Doesn't everyone get a blender when they get married?!

It's tricky being a blended family.

It's tricky enough getting married when you're older, because you are already SET in routines and desires and traditions. But, add in some children, a few exes, their families and you have the makings of a new soup for everyone!

Recently, Will and I discussed Christmas traditions. Turns out that MOST of our traditions can be done on BOTH sides. But there's a few 'conflicting' ones, where we'll have to pick to give ours up, keep it, or just make a whole NEW one. For Will and I, traditions can be changed. But when we add children, it's a bit tougher. What's most important to them, and what can change? Santa Claus does different things at different households.. so, what does he do HERE?

We are also figuring out weekends. When does Will's ex have the older kids, when do we? Seeing as how Em lives with us but the others don't, there's more travelling now. Having one ex requires work for scheduling and holidays, but we also have MY ex, Chris. So double the work. When does he have the younger ones? And, if he moves, what happens then? And the travelling ... oh the travelling.

Will's kids eat differently than mine do. Not a LOT differently, but snacks and grazing foods for sure. So, grocery shopping changes. Menu planning revolves slightly around which children are home and when. Dislikes and favourites and habits.

What rules did I have in my home that Will doesn't share?
Given, a lot of these things you find out through dating-- and a lot of them, we did! But, because we didn't LIVE together beforehand, there are some things that you can't know until then.

It's tricky, too, as Will's kids are older than mine so rules are different for some than others. Thankfully Grace and LL are only a year apart, so it bridges the "olders" from the "youngers" much better.

Decorating a home. Planning family vacations. Routines for homework. Songs at family prayer-- there are many things we're learning from each other, and many more to come, I know it.

I look forward to each morning that Will and I grow our OWN family tree. Our OWN fruits, our own traditions.

Although we're two separate families becoming one,.. we are definitely nine great peas in this pod!

(We shelled peas for Gramma, and Will found this one! How appropriate, hey?)

Tuesday Tidbits

A post of tidbits. Not Timbits... although... I had some of those with the dayhome kids yesterday, and forgot how gross they are. I mean, I love donuts as much as the next person, but timbits are so much drier. Although, the handy bite-size makes me feel less guilty when I eat 20 of them. Those powder-covered ones are my fave!!

Last night, I donned my VERY FUN wedding shoes, and went with my lovely friend, Becka, dress shopping again at a friend's bridal store. Funny enough, the dresses we narrowed it down to are TOTALLY different than the dress from the other fitting with Sin and Babbling Brook. hmmmmm. Now what do I do? If Will didn't read the blog, I'd ask all of you your opinions. Alas, no pre-wedding shots here. But I'll help ya out-- just imagine: white or off-white dress. To the floor, or slightly above the knee. fitted on the waist or empire waistband. Low cut or not. Sleeveless or strappy or full-arms... :)

Invitations are out. That feels good.

And today's the last day I have with my longest-standing dayhome child! :( I've had Andrew for over 2.5 years now. It's sad that today's my last day with him. Moving on to bigger and better things.

House NEEDS TO SELL!!!!!!

yah. That's it for today. Pretty lame post- busy dong laundry and cleaning and getting ready for the long weekend coming up.

And check out this blog: www.cutelikemegiveaways.blogspot.com They always do fun give-a-ways. Not to mention, Hailey's awesome herself. After all, only the awesomest of people have a birthday on a holiday.

4/52

It's Find Mom Friday.

Which sux, cuz this week I didn't even SEE my kids, so I couldn't have taken a picture of me with them.

:(

Instead, we'll use one from last week, since that's allllllls I gots. As you can see, this is a pic of me with all my daughters (and daughters to be) working hard at setting up camp! ;P It's tough being a girl.


I'm off to family reunions with Will's family, and a family birthday party on my side tomorrow, so have a GREAT weekend and we'll chat Monday when I'll tell ya what I DID NOT do. ;)

For now,
peace out.

Not Me Monday- Camping

I am NOT back.
I did NOT have the BEST time!
I do NOT think Will's family is crazier than I knew they were.
And that does NOT make me happier, knowing he still has yet to meet most of MY family! muahaha. And, heck, we already know he can handle crazy.

I am NOT tanned after spending the entire week at the foot of the beach.
I am NOT bruised all over my hips from sleeping on the tent floor.
I did NOT miss my bed!

I did NOT love swimming.
I did NOT love learning to ride the new ripsticks Will and I have.
I did NOT enjoy kayaking around the lake to see the turtles and fish in the SUPER CRYSTAL CLEAR water, and I did NOT laugh my butt off when Em tipped the kayak while she and I were in it!
By the way, the water was NOT cold and refreshing.
I did NOT love that my kids got a heck of a lot more water confidence after this week, even though there were a few moments that I had to 'save' Mimi.
I did NOT love being goofy with the kids.

