Dad's House

I mentioned in my last post about the hundreds of pictures that were taken on my trip, which is why i'm going to break up the posts into specific events. Naturally things like RenFest, Como Zoo, and MoA have a TON of photos all of their own, so they will have their own special posts. Keep checking in for more updates!

Anyway, my first post is all about fun with Grandpa! When we weren't out shopping, playing, or dying in the humid heat, we were just kicking around my dad's house - visiting, watching cartoons, eating...

On the day after we arrived, dad had planned a cookout for us "Just like old times!". I loved it - the simple pleasure of family, fire, and Porky's pork chops.

Even though Dad no longer lives at the same house i grew up in, it still FELT the same, with all the same decorations, traditions, and people. I was surprised that i didn't even miss the old house!  (Well, maybe the pool...)

Elijah and Riley had lots of fun finding sticks to throw in the fire. Riley would run up and give his Aunt Sharon a high five every time he got a stick in the fire bowl!

We had the traditional hot dogs, corn on the cob, and pork chops with Porky's seasoning (really the best thing for pork chops ever!). 

And, of course, BIG FIRE!!

This is what half a leftover Christmas Tree looks like in August... Those flames were so high and hot that the tree branches above, and the potato plants on the side, had singed leaves. THAT'S how the Smiths do fire!!

That night, Elijah found a stick he liked and decided to plant a tree. He dug up dirt from a soft spot on the lawn by the house and brought it over to pack around his "tree". Then he watered it with the hose.

He was so proud. The next day, he found a stick with a leaf on it while on a walk with his cousin Katrina! And as the days went on, even more sticks were added. He would go out every morning and water them. He loved his little forest.

The days and nights were hot, and while we made Elijah a nice bed on the floor he usually ended up somewhere else by morning, as he moved around trying to find a comfortable, cooler spot.

Grandpa made us some awesome food, but our favorite was the brined chicken, and the leftovers that were made into home-made chicken soup.

The kids had fun doing other things, like helping Aunt Cheryl with her laundry...

Eating ON the table...

(Can you see the "Am i in trouble?" glint in Elijah's eyes?)

And helping Grandpa dig up potatoes...

Elijah found two pebble-sized potatoes that he insisted be cooked for him. Sadly, i didn't get any pictures of them, but he was quite proud of them.

We were so happy that the kids got to spend so much time with Grandpa, and that they were just old enough to remember and appreciate those experiances.

I'm Back!!

Did you miss me??
That's okay, I'm used to it. *wink*
We had a great time in Minnesota! After three whole years, it was so nice to get back! We had such a blast visiting with this guy:

That's my dad. He's pretty awesome.
We also visited with some of these people:

(And these are only most of them) They're all crazy. Every single one of them. Which is okay cuz we fit right in. Hahaha!
While we were there, we got to go to the Como Zoo (I'd never been there before, believe it or not!), The Minnesota Renaissance Festival (which is just pure awesome), and the Mall of America. Not to mention the fact that we indulged heavily in foods (mostly of the "junk" variety) that we can't get here in Alberta. (stay tuned for a recipe for the moistest, most delicious roast chicken you've ever tasted!)
But the best part was all the family! We saw a lot of the Broeffles, Polisenos, and Schendels over the course of our holidays, and actually got a chance to see ALL my sisters and most of their families at a Sunday Barbecue. It was pretty awesome, and boy do i miss them!
Over ten days of vacation, I took over 500 photos (thank heaven for digital!!), and received probably another hundred from other people's cameras (thanks Sharon!). It has been fun, albeit time consuming, to go through all the photos. Most of them are already on Facebook, because it's easier to just dump a whole load of photos on there than on the blog. But, i promise i'll get to it. I am thinking i'll blog the different events seperately.
The fun thing about the blog is you guys get more stories to go with the photos.
Check back, i'll have stuff up soon!

Speak Up, Stalkers!!

Since I'll be away for a while (Minnesota, here we come!!!), and won't be able to show my blog any love, I thought I'd let you all do it for me!

