noah and it has also been a great opportunity to talk about death, heaven and God's promises. They seem to understand things and it just displays the faith of a Child. When we talk about Heaven they always remember that Auntie Martha is there and Micah's uncle. Cassidy even said if Noah goes to heaven, Auntie Martha could babysit him there. Of course, hearing something like that brings tears to your eyes, especially since Auntie Martha held a special attachment with Noah.
We know God has a special plan for Noah. Only he knows. In the darkness of it all, we can cling to the fact God is with him. What a blessing to have that hope, and to know that through it all, God's love will never change. I know it is hard for me to know what it feels like to see your own child suffer. I can not imagine the pain and the fear of the unknown. I ask that you pray for Noah's parents, for peace, understanding and that they may feel God's presence in every moment and every decision they make.

(i borrowed this picture off of Nichole's blog)

sorry no pictures, you can click on this to see some new ones of Cassidy. Since I shoot pictures in RAW, i need to convert them to JPEG in order to upload them. I have been so busy working on portrait shots that I have neglected the everyday pictures.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

I was planning to post today about how things are here, but when you are filled with other news, often those things become rather unimportant since our hearts are heavy with other news. It seems my nephew Noah, whom many of you readers have gotten to know has taken a turn for the worse and continues to fight for his life. We wonder why these things happen, and feel it isn't fair for someone so small and innocent to suffer as he is. We continue to praise God in his storm and I trust he has a plan.
Please continue to pray for him, he needs it desperatly and feel free to read his story here. Also pray for his family, they are also suffering. With my sister in the hospital full time with Noah, I can only imagine how hard it must be to keep the household running.
Please pray for the all.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

coming soon......my photography blog http://erinkeownphotography.blogspot.com/

Sunday, February 03, 2008

I am back

It has been a very long time since I have been able to get onto blogger. About two weeks ago, our computer really started slowing down, and getting on the internet was almost impossible. They it started to crash and Steve had to make the decision to take it in fearing we had some kind of virus. Sure enough, we did and it was so hard to get rid of they ended up reformating the whole thing. So finally yesterday we got our computer back.
I will post a little update here but i just wanted to let people know why I haven't been around posting or commenting on your blogs.
Good news is I am getting a new laptop for my birthday and it should arrive this week so this should help me stay on top of the blogger world.
Update to come when I get the time, we have lots of reinstalling programs and stuff to do yet! but....here are a few sweet pics.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Where do I begin? another fun filled, adventure packed week. This week brought the coldest temps yet. I think we have had an ongoing windchill warning for days now. Amazingly, we are adjusted to the cold and the thought of those HOT summer days are keeping me going. I am still running, although over the weekend when it reached -50 with the windchill I took the excuse to stay indoors!
Steve worked evenings last week. He hasn't worked evenings in forever and I forgot how nice it was that he doesn't anymore. Thankgoodness it was only a short few days he was covering for someone else. Yes, it was nice that he was home in the morning but I am SO wasted in the evenings. He will be home from work at 1pm today so that makes for a shorter day for us.
Between the kids two different schools and watching Nathan, my days are filled with alot of driving and running around. Yesterday I can't even count how many trips I made in and out of the house. Poor Liam has learned to go many days without a nap.

Aidan enjoyed a playdate at his school friends house last week for the morning and two other days of school. He was rather wound up all week anticipating the big party on saturday.

Yes, the party. Saturday morning we all went for breakfest to celebrate Aidan's birthday. My kids are good breakfest food eaters and it is always a cheap meal to go out for. Saturday was a VERY long morning for the kids. The counted down all day and finally the party started.

Aidan had 9 school friends and one cousin at his party. That made for 12 boys, and 1 girl. Poor Cassidy was a little out of her element.

They opened presents first.

Then was the Mad Science show. The saw experiments, black lights, fireworks, magic tricks and at the end made slime. Overall well worth the money and it kept the kids well entertained. Here are the kids all sitting and listening.

Creating the slime.

When the show was done, we had just enough time for some snacks and cake! Again, we
had a tornadoe cake. I think my second attempt turned out better.

The kids were then picked up and the party went by very fast! I would hire someone to do it again since it was so easy and there wasn't much clean up. Aidan's cousin Josh slept over and then sunday afternoon we headed to the Loewen's for some hottub time. My pictures are mostly steam because it was so cold out, but it felt so good!

I was thinking this morning that I would like to turn one of the bedrooms in the basement into a studio. That way I am not always putting up backdrops and taping them to my wall, but in order to do this I would need a good lighting system , so who knows. All just visions right now.