I did NOT give my kids to Chris for the week, while they camp with him and my ex-in-laws.
I am NOT happy to have a week to myself (minus dayhome kids during the day) to get some wedding planning done.

I am NOT excited that Will and I have a house to move into.
I am NOT happy to live closer to my family.
I am NOT moving in a few weeks, even if this place doesn't sell by then. Which means, I will NOT be living out of suitcases for a while.

I am NOT so in love!
Oh, did I mention, I do NOT think Will is DANNNNNG hot?! ;) And he's NOT all mine. :D
I do NOT think my little Willy rocks. (haha, that sentence is NOT funny!)

I am NOT upset that the house across the street has a conditional sale sign.
I am NOT hoping I'm next.

Checking in, checking out.

So, today is gonna be one of those OHMYGOSHWHEREDIDTHEDAYGO type of days! I'm taking off with ***my future husband** (squeal of joy) and the in-laws camping tomorrow, but I have a MILLION things to do today to get ready: laundry, packing, cooking, cleaning the house so it can get sold while I'm gone, calling the realtor, calling a few friends, hopefully celebrating the purchase of a new home Will bought, making wedding plans, watching kids, getting passport photos done for the kids.. all this withOUT my ring (which Will took back to get sized, and possibly exchanged for Palladium, as I'm allergic to gold)! :(

Last night Will and I took my kids to Costco to buy food for the week. For ALL 9 of us. And let me tell you, it was hilarious. We bought 9 loafs of bread!!! Bought 2 jugs of milk, spent 20 bucks on BREAKFAST cereal!! Spent a fair amount of cash, and we're ONLY camping until Sunday! It was a lesson on reality; that once we're married, we'll be doing this on a regular basis. yikes. lol

I'll be out with everyone until Sunday, after which, Chris will meet us half-way and take my kids and the van camping with his family for the week. I still have to work, so I'll be back Monday.

Until then, friends, I'll miss reading all about your lives, but I'll catch up with ya next week!!!
Just pray that the thunder and lightening storms ease up this week-- I'd LIKE to play outside instead of all of us crammed into my borrowed sister's trailer or my tent for 5 days! yuck. (and by borrowed sister's trailer.. I mean I borrowed the trailer, not the sister! )

Canada Day

Kay, guys, You KNOW I love you and all. Because I should *COULD* be napping, but I'm updating everyone on the holiday yesterday instead. Yep. Because I love you. And because my eyeballs are too sunburnt to shut and my muscles are too sore to lay on.

Yesterday started WAY early, as I woke up Will and Bigguy along with my kids, and we drove down to Raymond for a Canada Day Parade first thing in the morning. We ran into quite a few people Will knows (small-town living-- everyone is related to everyone) and in fact, I ran into a few of MY family members too. My parents and Uncle Kannie joined up at our spot outside Will's sister's house, and we sat and watched the kids get attacked by candy-throwing participants the parade.We met up with Will's ex, who then dropped off the other kids. Armed with ARMLOADS and cheek-fulls of candy, the 9 of us then drove to a huge reservoir where some more of Will's family was meeting.

When they say those folding camp-chairs only hold 200 lbs, WHAT do THEY know?!

It was a SUPER good time. Potluck-ish lunch, sunshine, boating and tubing, and playing. Again, at Will's VERY DISTANT family reunion thingy, we also met up with a few of my quite distant family members. AND I MEAN DISTANT, so No, I'm not kissing my cousin. :)After we were all fairly pooped (don't start me on how literal I'm being on that one! ew.) we drove to Will's home town where they had a "Party In The Park" with native dancing and music and food and bouncers and such. And more candy.

Dancing the Macarena- some dances never die. LOL

A few hours and a couple more meltdowns from VERY tired children later, we sat on the big hill and watched Fireworks until about 11:30 pm.

The Girls of the Day. LL, Grace, Em, Mimi and I

Then, we squished 9 of us into my 7-seater van and drove the 1/2 hour back to Will's Ex's home to drop of the kids.

And then, it was 2 hours back to MY home ..where we arrived around 3...so that I could work at 6:30 this morning.

But, as you see, we had a GREAT day and enjoyed each other's company immensely. And, in spite of this picture, I think we came out not TOO horribly scarred from the candy overdose! Clockwise from top middle: Will, LL, Grace, Taylor, Me, Em, Bigguy, Mimi and Bear in the middle

I May Not Be American

Yes, it's Memorial Day in the USA. And, no, I'm not American.

