First Day of School

First day of School and apparently it was great. The boys both LOVE their teachers (keeping in mind it is only the first day - but I'm hopeful) and Sterling GOT A LOCKER!!!! He was so thrilled. He is out right at this moment at Zellers looking for the perfect lock. Craig has looked some up on the Canadian Tire site and Home Depot site and they have some cool ones so we might go out later and find one for him.

Kaedo's teacher is Sterling's teacher from last year and I was always impressed with her. Sterling's teacher is new to us and a couple of years ago Sterling and Craig had a not so pleasant encounter with her. Obviously that is all water under the bridge as she has already been in touch with us about Sterling's added needs and has already set up and appointment with the principal, vice-principal, resource teacher, Sterling's therapist, and us for Sept 22. She did a lot of work on getting it together with everyone even before school started. So - so far we are very impressed.

First day lunches included hot dogs for Sterling, Smiles for Kaedo, clementines, banana, granola bar, crispy minis, soft baked cookies and jello. The kids ate all their lunches so that was good. Another year of making lunches - yuck. To Jessica and Tica/Kelly - I pity you, I really do - this is only the beginning!

Anyway, we are thrilled with the way things went, the kids are happy and that's what matters. Now all we have to do is breakdown and buy the damn indoor shoes.

I also thought I'd show you a picture of the first day of school last year. What a difference a year makes.

The Most Gorgeous...

As everyone knows, I think my boys are dreamy, HOWEVER - these photos are breathtaking. They are my current favorite pix of the boys and I love them. Craig took the one of Sterling and Kelly took the one of Kaedo. If anyone is interested in a copy of either of these for themselves, let me know and get one printed for you. 11 and 12. Where has the time gone? Sterling looks 14 and gorgeous and the coolest kid around and Kaedo looks like he should be on the cover of a magazine. Anyway, let me know if you want a print.

Also - just wanted to send lots of love and excitement to my sweet niece and nephew who will be starting kindergarten and junior kindergarten this week. I hope you both love it. I can't believe how quickly you have grown and I so look forward to seeing you both later in the year to hear all about your school adventures. Good luck and I hope your moms bought you cool backpacks.

The Last of Summer

With summer break being officially over, I thought I would just post some random pictures from the summer that I don't think I have already posted.

Summer supper of champions - BBQ hot dogs with ketchup, curly fries and carrot sticks with dip

A cutie on his bike - they have had A LOT of use of their bikes this summer - can you 7am skate park dates?

Great one of my two best boys

Sterling the mad scientist trying to build his own nano bot

Craig building the deck railings - He's too sexy for his shirt!

A trip to the chip truck

There have been so many other memories of the summer and it has been great. We are looking forward to getting into a new routine and while the boys are not anxious to get back to school I think they are ready to get hanging out with all their buddies again and seeing what the new year has to bring. Grade 6 and 7. I can't believe it!

The last hooray!

Wednesday afternoon Kaedo and Craig spent some time in the pool horsing around. I tried to convince Craig to jump off the ladder but he declined stating "he didn't want it on the blog" - as if! I got a few videos of them wrestling that I think were fun. The pool was dumped on Thursday and Friday and once again we are left with a dead grass spot in the backyard that needs to be creatively mowed to not look as abysmal as it does. The boys had lots of fun in the pool this summer although the time was short lived.

Tee Time

We had a great morning golfing on Wednesday. We were on the first tee box at 9am and got home at 12:15pm. She told us it would only take 90 minutes - took us a little longer - ha! The boys did great and all their practice and tutelage while on holidays has done wonders for them. Craig was great with them and gave lots of pointers. Kaedo was especially frustrated about half way through and Craig just stepped up and got him on track with a few minor adjustments. He played much better after that. The boys both loved it and we had a great time being together. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was surprised at how well I could hit the ball. My putting sucks but I was to the green in only a few shots. Not too bad after a 13 year hiatus. The course is right in the middle of an apple orchard and when we got their she told us there was no penalty if you hit into the orchard and the hole 3 wasn't in use. It cost us $15/adult and the kids played for free. She said that you could play as many holes as you wanted as the course wasn't busy. Very fun. I am already thinking about the next time we can go. It was hot and humid and we were all sweaty and I don't think any of us had enough water but it was great.

15 years

After a courtship that moved at the speed of light (10 months from Hello to I Do), we are celebrating 15 years. And they thought it wouldn't last.

What a ride it has been. We have weathered many storms, flourished with many triumphs and have stuck together through it all. Following in Kelly's footsteps, here are some fun facts about our 15 years:

2 tweenagers

6 houses/apartments

At least 8 fish

2 turtles

1 dog

8 vehicles

1 university education and graduation

1 college education and graduation

1 career for Craig

7 jobs and one career for Shannon

One dream vacation to Florida

6 weeks in the hospital for Shannon

A move across the Country

2 nieces and 2 nephews

...and too many other things to count.

Thanks to everyone who have supported us as we have gone through the good and hard times. We love you.

Craig - you are the best. The best husband, the best father, the best friend. You are always there for me and I will never be able to tell you or show you how much I love you and our life together. Here's to the next 15.

week 49

Last summer gnome picture of 2010. Too cute. This is a great picture of both of them. Which has been hard to come by in 49 weeks of taking these pictures. Usually one looks dazed.

Today is filled with golf in the morning and appointments in the afternoon. We will enjoy all being together as this is our last day of summer holidays all together. The boys have had a great week biking, swimming, building my new desk and hanging out with Craig. This time next week we will be talking about school, teachers, favorite classes and which girls suddenly got cute over the summer.