If you happen to stop by, take a moment to say hello! Leave a comment, even if it's just a simple "Hi there!". If you don't have a Google ID, you can use the "anonymous" setting, but leave us your first name so we know who you are (or you can play "mysterious creeper", whatever works for you! heehee). And if you have time, let me know how you like the blog!

Yes, this is a cry for attention, because i'm insecure and hunger for approval. But hey, at least i admit it.

And because posts are always better with pictures, here are a couple of photos from our last trip to Minnesota (at RenFest) THREE YEARS AGO!!

Little Elijah and his grandpa! So cute!

One of my favorite pics of Elijah - So cute, so cheeky!

Loves to you all!! See you in a couple weeks!!

Josh's Teeth Update

Though it is Emily who writes this blog, I've heard that some of you readers actually care about Josh too (heehee), so I figured it was about time for an update on him.
Last monday he was in Edmonton for another soft reline of his dentures, which apparantly went MUCH better than the last one. They look better, fit better, and FEEL better, so we are pretty happy. He came home from work the day after and happily announced that he had eaten a PEANUT without pain!! I was so proud of him! We even got to have steak this week! We're all happy for him, especially since we're going on our trip to Minnesota soon, and one of the best things about vacation is overindulging in foods you don't normally eat.
Other than that, I don't have much to say. Life is the "same old, same old". So instead of blogging, all my time and energies have been spent preparing for our trip; not just the ten days in Minnesota, but the four hour drive to Edmonton, and the night we'll be sleeping over in Edmonton before our plane leaves. I absolutely HAVE to come home to a clean house, so i've been cleaning like crazy, in addition to the list making, packing, sewing, finding people to look after our cat, finding someone to drive us to the airport so we don't have to pay for parking, etc. Josh, meanwhile, has been helping as much as possible, but working 11 am to 7 pm shifts makes it tough, as he's pretty much gone all day. And lets not forget the fact that Elijah has suddenly started wetting the bed EVERY night again, which means MORE LAUNDRY!! And the fact that my patience is extremely minimal, because i do not handle stress well, especially when having kids means CONSTANT setbacks.
But, we're mostly ready. The airline, while charging a significant amount less than last year, now charges for EVERY checked bag - you no longer get your two free bag allowance - so i've been trying like crazy to fit everything a family of four will need for 10 days into two suitcases.
Anyway, I'm sure i'll have lots to blog about when i get back, but for now, Enjoy your last bits of summer! I know i will!!

What I've Been Doing Lately

So, I'm getting ready for our summer vacation next week. There's been a lot of stress, because it kinda snuck up on me, and i still have a LOT of sewing, packing, and cleaning to do before we go.

So i've been sitting in front of my sewing machine, trying to get those projects done first (I can't pack yet anyway - we need SOME clothes to wear!) I've gotten most of them out of the way, but there's still a kilt to finish (LOTS of time-consuming hand stitching!)and a couple other things.

My sewing machine has been extremely finicky lately, so it's a good thing i'm good with a seam ripper! It's also a good thing that these were made for kids, and not scrutinizing customers. And i, too, am at the point where i just don't care enough to fix the little flaws - besides, these were all first time projects designed by me, subject to lots of trial and error. So those of you who are expert seamstresses, don't judge me too harshly.

First project, finish Elijah's kilt:

I was puzzling over how i was going to keep all those pleats ... pleated. Then  I realized that Josh's kilt has each pleat sewn down at the top (HAND SEWN!). It makes it look much nicer, especially when it's on, but what a lot of work!

Second Project: Covered Notebooks

Man, these were a pain!! I had seen a tutorial a while back for a nifty cover for Composition notebooks, and wanted to try it! But, with my shopping options severely limited, and my pocket money very scarce, i had to go with something cheaper. I got those paperbacked workbooks that you get for elementary school. But if it was going to be covered, i needed the books to be a bit stiffer. I ended up cutting rectangles out of cereal boxes. Elijah's cover (the basketball one) was the first one i made, and somehow i hand't properly anticipated the seam allowances, so i had to actually cut about half an inch off the book to make the cover fit. Hence the big red stripe on Riley's Dino book - i had to make his cover piece bigger. I don't think they look too bad, especially considering all the trouble they caused! but i definitely will do better next time.

