Sparrow Apparel!

I had the funnest experience back in July that I wanted to document! So with Vivint this past summer we moved three times. Our third home was Calgary and we merged with another office there. That team had a handful of wives in it, and Kim Martin, the wife of one of the managers invited myself and the two other wives in our office ( Becky and Danielle ) to come hang out with them at her house. It was so nice to have another place to go to, like a real big home instead of a dorm! And with other wives who were going through the exact same situation as me with husbands who work for Vivint. I felt very comfortable at Kim's, and there was lots of kids, always good food, and good company. We only got together about four times, but they were so fun! Kim is a Photographer, and she takes the photos for Sparrow Apparel. She had a TON of clothes at her house that they needed models for, so she asked all of us Vivint wives if we wanted to be the models and we would get some free outfits out of it! YES PLEASE! This was an experience I will never forget, it was sooo fun for me! Kim's 10 yr old took some of the photos so she could be in them too, the more the merrier! A part of me has always been a wanna be model, haha. From a young age I was always posing and loved getting my picture taken. Being so into photography myself now and being the person behind the lens, I was surprised how intimidating it is being the subject, or how self conscious I was, asking " Ok Kim, what should I do? " It's hard to relax, and not feel like you "try" too hard! haha. In these photos, from a self indulgent view I really like some of them, but I also think I am no model and don't really have the natural nack! But that could be worked upon if so desired. Actually, my friend Becky, (the Blonde with long hair) is so photogenic and has the BEST natural expressions, Andrew and I were blown away when we looked at these! At every one, we were like "Whoa Becky!" Hooting and hollaring outloud! This was such a fun experience though! Kim would give us each an outfit in a bag and we all would go to our cars and change behind the doors into a fresh new outfit. Then she would position us and snap away. It was so fun to see which outfit she would give us next, I had never done anything like this before, we were all so girly and giddy! We are all Moms, and it made us feel like young girls again! After the photoshoot, we went back to Kims, and got to try on even more clothes and pick out 4 items! We all ended up purchasing more things as well. It was the best shopping experience I have ever had, my kids playing while I try on outfits, one after the other. Something that just does NOT ever happen after being a Mom, right?

Girl Power! Cheers to Sparrow Apparel, all these ladies, and this fun experience I will always remember! Check them out at: sparrowapparel.ca or find them on facebook!

Puntledge River, Courtenay B.C. October 4th, 2015

On our way home from our Family Adventure Part 1 up island, we stopped at my Mother in laws, whom I love dearly, and spent a night and a good part of the day with her. We decided to show the kids the fish at Puntledge River. It was cool, interesting, nasty, stinky, gross, sad, a way of nature. There were two little boys poking fish with sticks, and it kind of disturbed me and I told they they probably shouldn't do that. My Mom in law said it was ok, that's what kids always do there haha.

Andrew brought a Fishing Rod, and it was gorgeous, warm weather outside!

Jayna is getting good at casting, and so cute, all her little expressions..

Jane. My Mother in law is such a good woman. She is always there to help out, and serve in any way she can. She loves our kids and is a get down on the floor and play kind of Grandma. I am really grateful for her and the relationship we have. She is always a support and encourager to me, and a good listener ear. I'm thankful for the things I have learned from her and for her company.

Jayna didn't want to leave, haha. Intervention was necessary;)

Family Island Adventure Part 1:

So, this past summer Andrew bought an ugly light blue Toyota Previa, 1990's something. He needed another vehicle for all his guys this past summer with Vivint. The van treated us well all summer. Well I should say him well, because I never drove it. But now, it's parked in our driveway and we ended up selling our White Cavalier. So now we have our Honda CRV, and our Previa. Sick:) I have come to love this van actually. And we have already started having family adventures in it. It has served us well this Fall. Andrew has been wanting to explore more of the island with me, so I said, " sure, let's go on an adventure. You decide where." So we packed up the van, the kids, some food, and took off. We drove up island to Kennedy Lake, about 4 hours. We explored a few places and then picked a spot on the Lake. It was close to getting dark when we got there. So we set up a fire and got the food out, and I set up the bed. Yes, we slept in our van! I borrowed a foamy from my Mom's and I made a little bed for Jay past our feet on a yoga mat. The kids loved the fire. Jayna loved poking a stick in the fire and we had to keep telling her to not jerk one way with it in her hand. She almost stuck me a few times! Geesh. We twirled a stick around really fast that had been in the fire so it looked like a glow stick in action. We ate hot dogs, chips, etc and s'mores. Well I pretty much was the only one who ate s'mores... Some pics on the drive there:

