New Booties

Cory's parents sent some money to get a gift for Sawyer for his birthday. We bought these cool new booties called stonz. I said I take pictures and send them to you Mom and Dad so that you could see them. I took the pictures but have yet to send them, sorry. Hope this will do :) We really like them and it seems like Sawyer does too. He really doesn't like to wear shoes so these work as a great substitute. Thank-you!In these pictures we were all colouring with chalk on our sidewalk which is something we enjoy doing.....Sawyer is learning to enjoy it too although right now it seems like his favorite thing to do is to dump all of the chalk and then taste them all :)

Isn't it funny???

Here I am in Whistler and I am thinking to myself.....

.....you get to go away (without kids), the hotel is amazing (Whistler Hilton), the weather is gorgeous (sunny, blue sky with a gentle snow falling), you are in the middle of one of your favorite settings (the mountains on the west coast), you got to spend several hours shopping (entering ANY store you wanted and staying as long as you wanted, without having to remind anyone to "just touch with your eyes" or that in between displays, while they may seem like good hiding places, actually aren't), you got to stay in bed past 7am after hanging out with your husband for the whole evening (going out to dinner -paid for by work- , watching a movie, hottubbing and other extra-curricular activities...), you just casually ate breakfast at a coffee shop (without having to tell any boys to try to stop jumping on the furniture) and yet you can't wait to drive back to them to be with them again. I LOVE you boys...and I'll see you soon! What beautiful, funny, tiring, energetic, creative, silly, competitive, fun-loving, boundary testing, generous, trusting, genuine, enthusiastic......blessings I have.

Organ Donation

I have been following (along with many many thousands of other people) a family's journey with Cystic Fibrosis ..... it takes too long to explain because it is an amazing story, if you have time go check out their blog. Anyways, in the USA April is organ donation month and so I thought that I'd try to draw your attention to how you can do that sort of thing in Canada.

I found an article on organ donation in Canada (it was written in 2001)...

Organ Donation in Canada

The current situation in Canada
More than 3,700 Canadians are awaiting organ transplants for kidneys, hearts, lungs, or livers, and thousands of others are in need of replacements for tissues such as corneas, heart valves, bone grafts, and skin.

Last year alone, 147 Canadians died while waiting for organs that never came because suitable donors were not found in time. Part of the problem lies with Canada having one of the lowest organ donation rates among industrialised nations. There are fewer than 14 donors per million people in this country, as compared with more than 31 in Spain. What's more, the gap between transplant patients on waiting lists and numbers of available organs is widening.

There's good news
The numbers above paint a picture that is hard to face. However, there is some good news:

• Nearly 98% of all kidney transplants, 90% of liver transplants, and 85% of heart transplants are successful;
• More than 1,800 organ transplants were performed in Canadian hospitals in 2000;
• Donor families say they are comforted by the feeling that their loved one's death was not in vain.

This gives Canadians all the more reason to take the time to make their wishes known either by filling out their province's organ donor card or registering their wishes through a provincial registry.

If you know me really well you'll know that I like to donate blood and also like to challenge other people to do so too. For more information on how you can do that in Canada click here.

I also was recently sent information on becoming a bone marrow donor and they REALLY need more people on this list because the match has to be so precise to work. Click here for more info.

And finally, click here for more info on becoming an organ donor and make sure that you let your friends and family know about your wishes to donate organs if you should die.

Too Long

I have been neglecting our blog recently, but not on purpose. I have really been lacking in time and when I do have time it is when Sawyer is sleeping in the computer room...anyways, enough excuses. I am now in Whistler, Cory is at a meeting and the boys are playing with their Nana in Abbotsford and I am still in bed (it is 9:21am :) ). I am working on a few drafts of blogs to hopefully be able to post a few over the next few days. The pictures are on the computer at home, so I'll add the pictures once I get home and then post them.....meanwhile, it is REALLY quiet here. I am enjoying this little break very much but I did miss the 3 "Good-morning" hugs that I usually receive so enthusiastically from the boys.......

Sick

This past month the boys all got a 4-5 day cold/fever nasty combo thing. Isn't a sick Sawyer so cute? Poor guy, he felt so yucky.

Right Now

This is what Riley looks like right now. He reminds me of Dad Bargen at this time of day.....

