November 10-12

With a special session at Sunday School about the use of money and savings that was not necessary for us to be at and Aunty Karyn still in residence we totally skipped our Sunday School on Sunday. We got a little bit of time in the backyard…

And then in the evening when it was time to return the cousins Nana and Baba also took Echo freeing us up to head to the city and check out a German St. Martin’s day celebration. We didn’t stick around too much for that – just too many people and not enough interesting the kids… BUT we did see that the building it was in was also one we saw the day before at the Lego exhibit.

Took pictures of some Charlie Brown themed statues.

This one was my favourite I think

And then stopped off at The Source for some dice shopping and time with the manga for Karyn and myself. We ended the evening with the first set of gifts being wrapped. Karyn saved herself a tidy sum of postage just as I did with her taking back items and bought her gifts here for the kids (and myself!! I got spoiled with some of my favourite Caron Simply Soft yarn).

It has begun!

Remembrance Day… okay Veterans Day here in the US of A… was a quiet one… no snow yet… and a light morning of school so that Karyn and I could go with my mother in law to Mall of America to window shop.

Storytime

Ok who am I kidding… we shopped, we bought and we perused. I had a coupon or two for freebies that I HAD TO take advantage of (which included a free Annie’s Pretzel noms), but my shopping buddies found deals and finds that were well worth the sore feet at the end of the day. I am VERY proud to say I spent a grand total of 6.00… purchasing a Dollar Tree pair of fuzzy socks that once I wear them out will make AMAZING sock owls and getting Typo brand pens. These are even finer point that my previous but the same amazing quality.

It was over so quickly, our visit with Karyn. The 12th marked the end and so was a rather light day for the kids. Karyn, Baba and I had to head to the airport by noon so we did a bit of schoolwork, a lot of cuddling and then had to pry Trinity off of Karyn. They really are the closest two in our family. It was a little heartbreaking to MAKE Trinity say good bye and watch her walk off with tears in her eyes saying everyone has to leave.

We continue being thankful

After dropping her off safely and on time (her flight here was delayed… of course) it was time to run to a couple stores to get some groceries and then return home to some rather droopy and sad kids… ok Mommy was right there with them!

We did have time to make ONE of our I Am Thankful Pumpkins (ok more squash since we were out of orange cardstock) thanks to The Moffatt Girls website HERE.

OH and a sighting of the neighbourhood WHITE squirrel… not the black one lately…

We miss you already Karyn! Thanks for visiting!!!

September 5-8

We had some timely mail appear in our box on Thursday – our Lego magazine subscriptions! Swings make the best reading spots sometimes.

Of course we had to check out the garden… the peppers are starting to ripen!

Juice pouches for an afternoon snack.

And a couple overly friendly squirrels in the front yard. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the black one but it stayed under the vehicles. This little grey one came so close that I had to tell the girls not to touch it!!!

We finished up our week learning about Tanzania!

Then on Saturday we finally hit a busy day… first to Home Depot to make ring toss games!!!

Then onto Steven’s to see a parade with him and Quinn.We have never seen such a large amount of princesses for anything and everything.

They really like their emergency vehicles

It was slow starting and luckily we were right next to a Dollar Tree so I could go get some water (6 for a dollar, though not from the fridge… those were 1.00 each).

The kids went crazy grabbing candy and had a blast, though we did head out before the parade was over – too much heat and to miss the rush in the parking lot.

After the parade we went back to Steve’s house to have lunch. Yummy hot dogs, fruit, chips… and Phineas and Ferb! I love how they have a whole entertainment room set up in the double portion of their garage in the summer! So fun!

Sadly my cold went into overtime so after enjoying some fun in the sun it was time to head home and myself to bed. By Saturday evening I was feverish and Ken was adamant I was not going to church. Sunday morning HE felt under the weather and that put the final nail in the coffin for us making the Sunday School planning session that morning. Thankfully the woman in charge was willing to email me information.

I am just so pleased we managed a day with Steven and Quinn. It has been a while and this parade seems to be our new tradition with them!!! Be sure  to check out the overflow! There was just too much to see HERE. 

July 25

One of the amazing benefits of Ken’s job is that he can work mad and crazy hours for the week and then take a day off to spend with his family during the week! This Thursday was one of those lucky days. So we packed the kids up, ran a few errands and then… afternoon complete with picnic at another lake! So much fun!!

We stopped off at Lakeshore to get one of those listening phones (the red thing in Echo’s hand) so that the kids can do their spelling and reading while listening to themselves.

I wish the camera had caught this butterfly better… there were a bunch of them when we got there and they pretty much glowed!

This is one of the more “pool than lake” lakes that is maintained, cleaned complete with lifeguards!

We swung by Dollar Tree for shovels and buckets… 1.00 for the sets it was more than enough that most lasted through the entire trip out.

Quite the pool they built together

It started to rain right when we left

Played out

After a busy day in the sun we headed home to enjoy dinner out with Nana and Baba at Old Country Buffet! Yummy and fun with cotton candy as well! Some days it is just nice to have a day… a day together!

So much yummy food! Thank you Nana and Baba!!!

After dinner we all went for a neighbourhood walk. Gotta burn off some of those calories!!!

I love the colours of summer!

Add in some nice sand and beautiful water and who can complain?