When we first arrived to Kennedy Lake:

Our Beach Fire:

So we were almost all done with the fire when I heard a creepy noise in the bush, so I grabbed the kids and ran to the van. Ok, there was probably nothing there, but I am afraid of the dark still, and didn't want to chance it. It's cougar country down there as Andrew calls it, so wasn't taking chances. Later I had to go back out and grab all the food though, and I couldn't run fast enough! So Julian was ready for bed, but dear Jayna was not. We ended up putting a movie on the laptop for a while for her, then lights out, ha. I didn't have the best sleep. I woke up soooo much. I had a few bad dreams about animals being outside our van, and one creepy one about a guy looking in. Julian moved a lot and other than waking up a ton, it was a decent sleep, and no one was cold. It was fun to wake up and eat in the van, get changed and start our day! We played on the beach for a while with another family that came, then we drove to Tofino. One of Andrew's favourite places on earth. I love it there too. We drove straight to the Wickaninnish Beach..... we were the only ones there! It was sooo gorgeous. I took sooo many pictures, but here are some of my faves:

The first thing you do when you get to the beach is take off your shoes and socks, right? Unless you have sandals on like me. Well Jayna had fun running around the sand in her socks. I think that would feel pretty cool on your feet actually. Oh, my free spirited child! And I found a heart shaped jellyfish, I thought that was cool.

My sweetheart:

I was in awe of how clear Julian's reflection was in the sand water, so cool!

Jayna was running in the waves holding her dead jellyfish, and biffed it headfirst!! ( bottom left ) She was soaked after that fall, but that didn't slow her down. She just got naked. hahaha

Jayna sat down in the sand and Juju went to join her. Little terd started throwing sand on her brother. He put up with it for a bit...

Then he had enough and got up and cried:( Cuddles with Daddy he got. I think the bottom left photo is so hilarious with Jayna still holding mud sand lerking behind her brother, Geesh that girl!

As we were walking back to Van, I captured some details of the beautiful beach and forest path:

We went to Cox Beach next to check out a Women's Surf Competition. (If Andrew hears the word "surf" we gotta go)

Julian managed to get naked too, and found his shadow, was pretty interested in it, so cute!

Then Daddy asked a group of guys if he could borrow their surf board to take Jayna surfing for the first time since the water was rather warm as far as the ocean goes...

Jayna loved going on the surf board by herself!! She had the look of joy on her face and was a bit scared. Daddy was so excited to push her into the waves. She did so good. And was very proud of herself. Little surfer in the making would be Daddy's dream come true;) We shall see. Good-bye Tofino, see you next time!

It was a fun few days, we stopped for the night at my Mother in Laws and spent some time with her. What a beautiful land we live in. I especially love our Island!

Pumpkin Patch in Courtenay, October 17th, 2015

We were up island visiting my Mother in Law in Courtenay last month on our way back from a Family Adventure that I will be documenting later. She suggested we go to the Pumpkin Patch, so we did. They had a barn full of pumpkins and a whole bunch of cool things to buy, like soaps, dried garlic, dried lavender, and more. There of course was a Pumpkin Patch, I might add there were some massive pumpkins there, and cool colours too! There was a decked out room in the back with creepy witches and a monster in a box that would move and light up, make loud noises, and the lid on the box would slam up and down! Juju was scared of it, and didn't want to go back near it. Jayna on the other hand was fascinated and kept going back. She likes creepy/scary things! Sure didn't get that from me, haha. They had seeds to give to the hens. The kids did what they do best when it comes to animals, run after them...

Julian does this thing sometimes where he shoots his hands out in front of him or high up in the air and makes a "shhhh" noise. It's usually random, and it's really funny/cute:)

My babies...

We went on a Hay Ride around the farm where we saw some geese? and lots of pumpkins...

Those are some pretty cool pumpkins I thought! Julian had fun climbing on the big ones...

See you later Pumpkin Patch, it was a nice trip:)