Burnt To A Crisp...

We have been sick in our house lately.
Too sick to go outside, too sick to visit anyone, too sick to blog, and too sick to do anything inside.  It is terrible.
Justin even had a few days off and really we have had nothing to show for it.
Just a lot of sleeping, and pj lounging.
Oh- I suppose we do have one thing to show for it.
This beauty.

Isn't she a gem?
Ruby was getting antsy and really wanted to be doing something so we took out the clay and sculpted our favorite princess- you guessed it- Ariel.
I know you could tell from the picture- there was no reason to spell it out for you.
In fact she reminded me a little of this Ariel.
The large eyes and nose are courtesy of Ruby- she really has a nack for eyes.
After sculpting, it was time for bed so we said goodnight to Ariel and told her we would cook her in the morning when we had more time.

So the next morning Justin let little sick ol' me sleep in while he fed and entertained the kids.
And that is when Ariel met her fate.
He thought for sure that he had seen me cook clay enough times that that knowledge had surely rubbed off on him.
He was sure that it needed to be cooked at 400F for 30 mins....
And once he put Ariel in the oven there was no looking back- and definitely no checking in on her no matter what smell was coming from that oven- until the timer buzzed.
Burned to a crisp Ariel is the result of that.
I was pretty forgiving and honestly burnt Ariel grew on me- Ruby on the other hand does not hand out her forgiveness so freely.  There were some definite tears and some 'I don't like burned to a crisp Ariel' statements.
So Justin did what any father would do in that situation.
He apologized (had a laugh or two) and re-sculpted Ariel- for his little princess, Ruby.
So this is now the Ariel Masterpiece.  He stayed true to the large eyes and nose as per Ruby's request.

What a great dad.......

We've Met Our Match

As of yesterday the match has been made.

Justin got into a one year optometry residency.

We will be moving to...

OHIO!

Yes this means a lot of things.

We will be moving away from family again.

We are sad about that- really sad.  But somehow I think that by the time we leave our family will be happy to get rid of their so-called 'squatters'.

(Ok not really- I know they love us.)

And we will once again be making a cross-country trek...  Something I swore I would never do again....

Even though I have a tiny bit of apprehension I have mostly excitement!

A new place, new people, a new house, a new adventure and lets not forget- a new Target to explore!

There is other good news that comes with it-

We are close to the world's best waterpark- KALAHARI

Closer to our good friends the Hughes- yes get excited my friends- we are a mere 9.5hrs away!

And last but not least we will be a short 6 hour drive from our Waterloo 'family'- so I expect that there will be some reunions in the near future.

And of course there will be the positive things it will do for Justin's career.

So there it is.  My big news. 

We are excited and we feel blessed and grateful for this opportunity.

-And yes- I am avoiding the elephant in the room- that is in the form of me not writing on my blog for a while.  I'll try harder.  I swear....

But for now I am going to go and research Ohio- look for us there in the Summer of 2011! 

Domo Arigato, Ruby Roboto....

We got bored one day and there was an empty mini wheat box- so what would any self-respecting mother do?

Oh you know...


Isn't she the cutest robot ever?
It took a lot of coaxing to get her to actually wear the costume.
She didn't want to be a robot she wanted to be a super hero.
So we met in the middle and she became a super robot.

All she needed was a cape and she was happy!
Plus the pink paper that I added may have helped a smidgen....
Here she is doing 'the robot'

And it is also pretty common to hear Ruby speaking robot.
Apparently she is 'from another galaxy'

And, you didn't think I forgot did you?
HAPPY CANDLEMAS!!!
The Candlemas celebration has been postponed but rest assured I already have a new piece of Candlemas entertainment prepared!!
It is going to be epic.
So just prepare yourself!!

One Is The Oldest Number This Kid's Ever Seen...

Today marks the momentous occasion of our little Noni turning one.
He is a one year old.
It is shocking to the motherly system.
He is marking this occasion by doing his best to become a walker today.
If he keeps practicing and stops dive bombing to his destination I could see it happening.
But I'm ok with him being a crawler for a little longer.
My motherly system can only take so much.
He is becoming quite the little guy though.
He has always been a charmer and still is.
He does his best to fit in with the older kids- but still cries when his crawling doesn't keep up with their running and they lap him.
He does this really cute high pitched yell when he is happy to see you.
Mostly Justin gets it because he is the one who leaves for work and comes home but I have had the 'Noni Welcome' a few times and how sweet it is!
Last week we were at play group and Noni had 2 folding tables that were leaning against the wall fall on him and he only got squished in half a little bit- and only cried for a few minutes- so he's pretty strong.
Noni is a chunk.  He has got the rollie pollie belly, the ravioli hands and feet, the puffy cheeks, and I don't even want to get started on the size of his legs!  As for his bum- lets just say that many a person has been tricked into thinking he has a full diaper when in fact it has been empty and clean...  He is only a few pounds away from Ruby and going strong- need I say more?
Noni has the most wonderful dimples EVER.  He gets them from his dad- and I love them!
He has the tiniest ears ever- we aren't sure where he gets those- but they are still cute.
Myers loves to learn and is always learning new tricks.
His favorite food is mandarin oranges.  He loves them.  And really who can blame him?  Easy to peel, no one looks at you weird when you eat 2 or three at a time, they fit in your pocket, they can substitute for a ball if needed and of course they are delicious- I think I have convinced myself that they are now my favorite food...
Noni loves Ruby and as far as I can tell the love goes both ways.
Infact I am pretty sure every one loves Noni, What's not to love?

He is such a wonderful little guy....

Hello, Was It Me You're Looking for?

I'm sure it was.
I must apologize for the radio silence on my end for the past monthish.
At least you were privileged with some Justin posts while I was absent.
I know we all love those!
It is truly amazing how moving, vacationing, driving, Christmas, reconnecting with family and friends, and laziness can affect the blog post output.
Not to mention the new Nokia N8s that Justin and I got.
So blogging has been sparse but really I wouldn't have it any other way.
Things should pick up here soon though- so no need to worry.
I hear your plea for more SNELLDOGS and I am ready to do something about it.
Once I get settled in at my parents house.
Yes we are in Medicine Hat enjoying free rent.
And loving it.
Happy 2011!

Kiddies at the grandparent's house

Here are some pictures I took of the kids with my new phone. This is Justin by the way. I'm testing how easy it is to do a blog post from the phone. I know, I'm a nerd. But where would all you cool people be if you didn't have us nerd-o's around to make you look good? Anyways, enjoy the photos and a merry Christmas to all!

We Are Here, We Are Here!!!

We, the Snelldogs, are back in Alberta.
We are back.
For good.
Well as far as we know.
We are excited to be back but we will miss our good friends in Utah.
I will really miss JOANN.  And of course, JC Penny.
Not to mention our mexican friend Cafe Rio.
And our oddly named friend who always seemed to have everything we needed whenever we needed it.  TARGET.
They will all be greatly missed.
But it is good to be back with family and for Ruby to be reacquainted with her cousins and for Myers to actually meet and get to know them!
Let the FAMILY FESTIVITIES BEGIN!
I guess saying goodbye to certain friends is worth it.
Farewell Utah....

How I would use a Nokia N8 this holiday season!

We have to make a big road trip home to Canada from the USA this Christmas season (me, my wife, and two kids).  If I had a nice shiny N8 on hand I could use Ovi Maps to guide us home and take pictures and videos of the beautiful landscapes along the way with the 12MP camera and 720p video recording.  It would also be nice to have the built-in FM transmitter to play our tunes as we drive.  I'm sure there will also be times when the kids would appreciate watching a little cartoon on the phone.  At the hotel, I could use the HDMI (or TV) out to watch shows or play games on the hotel TV.  I'm sure I'll be customizing it and downloading apps along the way as well.  It would also be great to have at Christmas to takes pictures and videos of the kids opening their presents.  As we are going to be travelling a lot this Christmas season, the N8 would be a perfect tool to keep up to date with my emails, facebook, and twitter.  In short, this phone would help make our Christmas GREAT!

I'm trying to win a phone! (This is Justin BTW)

Hi friends and fellow blog-readers.  This is Justin doing all the hard blog-post-creating today.  I decided to give Cheryl a little break.  She works so hard to keep everyone updated on our goings-on.  All from this little 10" netbook with tiny little keys to type on!  You should all give her a virtual pat on the back (or real one if you are close to her back in the near future).  Anyway, the reason for my taking the initiative to make a post is a little bit (completely) self-serving.  So sit back and I will unfold the mystery to you before your very eyes.  (Now that you're all captivated I wish I could make one of those scary faces pop up on your computer screens and scare you all).  Anyways, back to my story:  You may or may not know that I fancy cell phones, especially those of the 'smart' persuasion.  Well, I've started entering contests to win various smartphones because I like smartphones and I like winning things, so it only stands to reason that I would like winning smartphones.  The one I currently have my eye on - (my right eye that is, it's my dominant eye) - is none other than the Nokia N8.  It's pretty and you all know how I like pretty things (like Cheryl).  Well to make a mid-length story a bit longer, there is a little competition that Nokia is putting on where they are asking regular Joe's (such as myself) to write a blog post explaining what I would do with a Nokia N8 for the holiday season.  If I am chosen (like the little green aliens on Toy Story) they will lend me an N8 for the holidays, and if I make a second blog post at the end detailing what I did with said phone, they may let me keep it!  So the next post will be a short detailing of what I plan to do if they lend me this phone.  I'm excited!  On a side note: Go Christmas!

A True Likeness

Remember how we went and took family photos recently?
Well just the other night I was flabbergasted to realize that all of the hard work that went into that was unneeded.
Why you ask?
Well, because Ruby drew this:

 A closer view for you...

Yup- that's us.

It is such a true likeness I think we are just going to use this as our family photos.

And she didn't stop there- she went on to draw all of the cousins.

Isn't she amazing?
She even got everyones arms and legs in.  (well she tried at least...)
She is quite the artist.
And the same rule applies for her as it does for the tripod.
If you would like a one of a kind family drawing- Ruby would be glad to do it.
For a fee.  Of course.
You don't even have to be here for her to do it.
I'll just describe to her what you look like and she will draw it.
And we will mail the picture to you.
If you act now she can get it done before those Christmas cards have to go out!!

I love my little artist.