The Good and the Bad {news}

First the good news:
Our new neighbours gave us two adorable kittens. They had 12 that were ready to be placed and we were looking for mousers.  I took the boys there and let them each pick out their own kitten.  We wanted two for a couple of reasons.
One so that we can get kittens.
Two so they can keep each other warm.
Three so there's not so much fighting about who gets to hold it.

Turns out Seth is scared of these little critters since he really is quite a sensitive little guy, and the first time he picked one up it clawed him good and hard on the hand.  So Tristan gets to play with two.

Meet "Rocky" (Seth's by ownership)

Meet "Snow Lion"

I let them come in the house one evening so Rowan could get his fair share of playing with them.  And it was quite amusing for all involved.  ;) 

Only problem is, is that once you let kittens in the house they think they should come in all the time.  So now there's this problem that when we open to door they slither in between our feet and try get in the front room.  This has proven to be fatal for Snow Lion, which is the sad part of this story.  Poor Seth, slammed the door on a cold day only to have the kitten in the way.  A few hours later it succumbed to it's injuries, and we all had a bad day due to this unfortunate event.  :( 
Seth generously offered his own kitten to Tristan who turned it down with the words "It's ok! I wanted a puppy anyways!" .
He might have to wait a while before we are ready for that!

It's beginning to look alot like...

...Home. :)
I've had alot of requests from {family, friends} to see what our house looks like. 
We've been busy busy busy, making this house our home, and we are getting somewhere!
I must admit that it is alot of fun having another space to decorate, and with Pinterest ideas and gorgeous House and Home magazines begging me to read them, I was dreaming colours for quite a while already. 
Although the house was perfectly livable it was quite dated, which gave us a good reason to get on with things right away - there's no better time then the present:)  Our house is also not fancy or large. It's really quite modest which is perfect for a growing, busy family.  It is a bungalow, 1700 square feet with a basement, half of which is finished (2 bedrooms, and playroom).  Even though I am excited about the practicalities of this home, I now realize how spoiled I was in our Drayton home with it being a new building with beautiful xtras like the walk in pantry, walk-in laundry room and double garage. Oh well. Such is life.  
Back to what we are doing here... while we were still in Ontario we got the flooring done. There was a dark blue carpet in the eating and living area as well as laminate in the kitchen that we removed, and had Hickory laminate installed in the hallways and livingroom, and a laminate tile put in the kitchen and dining area.  
The week we arrived I started painting. We are not finished everything yet, as I have to fit it in between feeding children, running errands and doing laundry, but it's coming together, and I am happy. 

The living room before painting but with the new flooring...

Changing...

And done for now.  (Curtains coming at a later date...)

Hall ways still blue...

...and now they are finished in "Ivory Coast" taupe. 

I forgot to take a "before" of the dining area... this is all I could find...(yes the boys are doing their school work :)  )

Dining area done. - New flooring, paint, lamp and curtains.

Kitchen!  (Before)

Kitchen  - after!  (New flooring, countertops, sink, faucet, paint, knobs, stove and fridge).

To give you some perspective of the layout...

We haven't done much to the rest of the place yet, only changed the sink, faucet and counter in the one washroom.

Here it is... I have the paint for this washroom too, just ran out of time to do the painting:)

So here you have a small overview of what has been keeping me busy.  I will post more pictures of the house as we make the changes:)  But for now, it's time to go to bed, and start dreaming:)

Weltrusten!

Pedal Go-Karts

Boy-Oh-Boy!  What lucky kids.  

We splurged and bought two skelters. And big one (with an extra seat for friends) and a little one.  

We are hoping they get hours (and years!!) of use.  

Trappin'

 So if you wear coveralls while dealing with animals, does that mean you are farming that animal?
 I thought we moved to a chicken farm but apparently they grow Pocket Gophers here too.  These little munchkins wreak havoc on the alfalfa field though, so they gotta get out of here.  Andy is teaching Seth and Tristan how to place traps and catch them. We told them this is their job for next summer, and they can have 1 dollar for every Gopher they catch. So far it's been 11. I am starting to hope they do not duplicate as fast as rabbits or this might be expensive. :) 

Chicks!