But, I figure that a post about this weekend is in line with the whole 'remembering lost loved ones', seeing as that's what I did.

Saturday I drove out to Edmonton with my sister and nephew. Driving up there, might I just say, is NOT fun. I would rather drive to Lethbridge, which is pretty much the same distance (a tiny bit less) than up to Edmonchuck. Really. Something about that drive is BORING!

We stopped in Red Deer, where my big brother is buried. I've never driven to the cemetery, so I had NO idea how to get there. But my sister had, once or twice, and so we went PURELY off her 'spidey senses'. She claimed she could feel it in her 'guts'. gross. people shouldn't feel the way to a cemetery in their guts. Amazingly, she was exactly right. We got to the cemetery, and she was so excited to see it! "There it is!! Dead ahead!!". I gave her the 'har har' look, and she realized what she had said.Graveyards are pretty cool to genealogists like us. We looked at other people's epitaphs, at their birth and death dates, speculated over who was buried beside whom, (of course, made fun of those less fortunate whose names sounded funny!) and took a few more pictures. Found a few tombstones of people that may or may not be in my family line (the Barber side), so I'll be looking those up today online. FUN!

Off to Edmonton, where we joined up with Kiki and Ken and my BFF MC, and went to the Relay For Life. There was a luminary 5K run in my cousin's name, so we were happy to go support my family and remember him. We also remembered other family members that were affected by cancer. There were deeply moving moments where I choked back a tear or two, but it was a SUPER experience, and one I would HIGHLY recommend. Next year, I plan to join the relay part.

Six Word Saturday- Growth

I have a three week Countdown.

Long weekend is upon us, and I'm with child. (er, with three, actually). No super plans for this Canadian holiday, but I may get out and weed gardens, fertilize and mow grass, wash outside walls and garage floors....etc. At least, before the snow returns on Wednesday. (grumble)

yep. In my city, planting has to be done AFTER the May Long weekend, which, seems to me, to come about a week earlier this year. Alas, in spite of having a garden-related gift certificate burning a hole in my wallet, I will not be buying or planting flowers until June. :( The buying part is fine-- everyone and their dogs will be at the garden centres this weekend. But the planting part-- we're expecting to get into +25'C territory!! (for all you USA folk, that's about 77' F)

June. Wonderful, flowery June.

(all the above pictures are from my garden last year. How I can't wait for this again!)

It's taking soooooo long! And June can NOT come fast enough!

Weekend Wecap

(don't know if you can see, but it says Debbi *heart* Will. Will's daughter did a different one, which was way cuter, but I realized it used his real name. So we made this one just for you bloggers! Don't say I never give you anything!)

This weekend had a few interesting lessons within its pages. I'll touch on a few this week, if I find the time and motivation to write about them.

I spent the weekend again with Will. He had his children too, so the *9* of us spent lots of time laughing and playing and enjoying each other.Saturday morning, my sister and I took our kids to her Bishop's house where they were having "Breakfast With Bishop". Complete with jammies (who wouldn't want to see their bishop in jammies?!) and breakfast and scripture study. It was a great turnout, and I spent the time helping with the bookmark craft. It was a great idea, and a good time, and who doesn't love a 'free' breakfast!?

Right after that, there was a free 'clinic' at the Firehall.



My sister and I met up with Will and his family, and the *19* of us practically overtook the whole place! There were draws for lots of free things, and let me just say, that when there's 19 people from 3 families, it's hard not to clean up on the prizes! ;)

They had a blood-typing station, and a hamburger/hot dog BBQ, and a carseat test to ensure proper installation. Which, might I just say, I passed!

(doesn't "Em" look super impressed? lol)

Then, Will and I took our blended brood to the park.




We played, went for a walk, spat loogies over the side of the bridge (by the way, that's SO a guy fascination! lol) and just in general had a relaxing afternoon together.

Sunday was wonderful. Went to church, home to his parents' house for a great lunch, and cuddled with the kids and Will.

Going home is always tough- I enjoy being with Will so much and watching him and his children interact with mine in such a heartwarming way.
I always look forward to the next time.

A post of pictures

(My google is wierd and won't let me read all your posts from my weekend away. So, lemme know if anything monumental happened. :P )

My Easter Weekend was fantastic.

It was a great time to spend with my wonderful in-laws.

*Out making a fire:
*Easter Sunday in their new Easter Dresses and Bear's new suit. (technically, it was Saturday, as we did our big dinner that day because we had to travel on Sunday)