Whew! I'm tired!!

Wow! That was fun, and now I'm exhausted :) We just had the best Christmas. We hosted my whole family plus my Auntie Beth and my cousin Andrew, so we had 19 people for Christmas dinner and company here for almost five days. What a ride! It all started with record breaking snow falls for Salt Spring island and I have to admit it was a wee bit stressful shopping for food as it was hard to make it out of our neighbourhood with our vehicle. After a few attempts, I made it to the grocery store. I've never seen such madness there before! Heather, Richard and their kids made it safely on Tuesday and then Mom, Dad, Dinah, Russ and their crew arrived on Wednesday. That brought on a lot of anxiety for me too and I cried with a complete stranger in the store parking lot because I was so worried about them traveling here in the snow storm.
It was so great to get the whole family together in one house for two days. The cousins got along so well and we all had so much fun together. The kids and dads rocked with the sledding runs and the mommies were super stars in the kitchen :) We had a blast caroling with each child on an instrument, eating, opening presents, eating,listening to Christian and Russ jamming, eating more, and of course being crazy! Family, you are all the best and most fun fam in the whole world! I love you so much.
This year, instead of getting gift for our nieces and nephews and the adults, we all pooled some money together to buy a goat for a family through World Vision. Mom even bought a stuffed goat for all of us to pass around for the year and take pictures of us with to email each other and to remind us to pray for the family who receives the goat. Thanks Mom. Turns, out we have enough money to buy two goats!!
O.K., I'm realizing that I'm using WAY too many exclamation marks on this post, but it has been THAT MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom also sewed Santa hats and made t-shirts for all her grandchildren that had their names on them and said "Saltspring Cousin's Christmas ". Mom, you're the best.
I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, so this is my card to you. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and here's to 2009. May it be a year of happy memories and new adventures!
Love Jenn, Christian, Isaiah, Brennan, and Abby

Milestones

We've had a couple of milestones this week... I wanted to tell about Brennan's first but I don't know how to make his the first picture on here. I think I need some blog assistance. Well, first for Biscuit. He is officially sleeping through the night!!! I am really thankful for that because I don't do well with interrupted sleep and I'm too busy to take naps these days, so I was driving around way too tired. Also, he's already gained 3 and a half pounds. What a big puppy ;) He still needs to figure out that outside is the ONLY place he's allowed to do his business.

Brennan joined karate in September and yesterday he earned his first stripe. He's well on his way to becoming a "karate master". He is my only child interested in this and it's neat to see him learning so much in only six weeks. He also has to really listen and concentrate which is good practice for my lively, rambunctious, easily distracted boy :)
Crongratulations Brennan. All my children got report cards yesterday as well and they're all doing very good. Good enough to get a trip off this island and have a swim at Duncan's brand spankin new pool this weekend. Yipee, I get to wear a bathing suit! Help me Jenny Craig!!

Christmas planning...

Just wanted to write a quick post to say that I'm soooooo excited to have the house full this Christmas! My whole family is coming!! If my auntie and cousin join us that will be ten adults and nine lively, noisy kiddos. :)

I love Christmas and my brain is now busy full time thinking of activities and food and traditions we can incorporate into our celebrations this year.

I've got to get myself in gear and start decorating... I know, some of you already have your tree up! Since, we just got the puppy, we're not spending too much on Christmas gifts this year, so my shopping is pretty much done. That is a first in my life to be almost gift ready in November! Hopefully that will help me to have some quiet time reflecting on the great gift God gave and how Jesus's birth has changed my family's history and future.

Our new family member!!

Meet our new puppy Biscuit! On Monday, Christian completely surprised me with an overnight trip to Victoria and a concert. He packed everything and had the kids all farmed out to different friends. We had such a blast having a couple of days on our own. At some point, Christian said, "wouldn't it be fun to bring a puppy home for the kids." We've been discussing getting a puppy for months now and the right timing of it etc. So Tuesday morning after breakfast we set out puppy hunting. By 12:30pm we'd found our pup. An eight week old Zuchon, which is a Bichon/Shitzu cross. We fell in love with him and within half an hour decided to bring him home. We were like a couple of giddy children all the way home on the drive and ferry ride. We could hardly wait to see what the kids would say and do...

We picked up Brennan first and when we told him it was his new puppy, he got a perma-grin. He held him in the car on the way to pick up Isaiah and Abby and at one point said, "I feel like I'm dreaming." Isaiah and Abby were completely thrilled and Isaiah always says, "He's just sooooo cute!", and Abby keeps telling me, "Mom that was the best surprise ever when you brought home our puppy." When we got home we started looking up dog names on the internet and within an hour all of us agreed on Biscuit. It was so cool because I had wanted to name him Poppy since we adopted him on Remembrance day but the kids didn't agree. After I put them all to bed, I opened up the Times Colonist newspaper to the Remembrance Day section to read a letter a man had wrote to his mother in World War I telling her that he's been injured by a musket ball hitting him in the chest, but it would have been much worse had it not been for the biscuit he was keeping in his chest pocket as a snack. So, I guess Biscuit does have a good Remembrance Day name!
So now I'm in the middle of the not getting much sleep as I deal with this puppy at night and spend lots of time researching how to have a well mannered, good sleeping, house broken puppy. It's a bit like having my first baby! If you have any good puppy advice, I could sure use it... Christian and I are so excited to have our first pet (other than goldfish) in fifteen years of marriage! Life is good :)