We are so excited!  We got baby chicks!!!!

Two barns full actually. Which equals thousands upon thousands of these cute little fuzz balls. 

Don't you just wish that all animals could remain babies forever? Wouldn't that be just so cute?

The day they arrived we all put went to the barn to check them out.  There were some mixed emotions... It starts off happy :))

Oh so brave!

Rowan likes them too!!

Tristan dares pick them up...

Seth can walk along...

But then Rowan sat down... and the chicks thought he was their mother:)  "MOM!!! Get me outta here!!!"

And then this one.  Maybe I am a mean mother but seriously... does no one else think this is funny? They touched Seth, and he didn't like it.  Maybe the chicks thought Seth was their mother since Rowan declined to be... either way, chicks jumping on Seth is not his idea of fun.  :)
And this is one of the reasons why we love living on a farm.    

First experiences

The first few weeks raced by in a blur.  There was so much to do!  

The first week we immediately had to ship birds and clean the barn which was like jumping in head first, but exciting non-the-less.  I'm the house wife, Andy's the farmer, so I am not involved in that although I am interested.  

I was busy making the house a home.  I did alot of painting in the first three weeks. We got the new flooring finished, and new lanimate on the counter tops as well as new faucets and sinks in the kitchen and one bathroom. Pictures of the before and after to come.  First I want to show a bit of the normal everyday things we have have been experiencing.  It's interesting to watch how resilient kids are. They don't ask "why" and "how long". They just get up and go.  Everything is new but to them it's all exciting. Not saying that it isn't for us - it is! But it's also tiring.  

Andy's cousin still has alot of his things here and his employees are coming once in a while too to help with the barn, and other things we need to know.  It's nice to have their company, and share coffee with them.  We have not had a chance to be lonely yet, that's for sure! 

 The long cement sidewalks are perfect for biking on!  Which kid wouldn't love that?

 Daddy, being our greenthumb, got right to mowing the lawn. Now that's a lawnmower worth riding! ;)

 Enjoying the warmth from the fireplace.  It is so cozy:) We didn't use the one in Drayton for a couple years due to faulty wires (or so we thought). We are promising this one gets more enjoyment.

 If you are a boy, and you see a stake, it becomes sword instantly.  A mothers heart gets worried but also knows they need space to try things in order to grow.  Oh be careful little lads! This mother gets a bit frightened by those sharp ends!

 

 And when it gets blustery and cold, a mattress on the stairs is always fun.

Seth and Tristan have spent hours in the vegetable garden already doing "excavations". The first carrot that they found they thought for sure was a horn from a Triceratops dinosaur.  After washing it, it was pretty obvious it was orange.  Oh well, the rabbits that were left with the place will enjoy them:) And it was still fun digging:)

Home Sweet Home!

Our final day was actually only a couple hours.We stopped at the Alberta border for some pictures before doing the final leg till reaching Purple Springs.  

We marveled at God's goodness in protecting us this far.  We had a safe trip, uneventful in the best meaning of the word! All in all, it was such a special trip to do with Albert and Marina - we worked together and socialized together so well.  Which is nice to know since someday.... Cuba? Hawaii? Here we come!!  ;)

We arrived to our new place at noon on Saturday, and were welcomed by Anno and Carola Bylsma. It was nice they were there.  Andy and Albert had to rush and start emptying the trailer right away since they had to make a trip to Lethbridge that afternoon yet to pick up the washer and dryer. Monday was Thanksgiving day so everything would be closed, and I had to do groceries yet as well. Its incredible how much you can get done in a short time when you need to!  We got to spend the evening on our own couch, in our new living room, with our warm fireplace.  It was fantastic! 

Sunday we attended church in Taber which was refreshing as well. Monday morning Andy drove the Rietema family to Calgary airport and I was on my own with the kids organizing and unpacking.  

All in all, we were happy to be here. Thankful for how everything went.  Excited to start our new journey with our three children and eager to learn all the new ropes. 

Let's get to it!

 

Uncle Albert and Aunt Marina, we were thinking it would be fun if you just moved here with us?? Pretty please??

This was the safest place for them to be for the time being;)