On the back of each book, i put a bunch of pockets for pencil crayons. One of these days i'll learn to sew nice straight pencil pockets without making the whole cover bulge!

Third Project: Messanger Bags

(Yes, i realize i put the front panel of Elijah's on backwards - No, i'm not going to fix it. I just realized it as i was taking the picture, and I refuse to take it apart! Good thing he's small and doesn't care.
I got the idea for these a while ago, after seeing a tutorial for something similar. I designed and made Riley's back a while ago, but hadn't gotten around to putting the zipper in, and Elijah's was sitting in pieces in a box.
Inside each bag is a back pocket from the jeans i cut up...

  (sorry it's sideways... I don't know what happened)

And then i filled each back with goodies for the plane...

Fourth Project: Binder Cover

I have a slight obsession with notebooks. I like to have them wherever i go, so i'm always ready when i need to write something down! When i travel, i like to have bigger ones, ready for anything! I had this mini binder, which holds pages that are half the size of regular loose leaf. I've always liked it, fun and functional, but not exactly pretty...

So, I made it pretty...

 I was sure, after the fiasco with the Boys' notebooks, that i could do better. This one IS better, though still not perfect. It ended up slightly too big! So maybe my next one will be just right!
Inside, i put a pocket - again, i have issues with pen pockets...

But, still pretty. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this fabric!! And it's super girly, which is just the therapy i need in my house full of boys!

Now, lets hope i can finish everything else before we leave...

The Cheapest Microwave Popcorn Ever!

Josh and I are rabid popcorn eaters. No, really! When we sit down for popcorn and a movie, we each have our own bowls (it works out because we are complete opposites when it comes to the amount of butter we use). There have been periods in our lives where "Popcorn Night" was EVERY night for a week or two.
But our popper isn't a great one, so making popcorn is always a chore. It only pops about half the seeds, so we have to sift out the popped corn and put the rest of the seeds back through to pop them. Either that, or waste a LOT of popcorn. I was always of the opinion that maybe a microwave popcorn bowl would work better, but they're pricey, and the ones i've used STILL leave a lot of seeds unpopped.
I was browsing blogs the other day, and came across a "Make your own microwave popcorn!" post. I would reference you to the blog, but i've forgotten. Besides, she got the idea from ANOTHER blog anyway.
But it's simple, cheap, quick, and awesome! I don't know why i never thought of it before!So, here i am, sharing it with you. I hope it isn't TOO obvious - it was news to me!!

First, gather your supplies: 1/4 cup popcorn seeds (any kind will do!), a paper lunch bag, tape, butter, and salt.

Put the seeds in the bag, fold over twice, and tape shut.

Put bag on it's side in the microwave, and use the "popcorn" button, or whatever time setting your microwave usually needs for normal microwave popcorn. On mine it's about 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
*hint* most microwave popcorn packages tell you to wait until the "pops" are 3-4 seconds apart, and that's how you know it's done. That doesn't really work for this. Trust me, i burned two bags before i got the right time. 

Remove from microwave and pour into bowl.

Then add the butter...

... and salt...

... and enjoy!!

A healthy, delicious snack in 5 minutes flat! I told Josh we're never buying microwave popcorn again (Sorry, Mr. Reddenbacher)!! Not only is this snack completely free of all those preservatives and oils and dyes and who knows what else, but it tastes so much better too!!

And the cool thing is, you can reuse the bag!! Heehee.

A Nightime Conversation...

As i sat at the computer, trying to think of what to write in my journal, I heard this conversation over the baby monitor...