Summer fun

We've had a great summer so far... Lots of sun, beaches, company, and a bit of work around the house. We were so fortunate to get to go to Mt. Washington a couple of times as my good friend let us go up to their chalet for free while they were away on holiday. The kids had so much fun disc golfing, and going on the bungee trampoline. The chalet is huge and peaceful and a nice break from everyday life on Salt Spring. The second time we went in late July we were hoping to take the chair lift to the top and hike, but we got socked in by cloud and some rain. So instead we went down the mountain into Courtney/Comox for a lovely walk and trip to a petting zoo. Abby and Brennan loved the rats. Yikes!! We also hit a really fun mini-golf in Parksville. The kids loved that!We've been able to see more of Mom and Dad as they're stationed in Naniamo for the summer. They bought a bigger 5th wheel to live in that much better accomodates Mom's needs. I'm so proud of them for choosing to live in their trailer so they can volunteer all over Canada and the U.S. with Sowers.
We were also blessed with visits from Heather, Richard, Charlie, Sam and Violet. We had so much fun hanging out and showing them around Salt Spring a bit more. Our kids have so much fun with their cousins and I'm so happy that we all live close enough to see each other a least a few times every year.
My sister took a family picture of us. I think it's been a very long time since we had a pic taken of us all together, so thanks Heather!
Isaiah bought himself a new mountain bike. He's worked very hard since his birthday saving money and had enough to buy himself a great bike and a lock. He had lots of fun trying it out at the mountain.

So, how's your summer been?

I'm Becoming a Gardener!

We've been working lots on the outside of our house while the suns shines and I must say it is very hard work, but I'm really enjoying it! I loved researching which plants were deer proof, low maintenance and pretty and planting them. Moving all the rocks that were all found on our property was a lot harder but still fun.
We've got a ton of work left to do... We're going to put a gravel path to the front door, and gravel down the driveway. We've got grass to plant in the back, junk to take to the dump, and outside trim work to finish. I'm thinking of painting my front door black... What do you think?
We've also got a raised bed at the elementary school that is completely deer fenced and I've planted lettuce, spinach, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, snap peas, onions, and radishes. I'm really enjoying that too. I was so shocked at how tiny some of the seeds were when I planted. It's amazing that veggies can grow from those! So, what are you all up to outside this summer??

Fun With Cousins

We had a great weekend. My sister Dinah and her hubby Russ and their three boys, Elijah, Hayden, and Joseph came for a visit. This was special because, even though they only live about an hour away, this past year has been crazy for us and them and they have never been to visit us all and stay here since before we started building our house. That's been over two years! It was warm and perfect and we got to show them some fun places to swim and hang out here on Salt Spring. My kids had lots of fun with their cousins! We are really blessed on this island and have lots of great places we can hang out in the summer. We spent a lot of time swimming and boating and my two oldest nephews even got to try tubing behind a motor boat for the first time.


My nephew Hayden was so funny. On the second day, I took him and a couple of my kids grocery shopping. After putting chips, marshmallows, chocolate, and ice cream in our kart, Hayden announced, "My Mom would never be this nice!" My son Isaiah quickly sorted him out and told him that I hardly ever buy junk like that and it was only because they were visiting. Well, they are pretty special!
Thanks for coming Bueckert family! We love you!!

My Baby's Not a Baby!

Today is Abby's last day of preschool. It just hit me this morning that I'm officially out of the toddler/preschool days and that all my kids will be in elementary school. I don't know where the time went!! Part of me is relieved as being the secretary for the co-op preschool has been more work than I ever knew. But I'm sad that there'll be no more duty days in the classroom, preschool teddy bear sleep overs, spring carnivals to set up and tear down, and hearing the funny things one of the boys in her class always says... The preschool has been so important for our family in connecting with other families on Salt Spring. It has really made us feel that we're part of this community and helped me make some wonderful friends. Goodbye preschool...we'll miss you.

We're Simple Folk

Some of you may not know our exciting news on Salt Spring Island. We finally have a bus! The kids are so pumped whenever they see it and yell, "Look, it's the city bus!" It doesn't take much to get Salt Spring kids impressed ;) So, last week I decided to take Abby and her friend Amy that I take care of on a bus ride from Ganges to Fulford. Oh, you would have though I was taking those girls to Disneyland, they were so happy!

We had enough time in Fulford to hang out on the dock, eat our picnic lunch, and watch the ferry come in...
Abby actually started feeling a wee bit bus sick on the way home, so I quickly drank my to go coffee from Rock Salt in case the cup was needed as a barf cup. You'll be happy to know we made it home safe and throw up free!