Some Pictures from Tyler's Birthday....

....more to come later!

Fun at Nana and Papa's

I still have more catch-up on Christmas to do but I am rarely on the computer...especially the computer that has all of the pictures on it because it is in Sawyer's room....so for now I will have to stick with what I can do on the laptop (the boys are all sleeping...and I should be too so I'll try to make this brief). I came across this idea of posting a "Thursday Thirteen" list, I think that it can be 13 anything.....just a list of 13.....some examples I've found are: Thirteen search terms that led people to my blog, Thirteen body parts that have been altered, Thirteen common items that I have silly names for, Thirteen Things about the dog, Thirteen of my favorite photos.......I think it's a neat idea so here is my first go at.....Thirteen Body Parts that have been altered

This topic intrigued me....can I come up with 13???

1. My skull. When I was about 6 my brother tripped me and the resulting fall created a crack in my head that required stitches.
2. My gallbladder. It is now gone, that counts though, right? 'Cause it used to be where it was meant to be and now it is in a jar somewhere.
3. My fingernails.....I clip them, bite them, paint them, break them....
4. My nose. In grade 9 gym class I was slashed across the nose during floor hockey by another girl. My nose was cracked but not out of place. (From that class on I was made to wear an ump's mask if I wanted to participate in phys.ed., my teacher was weird).
5. My earlobes. Both sides have been pierced. Twice. ooooo, very hardcore, I know.
6. My uterus. I have had three boys. There is no way that it is the same anymore.
7. My nether-regions...see #6.
8. My hair. Although I can't afford to alter it as often as I would like, I does get cut and colored about once a year.
9. My ankles. Something in the Isaak (my maiden name for those of you who don't know) genes makes weak ankles and mine have been sprained or twisted more than their fair share.
10. My eyebrows. I get them threaded everytime I go back to Abbotsford, otherwise they are VERY bushy, you should all be glad that these get altered on a semi-frequent basis.
11. My boobs. They made them smaller...not bigger! (yay!)

This is getting tricky........hmmm.....

12. My hips. Again refer to #6.
13. My heart. This one is cheesey but I really want to have a nap and it's all that I could come up with. After having one baby you wonder how you could love any more, then along comes another and another and I've found my heart just keeps growing with them.....and it is a good thing that we took measures to make sure that no more will come along because otherwise I just might be begging Cory to get pregnant again, I'm sure that there's room in my hear for one or two more :)

$8 Hotdog

A POWERFUL Story

If you have the time I strongly encourage you to spend some time on Nathan's blog.
Here is a story of amazing faith and trust. Here is a story that for me brings me to tears almost everytime I read yet is the most incredible example of what it means to trust FULLY in God through everything.

Please read ........ and pray ...... and read some more ....... and never stop praying.

More From Christmas

Dad Bargen has this chair massager which Sawyer really enjoyed. If it got turned on he would hear it and either lay his head on it or grab a book and sit.

The many faces of Tyler.........

This was a genuine sad face ... I think Riley did something terrible to him ... like following him or something of equal torture ;)And a couple of Riley ........

Good Moms

Ty and I were talking about who my mom is and who Cory's mom is........

Ty: "Who is your mom, Mom?"
Me: "Nana."
Ty: "Well who is Dad's mom?"
Me: "Grandma."
about 20 seconds of silence
Ty: "Those are good Moms."



I agree.

Tag

I've been tagged by Lorrie.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

Seven Random/Weird Facts About Me:

1. My older 2 boys had been getting up between 5:45am or 6:30am (especially Riley who would then wake Tyler)..... this was really too early so I bought them an alarm clock and implemented a new rule: You cannot get up until 7am! This worked and helped my sanity but on the holidays this Christmas I came up with a genius plan ..... every night before I go to bed, I set their clock back 30 minutes. This means that 7am in their room is 7:30am in the real world ...... glorious!
2. I like to arrange the CDs in Starbucks stores so that the same artists are beside each other. It looks much better this way!
3. I LOVE being pregnant and even like labor and delivery ...... I would really like to be there when someone else is having a baby too.
4. I have always wanted to adopt a baby that has down syndrome ..... maybe someday that dream will come true ?!?!?
5. My favorite "tag" post that I've ever read was Tim's.
6. I love finding good deals. I love buying things used. I am trying to buy everything used, except for food, I buy that new.
7. I am a west coast girl through and through.....I even like the rain. I am happiest in temperatures from about 15*C-20*C.