Elijah: "Riley, sing me a song."
Riley: "I can't! I don't know how!"
Elijah: "I will teach you! Say, 'you will?'" (Elijah's always telling Riley what to say)
Riley: "You will?"
Elijah: "Yeah!"
Riley: "Okay!"
Elijah: ♪ "You are my sunshine..." ♪
Riley: ♪ "My sunshine!" ♪
Elijah: ♪ "My toy sunshine..." ♪ (we normally put their names in here - apparantly he's singing to his toys)
Riley: ♪ "Toy sunshine!" ♪
Elijah: ♪ "You make me happy..." ♪
Riley: ♪ "Make me happy... skies are gray!" ♪
Elijah: "No, Riley! I will help you!! ♪ You make me happy..." ♪
Riley: ♪ "Make me happy... Skies are gray!!" ♪
Elijah: "NOOOO!!! ♪ YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, my toy... Elijah sunshine..."

Eventually they just started talking to themselves instead of each other, and fell asleep not long after.

Stampede!!

This is a VERY long post, but don't worry, it's mostly pictures...

In the first week of August, High Prairie celebrates the annual Elks Pro Rodeo, complete with parade, fair, and of course, rodeo events. Here are some photos of the Jamiesons enjoying the festivities!!

First was the Parade!! I'll spare you the pictures of all the floats (i'll save that for Facebook - easier to skip over them there), and go straight to the ones of my adorable kids!

Getting antsy for the parade to start!!

Mr Teeth Jamieson woke up that morning feeling "kilty".

A friend loaned the boys a hat for the parade. They ditched it quickly in favor of chasing candy, but at least i got some cute photos!!

Real Mounties!!! Here in HP they begin the parade with all the emergency vehicles, which i've always found odd since Raymond always ended with them. Just before the parade started, though, the ambulance got called out to help someone, so it didn't make it into the parade.

Chasing candy! We were sitting with the boys' play group teacher, who everyone seemed to know and love, so they threw lots of candy our way!!

Riley kept trying to sneak some....

My favorite entries - the ENORMOUS tractor and the "classic trapper" (THAT is what cowboys are supposed to look like!! they had a whole fleet of them dressed up like that, but i missed the rest of them...)

We hit up the BBQ at the fire hall afterwards, then went home to raid the kids candy stash as the slept. LOTS of people were throwing Cows butter toffees, which i hadn't had in such a long time - oh, how delicious they were!!
Then we headed out to the stampede grounds for some rides, games, and fair foods!

The boys practically drooling over the train ride! We had to physically drag them away from it so we could go buy tickets to ride!

Played some games and won some prizes - nice thing is, kids this age really treasure those prizes!

TRAIN!!!

Bouncy house!!

Nearly every picture i have of Riley these days is marred by those "Squinky Eyes".
Oh, wait, here's his adorable smile!!

Fun house is... not so fun...

COTTON CANDY!! (And proof that i was there... even though i look awful..)
After we ran out of money, we headed over to visit our friends, who had kids who rode in the opening and closing of the Rodeo. They let the boys ride one of their horses, which was by all accounts the best (and cheapest) ride of all!

Then we went over to the stadium - Carrie convinced the bouncer to let us in to watch the last "few minutes" of the rodeo for free to watch her kids ride in the closing. It was actually closer to a half hour or 45 minutes, in which we also got to see a Flat Race, kids Pony Races, and of course, some bull riding!

Of the six or so bulls we watched, only two of them went back through the gates voluntarily. One went right up to the gate, then changed his mind, turned and bolted in the other direction. The rest of them flat out refused! I don't know much about bull riding, but i asked Carrie if that was normal. She said the bulls are usually trained well enough that they go straight back to the pen once their job is finished. To see so many bulls put up such a strong fight was very unusual.

Elijah especially was fascinated with the whole thing. (Here he's watching "Happy Trails", the formation riding show that Carrie's kids were in).

Sleepy, but still aware enough to know that i'm taking a picture (Squinky Eyes!!!). Time to go home!