Spring Madness

Little late as always, but I wanted to post some pics of our spring vacation. We were looking forward to this so much as Christian hasn't had a full week off since Abby was a baby! We started off with a visit in Chilliwack to see my sister Heather and her family and my parents who had just come back from volunteer work in Texas. Our first day, Sunday, was amazing... sun, visiting, quad rides, campfires, reading. And then Christian started to get sick. My poor hubby could hardly get out of bed the next morning and this was pretty much the state he remained in for the rest of our trip! I was determined to keep on with the plan and packed us up on Tuesday to head to Kamloops to a cabin I'd booked on Pinantan Lake. I drove all the way and when we arrived around dinner, Christian crashed on the couch and I unpacked, made dinner which he couldn't eat, took the kids for a walk on the ice covered lake, and put the kids to bed. Not quite the way we'd pictured things! Needless to say we did have a lot of fun, thanks to lots of drugs for Christian, but I had to do most of the packing/unpacking, and care of the kids. We enjoyed the sun, which has been severely lacking on Salt Spring...
Got to try ice fishing...

Go for a go-kart ride... Brennan threw up on the way to go-karting and then was fine. He went on a high speed one with Christian and steered like a maniac and then threw up again as soon as we started to drive away in our car. The throwing up lasting til about midnight on Wednesday. This is when I seriously began to think about packing up and going home and beginning to feel a bit ticked that my family was so sick for our only holiday in over four years!
On Thursday, after Christian visited a walk-in clinic in Kamloops, we headed to Sunpeaks, and had a great time exploring the village and swimming and then drove back to Chilliwack. That's when Isaiah started to get sick.
We did get to visit some dear friends in Chilliwack/Abbotsford and then I got to attend a cancer fund raiser at Heather's church to hear Feather Janz speak and some great music. I was blown away by Lisa Adrianne's story and singing and I cried a lot, which I think was a great way to get over our vacation that did not turn out the way I'd planned... My sickness started on the ferry ride back to Salt Spring and I came home exhausted. After times like that, all I can usually say is "c'est la vie" and that I believe the verse that says that God works all things together for good... I'd like to say I always rest in that belief but then I'd be lying about the tantrums I throw :) Funny thing is, that we're already talking about the memories we made and all the kids remember was the fun!

I'm A Lazy Blogger

It's been a while since I did this... I forget about blogging sometimes, although I have been reading lots of other's bloggity goodness. We're all doing well but we've just come through a bad run of colds and the flu. I have only felt well for the last two days, so I guess I was sick for almost all of February. Aaaaah, the month of love. I did get a chance to take the kids up to the top of Mt. Erskine late in January. They were such troopers and I told them they're all now officially mountain climbers. It hit me on the way down, that I may be partly insane bringing my children up there by myself in pretty cold weather. There are parts that are super steep and there's lots of rocks on the trail, so I'm very thankful that nobody sprained an ankle or fell off a cliff!!

This next pic is from a hike we did together on Sunday. That is Mt. Maxwell in the background and boy did we ever enjoy the sun. Haven't seen enough of that around here until the last week! I love hiking with my family and I'm so blessed that my kids are totally into it. Abby used to need to get carried a lot last year but she's definitely grown up!

Isaiah is great. He's doing excellent in school and is really into soccer, hockey, and basketball at the moment. It's actually hard to find something he's not good at which is kind of sickening! He is also very humble and just generally a joy to be with. He takes after his Daddy in so many ways :) Isaiah has also taken a keen interest in creation science and singing . I can't believe he'll be ten in April!!!
Brennan is my sweetie with a stubborn streak... He is really enjoying grade one (especially math) but tells me that whenever his teacher talks, he thinks "I hope she's going to say it's time for gym". Typical boy! Brenn's also really into soccer right now and also tried rock climbing this month and loved it. I've known since before he was two that he was going to be a rock climber. My favorite time with Brennan is usually just before bed when we do devotions. He has a compassionate heart for those who are hurting and wants to please God. I love hearing him pray.
Abby is busy with preschool and soccer too. She's a busy girl and fits in great with her brothers. She is more moody than the boys though and screams A LOT! It really hit me yesterday hard that my baby is growing up after I registered her for kindergarden... Time really seems to be flying fast. Abby is asking a lot of big questions about life right now and loves doing puzzles. I think she's really smart, but I am totally biased!
Christian has been....you guessed it...busy!! The poor guy hasn't had a break in more than a year and a half. Between work and this house and the occasional gig, he hardly gets to sit. I'm sure he's questioned many times why he ever came up with the idea to build a house. The good news is that he gets a week of paid time off in March! I can't even tell you how much this means to us. We'll be hanging out in the lower mainland for a few days visiting family and friends :) The house is so close to being finished. We should have our final soon... I'm good and really busy with preschool secretary stuff, teaching at the gym, and being a mom. God is definitely teaching me to be content. It's so easy (especially now with Facebook), to look at all the exotic places friends are traveling and start to feel envious... It's kind of weird having access to everyone's pictures so quickly. I wish someone would post a picture album of a regular week! My pictures would include wiping snot off my kid's noses, scrubbing toilets, arguing with Christian, and cooking dinner ;) It will be quite awhile before we travel anywhere exciting and I'm fine with that; I'm counting all my blessings and having a blast living on this beautiful island. I'm going to try and blog more often. It's almost like a sort of journal and it's fun to look back on.
Chow!