Well, that's 7, now it's time to play with my boys.....I sure have a good job ;)

I Tag:
Anika
Carl
Tamara
Jerry
Katie
Tiffany
Kirsten

Where To Start??

It seems like sooo long ago that we left for "holidays". I use quotations here because while we were away from normal routine and there were many more people around that loved my kids, I came home and feel exhausted. It has taken me a couple of days to recover from being gone for three and a half weeks and begin to feel more "normal". (A normal tired that is. It seems like that is just simply part of who I am right now. Being a mom is what I've always wanted and it is living up to my dreams but that doesn't make it any less exhausting. Corinne Tired Bargen. That is me. And I love it.)
The trip included 6 family gatherings, a wedding shower, a stag, a stagette, a wedding rehersal and rehersal dinner and my brother's wedding. We also got to catch up with friends in Winnipeg and even more in Abbotsford!!!! FULL days. Full of blessing after blessing.......

We began with fun in Abbotsford. We got to hang out with my family, all of us together, doesn't happen very often and was great! (but I don't have any pictures, opps:) ) Here Papa (my Dad) and Ty are constructing their gingerbread house.Then we left to go to Winnipeg. We had fun waiting in the Abbotsford airport.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't wait until Christmas day to give Ty and Riley their gift of ice skates and here is their first time skating (outside at Bronx Park). For those of you who don't know, the Bargen Brothers are going to play on the Can*ucks team when they grow up ;)

Break time with Auntie Tiffany


Skating is hard work!
It's easier if you let the adults carry you :)

More holiday updates to come....

Feliz Navidad

A late Merry Christmas to you all and an early Happy New Year! We have had a great time in Abbotsford and Winnipeg and are starting to feel like we're ready to go back home. I have many many pictures to download from our Christmas festivities but we are not yet home so they will have to wait.

For now, here are a couple pictures of Sawyer. He made up this "funny-face" and will often do it when you ask him to. It involves his whole face and often his arms and legs too. First a normal picture and then "can we see Sawyer's funny-face?"

Sweater Party

We had a sweater party at our house with our small group last night. This is a group of friends that gathers once a week in what has been dubbed our "place of refuge". A place where we can just be. Where we can be real. It really is that place of refuge in our busy lives. Bust back to the sweater party... what fun, what hideous sweaters, good food, and great friends, I feel so blessed! James has put some of the pictures here.

Truth

Angie has posted this on her blog..... it struck me as a truth I know, but do I live it?

On a different note, I want to share something that’s been on my mind the past few days. Anyone who has ever gone through something difficult, painful, and heart wrenching knows that our need for God is more eye-openingly apparent at those times than any other. There’s nothing revolutionary or profound about that, but it dawned on me at some point this weekend that while the need becomes undeniably obvious during the storms of life, it doesn’t actually increase. I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten that before. I’ve pondered over this a little, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I have been living under the unconscious assumption that I needed God more right now as we walk through these deep waters than I do when life is not shadowed by crisis. For some reason, the faulty reasoning of this rationale suddenly struck home. After all, how can my need for God grow if I am totally helpless without Him? I think it is only arrogance—even if it is unconscious arrogance—that allowed me to live with that mentality. Operating under the idea that our need for God is less when the road is smooth and more when the road gets bumpy is so absurd because that assumes that we have what it takes to make it on our own strength under "normal circumstances." Yet, this is what I’ve done. I’ve lived weeks and months at a time, not exactly ignoring God, but certainly not living with realization of my profound need for Him.

The flu has hit and it STINKS!

Tuesday night we were up ALL night with Ty trying to comfort him as he threw up again and again and again. Sawyer woke up Wednesday morning with the runs. Riley just woke up from his nap lying in his vomit, he says he didn't throw up, but his face and bedding said otherwise. Our entire house stinks.

I know that in the real scope of everything in life this is minor, but it sure is stinky!

(And I'm very thankful for washing machines and steam cleaners!!!! But where to start........???)

Bargen Elves

The Bargen Elves
My sister did this and I thought it was very funny , you might too!