Tag Archive | walk

Super Quick Look at September… Sort of

Back to the reflection on the rest of 2017 and September. First off, September was my month of HONEST PHOTOS. So if you search out those two words you will find weekly posts sharing that little experiment. No filters, no cropping.

This is a picture heavy month so I may split it up into two posts, plus there was the Renaissance Festival, which I will share separately. Good grief, I just made more work for myself!

Let’s see… YMCA was visited… often, as usual. This was the tail end of our summer stuff, plus a continuation of things like my work outs and the karate classes.20170911_183653

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Zander

Neko-chan won our hearts even more, this time with OUTINGS! Yup, we chinchilla proofed our bathroom as best we could and try to let her out once a week at least. She seems to approve, though getting her into the cat carrier is a trick at the best of times.IMAG1340

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20170928_220745We spent lots of time outside, with the loss of our summer walks to the YMCA we took as many as possible to the front lawn of the nearby Catholic church. They have Poke stops there as well as a lovely yard to sit in.IMG_20170908_105635_184

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20170920_122535We started our new school year relatively quietly, really with the year round schooling and the kids really enjoying ongoing pursuits (like the nursery rhymes) there isn’t a huge need to “start fresh” in the fall. But we did do pictures and such.IMG_20170905_110728_195

Zander

Zander

Gavin

Gavin

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We even had a lovely special lunch.IMG_20170905_130005_142

There were a few new supplies and of course full time in the classroom once more.20170905_090744

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Sunday School started up again, I am now a substitute teacher for the little dudes.20170910_103708

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The siding was replaced on the house.20170916_133532

And on the inside we put shelving into the schoolroom that can be adjusted.20170917_145403

Dinner out with the godson was a family affair this time.IMG_20170916_200508_124

20170923_194727But we also got in some fancy dress date nights.IMG_20170915_183456_148

We finally got to meet our new niece Maevowyn. You will remember her baby shower from my post way back when. Just Ken and I went to visit since Shandai and Ravyn have a smaller apartment and we have a larger family. I am one proud aunty. You can see a photo post HERE. But first a teaser. 20170904_162619

And visited an amazing yarn exhibit.20170922_190858

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I got in some crafting myself.20170924_220901

Echo got her school shots going.20170914_150022

And I got an awesome mug.20170916_120600

Fall fun.20170920_123644

A busy, people and activity filled month. Be sure to check out the overflow and the baby post and and and. Love to everyone who made it to the end of this monster post!

Week 3 of Honest Photo Month

Welcome to week 3 of this lovely experiment. I hope it has been enjoyable to watch.

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Remember day 4 and the day glow look? Well all that hard work is visual for me every Friday night. I do R.I.P.P.E.D. class and then it is date night. It took 13 years before we could afford and coordinate a weekly date. This has been amazing for our marriage and been fun to go from sweaty to this…

Photo credit to Ken.

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My family is far from us and Ken’s immediate are in Florida but we have created a family besides. One of our favourite things to do is to take our god son out for dinner. Today his parents and youngest sibling joined us. We are blessed to have so much love around us.

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God Son!

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I am sure there is some deep metaphor about my life in this one… but really this is just how progress looks in our house. We have been planning shelving for months. Today Ken and the kids took the plunge and while I napped they stripped out our mismatched shelves and Ken got busy. Reorganizing books is educational right? Cuz guess what we are doing tomorrow! Bam! 5 kids, 5 somewhat willing workers.

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Zander says we have too many books it is like a library… LIKE??? I may be a wee bit offended.

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It may have been overly ambitious, my idea of 5 sets of semi willing hands… but here is my Monday. Surrounded by literature, dust, school items, and whiny children.

Echo had the audacity to suggest we have too many books!!! I call alien abduction cuz… no such thing!

Photo credit to Ken who bravely worked from home today. And only came up to periodically laugh at me.

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And honestly… many days of my life are honestly boring… or at least the re telling of it is. And then cutest lunch bag I splashed out $12.00 on appears and becomes the newest yarn project bag cuz TOTORO!!!! So… I admit it… love anime… love yarn… love a deal… love you all!

