And… we jump forward a month! But I figured I really needed to first of all congratulate our friends Cory and Karen on their BEAUTIFUL wedding on June 14th. I have a few pictures to share.

My hair was done at the Regency school for hair etc… I LOVE IT!

The back with the addition of my own black rose hairclip.

Ken was a groomsman so… TUX!

I hope I held up my end of the stylish bargain. Gotta look good with my man in a tux and NO KIDS

Two groomsmen (Chris and Ken) and an Usher (Matt)… and PAD??

Gorgeous Maid (Matron?) of Honour… Renee!

Still waiting around

One of 2 ring bearers… Evan! ADORABLE

Resting before the ceremony (you can just see the groom at the end) with Usher Anthony (standing)

I have a few from the ceremony but the camera did not like the ambiance and I really had a bad angle. Everyone looked amazing! (I will of course share any official photos I get my hands on eventually!)

Sitting during the ceremony… gorgeous bride !!!

I only knew the bride and the MOA so I really did lean towards pictures of my boys!

Saying their vows

We lucked out and though it was a rainy dad we had the sun peek through during pictures at the farm! And a special thank you to Darcy and Andy for watching our 5 kids to simplify our time out at this special event!!!

Moving the trailer (for pictures) all dressed to the 9’s awsome

Anthony on the tractor

It was a little chilly when the sun came and went BUT the menfolk were sure it was too warm!

Anthony, Ken and Matt resting at the bride’s folks’ house between pictures

Gorgeous

Total gentleman shared his coat between pictures

There were lots of creative shots but I was too busy giggling at the menfolk and their jokes or helping where I could to take pictures

Ken took this one for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress.. the era… it was so fun!

The reception was a blast. I ended up with the adorable ring bearers (Evan and Nathan) and their baby brother (Jeffrey) and their grandparents with Ken at the head table. There was gaming buddies to finally meet with wives, fiances and children. So much fun! Also a photo booth (Ken and I took some pictures together which I have but yet to scan and Renee and I had a go too). I have to admit to cutting loose and drinking for the first  time in a decade or more! So not too many pictures, just lots of memories. 

Thanks Renee for this picture!

Though Father’s Day was a rather sedate one (as Ken requested) I want to thank all the special men in our lives here who have willingly taken on the responsibility of  being a part of our children’s (and our) lives. There is no way we could have as rich and amazing a life without all of you there to share it! So a special thank you to Baba, Grandpa Reinsch, Grandpa Mike… and our God Daddies – Andy, Cory, Alan, Nathan and Scott. Thank you so much!!!

And for the 16th of June – a date special specifically to Ken and myself – we happily celebrated 13 amazing years of marriage. It may not have all been roses and sunshine but with a man like Ken to love and hold onto it has been a ride to remember. I cannot wait to experience all the many decades we have to look forward to. I love you dear!!!! A special  thank you to Cousin Robbie and the lovely Alicia who watched the fab 5 so we could get out without minions in tow!

Indian food on recommendation of Shandai… AMAZING

Of course these are just the photos off our camera (and a couple thanks to Renee)… I have one or two on the camera… but I will share those later. Sorry about the massive amount but I had to share!

And of course, it would not be an event if Ken did not take ONE of these!

And so we end the week. WHAT A WEEK! Yesterday was a bit of a slow go, but we managed to work on our workbooks and enjoy each other’s company… oh and make DRAGONS! This is a fun craft made out of cut out hands. You can find the instructions HERE. They recently added some new dragon crafts so hopefully with a run to Dollarama this weekend we can make another one before the girls and I head out for our 4 day retreat at Cousin Veronika’s!

The boys' dragons... they cut EVERYTHING themselves!

Trinity's

We are working hard on our math and our reading. Today we tried something new. This time the boys came up with 3 sentences each and then had to write them down, without my copying them first. I sat down with each of the twins alone and we sounded out words together and talked about WHY certain words were written the way they are. There was some frustration but some successes too! Gavin had the topic of our family and Zander was to write 3 sentence describing himself. Then they picked their favourite sentence and drew a matching picture. I am so proud of them, writing is NOT their favourite activity but they persevered. We forgot all about taking a picture of them so will have to share that tomorrow!

We have two books on China and Chinese New Year out from the library right now. The kids love the bright colours on the covers and the dragons. We also read the story of the Zodiak from the Activity Village site. You can find it HERE. I always seem to end up at Activity Village for our special occasion activities and crafts!!

books!

The twins were in charge of sugar cookie creation today. I premade the dough, cleaned up the blue table, had them wash their hands and go at it. Only having to man the oven is so much easier than doing it all myself!

Cookie time, Emanuel joined after his quiet time and the 3 of them worked through the entire batch of dough.

Cookies

I have a link to share with you all. The site is called Babysitters and not only helps you find sitters in your area (if you are in the US) but also have some interesting blog entries on dealing with having sitters, parenting, etc. I have not taken too close of a look at the site yet but was able to find listings for my in-laws’ area AND read a couple interesting blog posts. THIS is the one they sent me to link. I would love to hear from anyone who has used this service OR hear your opinions post reading it after following my link. Yesterday night was a girls’ night out! Karyn, Kristen and I went to our favourite Indian restaurant and ate until we were completely full and then went back to Kristen’s for some visiting. She lives like a block or so from the restaurant! I even got to leave Echo at home as we decided that another trip in the carseat would be a bit much after Wednesday’s saga.

Appetizer

Mains

Ken has spent much of his phoning time working on getting the van fixed… AGAIN! Canadian Tire here in town has consented to fix the coolant system if that is what wrong and were a little embarrassed that less than a month later we are already calling back with a concern in the same area. Seriously FOUR TIMES! 

It seems like we cannot get away from the medical this month. Next week is Zander’s eye appointment, then the following week my bloodwork AND another appointment for Ken (he is changing a doctor that was back home to a local one) and then the next week is Echo and my check ups… Maybe February will have a move of focus AWAY from the medical for a while? Would be nice! But, so far everyone is coming back healthy!

Breakfast together (Echo needs a matching chair... and to learn to sit down!)

I have spent some time on Tinker Bell today but not much… I am almost done the first Tink, well the stitching portion and will share an image when that is done. It feels good to cross stitch again!

And tonight Ken and I finally get some alone time together… today was a rather good day – groceries were procured in the limping van, Canadian Tire contacted, appointments made, work completed, children educated, fed and loved… we even got to see Chris and Chris on their way to their new (closer) living situation. Tomorrow Ken will  be gone for a chunk of the day to help them out and I will be flying solo but we have another dragon to glitter up, a backyard to enjoy and of course our library books to read through. We have turned this week around, at least somewhat I think. And that is the trend that WILL continue! 

Some days I wonder if her names should not have included JOY as one of them...