September

Davis started Grade 1 this year. He was so excited to go. Not only did he get to go to school all day, but he was excited that he got to ride the bus to school and home from school. I admit, that I love that he is able to ride the bus. It is very nice. It helps that his bus drivers have always been fantastic. He also has great teachers. From September to the end of January he had Mrs. Fleming, but she went on maternity leave, so he now has Mrs. Finnie.

Marcus got to start Preschool. I was a little worried about him because he is so shy and so cautious, but he is doing great. He also has really great teachers. He has Mrs. Wik (Wickenheiser), Miss Deb, Miss Tanya and Miss Lila. He is also taking speech therapy, which we already have noticed that has helped a lot. He has turned from a very quiet boy, to a little chatter-box. In mid-January, I bumped him into 4 days of Preschool because he loved it so much, and was ready for more.


For Labor Day Long weekend, we went camping in Kalispell with some of Drew's family. We stayed in a little cabin at the Rocky Mountain Hi Campground. We didn't have the nicest weather, but he had a great time.

While we were there, we went out to the Wallace's cabin at Ashley Lake. They were nice enough to take us out to play in the water, and feed us a really great dinner.

What is going to Kalispell without feeding the ducks and playing at the park?

After school started I took Davis to the eye doctor, for a routine eye appointment. I figured that since he was in school now it was a good idea for him to get his eyes tested. I had no idea that he really did need glasses. It turned out that he was significantly far-sighted in his left eye and that his right eye was being strained to over-compensate for it. I noticed that when we did give him work to do, towards the end he had a hard time concentrating. I thought that is was just because he was a typical 6 year old, and not because he was having trouble seeing. It took a little while for him to adjust to his glasses, and to want to wear them. But, once we got over a few speed bumps, he doesn't have any trouble wearing them. And, his work habits have greatly improved. As a side note, Davis is doing really well in school. He needs to work on being a bit neater, but his reading and math skills are above grade level. I am so proud of him.

Drew celebrated his 33rd Birthday this year. To celebrate we went out on a date on the weekend, and I made him Lemon Meringue Birthday Tarts. Drew's brother-in-law Geoff made him a Birthday Pinata, full of all sorts of essentials for an "Old Fart."

August

I have to admit that parts of August were a bit crappy. I was so nauseous for a lot of the time, and it was a cold month. Honestly, all that I wanted to do was lay on the couch and not move. When we did have nice weather we spent our time swimming, and we made a few trips out to Park Lake.

I turned the big 3-0 this year. To celebrate my friend Erin and I decided that we should go to Vegas. Jo came with us, and Lynn and her family drove up and spent a couple of days with us. We had a lot of fun eating, shopping, and seeing the sights.

After Lynn went home, people kept asking us if we were all sisters. In fact, Dave told us that Erin looked more like one of our sisters than Lynn does.

We stayed at the Imperial Palace.

On our last night we decided that we needed to do something really "Vegas-y", so we went and saw the Drag Queens. This is us with Frank, the star of the show. We made one of Jo's life-long dreams come true.

This is one of the ways Drew spent his summer. If he wasn't studying, he was either doing class prep for next semester, or spending the 6 hours a week it took to mow the lawn (and he even mowed way less than what Doug did).

Davis, being...well...Davis.


After Drew finished his test, we decided to go camping at Writing-On-Stone. I went there for YW Camp in July, and the whole time I thought that the kids would love it there. And they did. They had so much fun climbing the hoodoo's, playing at the park, playing at the beach, and building fires. My parents were nice enough to bring their trailer down so we could stay it in. I can't wait to go back next year. In fact, Marcus keeps telling us that it was the funnest place he has ever been to, and he thinks it is more fun than Disneyland would be.


The boys always look forward to Whoop-Up Days, and their Dad taking them to the fair. It is always lots more fun when their cousins can come too.

It is time I updated this puppy- July

Okay, I know I have been horrible about updating my blog lately. My last post was in July, and it is now February. Terrible. I have a good excuse or two. Mainly it is because we keep our pictures on our computer in the basement, and I'm not down there much. Mostly because it is smelly. We live in an old house, with mice and septic tank problems. You do the math. So let's begin, where I ended.

July

We built crazy forts in our living room

We went for adventures in our backyard.

We had picnics at Henderson Park

We played with our new kitties, Milo and Freddy.We spent every sunny day out in the pool. Davis is such a good swimmer. He can touch the bottom of the pool (it is 8 or 9 feet deep) and touch the bottom, and he can swim almost the whole length of the pool underwater. He is better at swimming under water than above the water. Marcus was starting to get really brave as well. He actually went in the pool this year.
We hosted the 2nd Annual "Doug and Nola Clark Memorial Swimming Party." It was really rainy that day, but once it cleared off, everyone was jumping in, and off the roof.

And, I finally figured out why I had been feeling so nauseous.

Trouble is His Middle Name

Living in a house with so many boys, you'd think that I'd be used to the chaos that comes with it. Out of all of my boys Phoenix is the most mischievous and destructive. He is always getting into something. Usually I will get out of the shower and find 10 boxes of cereal (yes, we have a lot. We all really like cereal) scattered throughout the house with little piles of the cereal on the floor. One morning I came upstairs after exercising and this is what I found on my bedroom floor...

Yes, those are my necklaces on plates. They are some of his favorite things to get into.

He also likes to throw his unwanted food off his highchair onto the floor, play in my make-up (one of my eye shadows is sporting a nice big hole), and bully his brothers. He may be a menace, but he is a very cute menace.

I Am Canadian

Every Canada Day, the Wolsey Family get together to visit and eat. This year Grandma Wolsey decided that we should have a program, because she loves to see her family perform. At the Boxing Day Wolsey Celebration Davis sang "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch," and he wanted to do something this time as well. He really wanted to do a dance, but we didn't have time to prepare it, so he did The "I am Canadian Rant." He worked really hard, and he did so good. We were so proud of him.

Ruby Lou

I have an addiction to craft blogs. One of the blogs that I frequent is Sew Much Ado that is done by a very talented girl Abby, who as a side note is my friend Maren's SIL, and who is a sister to some girls that I know through church. Abby was looking for pattern testers for her very cute Ruby Lou Doll, and I jumped at the chance to try it. I have been wanting this pattern for a while, but I always thought to myself that it would be silly because of the plethora of boys in my house. Although, Drew made fun of me, I did it anyways.

This was the most complex pattern I've ever done. I am still very much a novice sewer. I thought she turned out cute though. Now she is waiting for someone to love her.

Soccer All-Stars

I am so glad that my kids have their Dad's athletic ability and not mine, or else they would be in big trouble. Seriously, I throw a ball like an old lady...on her death bed. We've been putting Davis in soccer for the past while and he seems to enjoy it, and this year is Marcus' turn. He is playing on a Parent and Tot league with Drew. He loves it. He gets so excited when he puts his soccer gear on, and then he runs around the house to show us how fast he can run. I guess he needs to be fast to make up for what he lacks in size. Drew also plays soccer in the fall, and of course it is the highlight of his week to play.

Phoenix cheering for DrewDrew in red playing for the Doug's Sports team.

Look at that high kick.