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I may have bought Echo a “gift” of a small size rake so that she could “play” with the leaves… in a fashion that ends with cranky 13 year olds filling leaf bags… maybe…

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The honest truth is I am trying to instill healthy patterns in all my children. So when the little kids have choir and confirmation isn’t on yet I drag the twins to the YMCA.

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And this is what they were really doing… trotting along while they game against each other… so we both win? Or did I lose?

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Sometimes we just… sit. With the weather yo-yoing cold and hot we are really not hugely motivated. But story time is always welcome!

And there you have it, my messy life… Check out weeks ONE and TWO.

This entry was posted on 21/09/2017, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Welcome Grandma, Down from the Great White North…

But just for a week. Which I can tell you, her dog Gypsy did not approve of. I heard tell of a minor hunger strike when cookies were snitched from meals but the actual dog chow left untouched! It was a lovely week full of a good balance of activity and rest.20170404_134102

Grandma started off smart – she hooked the kids on some puzzle game apps so they could all play together. Always a good plan, especially since they were FREE. Couple that with watching dog rescue videos together and much time was spent in quiet enjoyment.IMG_20170404_152623_521

20170407_112120We took Grandma to the YMCA twice this visit. Once to watch Trinity and Emanuel in karate and meet their Sensei.IMG_20170413_222319_460

The other time to come for our Sunday night swim. Mommy got in her exercise class, and the rest got quality pool time with Grandma letting Daddy off the hook!IMG_20170409_182842_996

20170409_18390720170409_193406Our big field trip was to the Mill City Museum. A family favourite and fun for Grandma to see some Minnesota history first hand. She and Ken took the twins up in the big elevator that walks you through the history of the mill as well as its partial destruction.20170407_130947

20170407_13183120170407_13243220170407_135035IMG_20170407_135840_62920170407_14142220170407_13384720170407_132037Grandma asked to go to two specific places to eat – Culver’s, which we went to the night she came. She had never been, we simply could not let that stand!IMG_20170404_182631_533

The second place was a brunch with adults only to Perkin’s. This was followed up by a lovely stash of bakery goods purchased by Grandma that came home for the kids to enjoy. We snuck over to Joann’s while we were out. Good food AND good shopping (with coupons of course).

It was a decadent brownie.

It was a decadent brownie.

Grandma also COOKED a couple times – we got to taste her delicious homemade spaghetti sauce. With meat in it! AND she made taco soup. A new one for all of us, but one that everyone but the girls (no surprise) enjoyed. It was beyond delicious. So of course, I must share the recipe! HERE20170406_130918

Mine is without crunched up nacho chips.

Mine is without crunched up nacho chips.

She came bearing gifts… Canadian snacks… well lots of Canadian things. Including a colouring book for the 150th birthday. She also brought us some Gypsy puppies to add to our teddy collection. We had some small tokens for her.IMG_20170404_155142_971

My early birthday gift to mom, a pin.

My early birthday gift to mom, a pin.

We had hair braiding parties.IMG_20170410_220135

And Grandma spent special quality time with all the kids. It was so lovely for them to have one on one (though the twins opted to go together) time with Grandma and fully get her hooked on Caribou coffee.

Mix in a couple nippy spring walks to the park and Grandma got a taste of early spring in Minnesota.20170405_104230

We also pulled out movies and popcorn to make sure we had some quality cinema time. Kubo was well enjoyed.IMG_20170405_010349_384

Grandma took special care braiding up Emanuel’s hair. It was nice to have a week of no hair in the eyes. Though friends said it was very… basketball player! IMG_20170405_210629_766

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Since Easter was right around the corner we also did some egg decorating.IMG_20170409_145459_677

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Ken and I snuck away for some quality YMCA time… well he sat, and I went to class.IMG_20170407_180036_180

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It was a terrific visit. Sit back and enjoy the excessive, but happy images! Thanks for the visit Grandma!20170410_125226

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This entry was posted on 26/04/2017, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment