Sunday Night

Sunday already. We have had a busy weekend. Yesterday morning the boys and I had a scrap booking supplies garage sale. It was fun and hot and somewhat profitable. I am going to do it again in a few weeks. The boys want to include some of their things so we may have an actual garage sale next time.

Kaedo went with a friend to a water park and out to the racetrack (cars, not horses) and slept over and Craig, Sterling and I watched a movie. we were up by 7 this morning and Sterling was out the door off to the bike park with N by 8am. At 10:30am while speaking with mom, lightning started with thunder and a torrential downpour. Sterling and N got soaked and came home early. We picked up Kaedo from his friend's house and spent the afternoon together. I am waterlogged from my time in the pool with the boys.

Tonight I have been putting my Disney pictures into albums and now we are contemplating what to have for supper. No one can decide and it is already after 7.

Tomorrow morning I have someone coming to look at my supplies and we have no other plans aside from getting organized for mom and dad's visit on Wednesday. We are counting down and look forward to being all together. I plan to take lots of photos of them together so I can add them to my photo album of the Summer. Sterling has asked if they can be in the Gnome pictures as they will be here for two weeks. Are you up for it, mom and dad?????

17 days

We have been working through the 17 Day Diet, and while we haven't been perfect, we've done pretty well and have introduced our family to a whole bunch of new vegetables. Who knew Sterling would eat broccoli? Yesterday I made this vegetable soup. The kids didn't really like it but Craig did and in all honesty, I cook more for him than the kids. The boys will always fall back on waffles or omelets or mini pizzas but Craig likes to have a hot meal after work. I've got a lot of soup left, so I'm hoping he wasn't lying and will actually finish it!

The beginning of a long weekend for us. Today the boys and I will spend some time at the Farmer's Market, Costco and Fresh Co and tomorrow we will have our Scrapbooking Supplies yard sale. I'm hoping I sell a lot of stuff as I have so much and would really like to get rid of a bunch of it. I posted the garage sale on Kijiji and the boys and I will hang signs tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

More Flowers

This week's flowers come courtesy of last Friday's trip to the Farmer's Market. They were fresh picked from a local garden (I hope it was her own) and bunched into small $4 bouquets. I couldn't resist this vibrant array of blooms and while the majority of the flowers have wilted now, I have 2 left that are in a vase painted by Kaedo way back in 2005. It is sitting on an Art Deco side table at my front door. Anyone who knows me knows I love flowers. I am not a rose girl, in fact I just like flowers that are a little different, very bright and nicely presented. I like to think that I would be a good florist as I know what I like and always give input to my florist as to the blooms I would like in any bouquet I have made up for friends or family. I am looking forward to tomorrow's Farmer's Market and plan to take my camera in case I come across some beautiful blooms but have already spent my money on fruits and vegs. Better yet - I think I'll stop at the flower stand first!

Week 44

Week 44 and the weather is glorious! The boys each have a friend over today, so two extra teenagers in the house seems to increase the noise level 10 fold. J and C are both long time friends of the boys and have spent many hours here and the boys have spent just as much time at their houses. I love seeing my kids with their friends. It makes me happy. I'm sure more kids will show up throughout the day so I have stocked the fridge with more energy drinks and have cut up lots of fruits and vegs for them to nosh on. I'm sure a request for McDonald's for lunch will come up, so we'll see what happens. I remember mom and dad always leaving the house open and inviting for our friends. "If you're here, we know where you are". I love that and Craig and I follow that adage here - the more the merrier. Just don't bug the neighbors!!! Thank god for great neighbors.

Swimming, trampolining, biking, scootering, water balloon and gun fights, lots of eating, video games, hexbug races, computer time and tv watching will all come into play today and I don't mind a bit. As long as I don't get soaked by a renegade water balloon or have to watch any "mom you've just got to see this" YouTube videos, I'm happy!

Ode To Avery

Jessica accurately commented earlier in the week that Avery did not get her birthday wishes on the blog so I want to remedy that today. Happy Birthday Sweet Avery. Anti loves you so much. It was so wonderful seeing you and getting to know you and knowing you and I now have a bond that will never be broken. You are a beautiful, delightful child who lights up my life. You are good natured, kind hearted and beautiful from the tip of your head to the soles of your feet. Don't forget that I am always here for you and I love you SO MUCH! Happy belated birthday my sweet girl. Anti loves you. Always.

Signs of Summer

Took this photo of a peony I have in a vase in the kitchen. I photo-shopped the shit out of it but love it. Might make a nice note card. Hmm. Will have to think about that.

Week 43

Another gorgeous picture of the two most gorgeous boys on the planet (I might be a bit biased - NOT). The dog is kinda cute too. He doesn't smile on command so Kaedo pushed his head to face the camera. Only 9 weeks left then a new year begins! I can't wait to say "year 3"!

20 Minute Challenge

What a Night!

Each participant got a hat and 15% off coupon and there was no charge for the event. They also provided energy bars and juice, sponsored by SunRype.

my heal after the walk - yikes!

As I mentioned yesterday, last night we participated in the 20 Minute Challenge, put on by The Running Room. It was GREAT! Sterling walked with me and Kaedo and Craig walked together. I loved the sea of orange hats making the 3km loop. We stopped a lot of traffic and it was great spending the time speaking with Sterling. He is such an interesting young man and since he doesn't really like the silence, he talks constantly. I love it, as often I am not much of a talker. He always has so many interesting things to tell me. The wonders of the Internet and children who are adept in surfing it. When we got home I took Ketchup out for a walk as it is my goal to walk him every day. Needless to say (as seen above) I did not put my runners back on!

Today Kaedo is heading to the beach with a friend and I am spending the day with Sterling. I am looking forward to it.

Soccer Tourney Pix

We recently received some soccer pictures that one of the mom's took at a recent tournament. These are great pictures of him. He is loving it. On Monday night he played defense - first time - and was amazing. That is a great position for him. I hope they give him the opportunity to play there again. We are now on a 2 week hiatus and return to soccer the first week in August with two practices, a two day tourney and a league game all in one week. We'll be back on the field cheering.

This morning the boys are at the skate park. Sterling has been there since 9am and Kaedo went at 10:30am. Sterling phoned and said there was another scooter kid there so Kaedo went down to practice and have fun.

Sterling goes to the doctor today and we have signed up for the Running Room's "20 Minute Challenge". We are looking forward to taking part in this event as a family this evening. Hopefully it cools down a little and we won't be too hot. Should be good. Everyone is looking forward to it. I'm going to take my camera, so I hope to get a few pics.

Yesterday afternoon we went and saw the final "Harry Potter" movie. It was very good and action packed. If you have seen the other movies, I would recommend seeing the conclusion of the series. Gotta love 1/2 price Tuesdays!

Farmer's Market

Friday morning we set out with one thing in mind - The Farmer's Market. We had gone the week before with Jessica and the girlies, but we hadn't really bought anything, so this was our first foray into what a Farmer's Market is all about. As you can see from the photos above, we scored some delicious fruit and vegetables. We bought a huge head of lettuce, some peppers, strawberries, white flash cherries, tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers and apples. We had a great time and the boys loved it. They especially loved the homemade beef jerky truck. They went back for seconds and then thirds.

Once we got home and I unpacked everything, their friends started showing up. Needless to say, all the cherries got eaten. This prompted another trip to the Farmer's Market for another basket of cherries, along with another trip to the Beef Jerky stand.

We had a great day that ended with me signing up for a Learn To Run clinic at the Running Room. My first goal is to run the Race for a Cure 5K on October 2 and then keep training to run the Mother's Day Run in Calgary on May 13. I will be 40 that weekend, so my goal is to do the 5k (or if I'm good enough, the 10k).

Yikes - big plans - but goals are GOOD! I'd love it if you'd run with me ;)

More on a trip West coming soon.

Sterling is REALLY into BMX biking - he spends a lot of hours at the bike park, biking with his friends, learning tricks and being outside - about 30 hours a week. His current bike is not made for the amount of biking he does, nor the tricks he is trying to learn. SO - he has been asking for a new bike and as much as we want to just pick it up for him, in our current reduced income state, it just isn't possible. So, Craig came up with a wonderful alternative. We went bike shopping and he found the one he LOVES ( a We The People - Justice) and we put it on layaway. The bike was $600 and we put down $100 and Sterling put down $25. He's doing extra chores to earn extra money and will be putting every spare bit of cash he has on his bike. We are hoping to help out more and with the birthday money he will be getting, by his birthday he should have a new bike. He wanted me to show a picture of the bike, so he downloaded it and emailed it to me so I could post it here. He's thrilled and I love being able to say, "Are you sure you want to spend your money on that? I thought you were saving for your bike".

Wall Art

After two years of having the same wall art up I decided to change it up a bit. Using some frames I already had, some $3 frames from Wal-Mart, the free 8x10 photos I got with all the developing I have done lately and a cute saying, I was able to create a new wall collage for under $20. I've got great pool, beach and trampoline photos hanging and I love the bright blue, smiling faces and little added color it adds to the wall. I must admit I've scared myself a time or two coming down the stairs due to the mirror but oh well. All in the name of fine art! Ha!

Crash Mat

As mentioned previously, the boys bought a crash mat for the pool. Here are some pics of them trying it out. I love pool action shots! They are loving the pool and our warm weather has made it the perfect temperature. Craig and I were worried they wouldn't be using it but it has been well used already. Thanks Anti. Even if they didn't step foot in it the rest of the summer, it has already been worth putting it up. Enjoy!

***note - no children were injured in the taking of these photos. heehee

Biker Boy

Sterling loves riding his bike. He spends many hours - often 30 a week riding with his buddies. Not only is it good for his friend time, it is great for his physical health and some weight loss. He's loving it and it learning new tricks all the time. Yesterday morning (at 7:30 - yuck) he headed off to the skate park and while there learned to jump out of the deep end of the bowl. Apparently this has been very daunting for him. With the encouragement of his good friend N, he tried it and had great success. He called me before it was time to pick him up for ortho and asked if I could bring the camera to take some pictures of him jumping. Of course once there, all his friends wanted pics. I'm so glad they feel comfortable enough with me to ask.

Sterling is desperate for a new bike and we have learned that the bike that he wants is on sale. So Craig suggested we put it on layaway and Sterling can pay down the balance over the next few months and when his birthday comes along, he can take his birthday money and put it towards the bike. I thought that was a brilliant idea, so I'm going to talk to Sterling about it today. We'll see what he says. It will certainly stop him from eating pizza with his buddies and will help him get the bike he really wants. At $500 it will take some time but I think he will be happy with Craig's suggestion. We figure we can throw some money on it as well to help him out.

He's off to the skate park again today, so we'll see what tricks he learns from N. I'm loving that he's doing this and I love that he has so many friends to hang out with who have his same interests. After years of struggling with friendships, this warms my heart!

Week 42

Week 42 gnome picture and the boys were all smiles. The pool was at 81 degrees, the sun was shining and the water was perfect. They splashed and played with their new "smash mat" that they bought. I have some pictures but will post them tomorrow. For once this gnome got the front and centre in the picture. I love him - he's so cute. Another 10 weeks and we will be starting with a new gnome. We can't decide if we are going to use our Roughriders one or not. It is currently being used as a hat rack, so we aren't sure.

This afternoon, Kaedo, a friend and Sterling were in the trampoline and Kaedo got kneed in the beak. He came in screaming and we immediately headed to the clinic. It isn't broken but badly bruised and the doc says he will probably have a couple of shiners. He did give him the go-ahead to play soccer tonight but did give me a stern warning on how many kids should be in the trampoline at once (one). My only question is, where's the fun in that?????

Holiday Part 1

I took over 200 photos during the 8 days that Jessica and the girls were here, many of which have made their way into albums for Jessica, the girlies and mom and dad. Mom's request was a picture of her four grandchildren and we were able to capture that the first day they were here. Everything else was just a bonus. I took pictures of swimming, trampolining, falling in the lake, girlies together, the boys together, the four of them, Avery kissing the dog, Em hugging him, Craig and Aves (as Kaedo calls her) playing with the water guns, water fights, Emma learning to jump into the pool and swim underwater, Avery sleeping in the van and some pictures of Jessica and I.

It is very quiet here today and I have spent the day puttering and trying to keep myself occupied so I don't think too much about those beautiful girls, their wonderful smiles, the loads of hugs and kisses and renewing an already strong bond with my best friend. It was magical and I can only hope that we are able to do this again. I know I need to remember all the wonderful moments but today I am just missing them so much that my memories hurt my heart. I have looked at my photos many times already and know I will spend a lot of time doing that over the next little while.

Back tomorrow with Gnomee.

Wednesday Night

Where has the time gone? It seems like they just arrived although their holiday is almost half over. Jessica and I have had a wonderful time being together. I think the best part of us being sisters is that we not only love each other but we like each other. Alot. She would do anything for my boys and I would do the same for the girlies. Avery has captured my heart and Emma is the doll she always has been. There have been a few bumps in the road (soaking the dog with a hose, screaming at the sight of Ketchup) but there have been so many good things. Like Sterling taking Avery AND Ketchup for a walk and Kaedo playing in the pool for hours with Em and Avery wrapping Sterling around her little finger and Emma being the most interesting child I have ever spoken to. It is times like these, when I am sitting here, that I wish they lived closer.

Mom and dad - I would post pictures for you but I'm making you a photo album of our trip so I don't want to spoil the surprise! Just make sure Jessica gives it to you!

Tomorrow we have a pedicure appointment in the morning and Jessica is getting a haircut tomorrow afternoon. I am taking the bigs and the littles to McDonalds for lunch then we are coming back for some serious pool time.

Friday we have the Farmer's Market and a trip to the beach. Saturday Kaedo and Craig are in Cambridge at soccer and I'm going to try and convince Jessica to paint the lockers. yikes! She says not white so we'll see. I guess a trip to Home Depot will be on the list as well.

Anyway - a great time, great weather, great laughs, great hugs and smooches, great nights watching movies and days sitting on the swing. Great family dinners and happy kids. I'm loving every minute of it. It is just what I needed.

week 41

Week 41 and we have some special guests. We are LOVING our time together and we are madly in love with Avery. This is our first time being with her showing all her personality, voice, walking, sweetness. Emma is amazing as always but Avery has truly touched my heart. I have been waiting for this connection and now we have it.

Yesterday saw many hours spent in the pool, followed by more time in the pool, a short break on the trampoline and a return to the pool. We had tacos in a bag for supper and finished up the day with Kaedo's soccer game - a WIN - 3-1.

Today we are heading to the movies, a trip to Costco for lunch, Chapters to play in the KIDZONE and then more pool time. Tonight Kaedo has practice and we are having corn on the cob - at the request of Em.

Don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we are loving every minute.

Mom and dad - I have a ton of wonderful photos for you - Jessica will be bringing them to you.

Aerial View

Our backyard gets taken over by summer fun this time of the year. Thanks to Jessica, who bought both the trampoline and pool as gifts for the boys, our summer is full of wet t-shirts, lots of towel laundry and many "mom, take a picture of this".

I thought an aerial view of what our backyard looks like this time of the year. There is so little grass, you might as well weed whip it! Ha!

I took these pictures from Sterling's window after throwing 8 HotWheels cars to them for them them to dive for (Cheryl, do you remember, Car Friday? good times). They spent about 2 hours in the pool and splashed around so much we had to put more water into it. I love listening to them in the pool. They love it so much and our hot weather has made for a wonderful pool temperature. I'm hoping Emma loves it as much as they do.

Inaugural Jumps

Thursday afternoon the pool officially opened and here are the first few jumps. I love to get pictures of these and often take pictures of them jumping in throughout the summer. Kaedo played in the pool for about 2 hours with our neighbor and Sterling was dared by his buddies to jump in with all his clothes on. Once he was in the pool, he didn't want to get out. Kaedo and his buddy played tons of games, did lots of underwater swimming and just had a wonderful time.

Jessica and the girlies arrive this evening. I can't wait! Will try and post through the week but no promises!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you!

Weekly Gnome

Week 40! Can you believe we have done this for 92 weeks? And still going strong????

The weather has been beautiful and the boys are enjoying summer already. Kaedo has plans to go paint balling on tomorrow, Craig is playing football, Sterling is biking, I am puttering around the house. We are so excited that Jessica and the girls are coming tomorrow and have learned this week that mom and dad will be here on August 3. Funny that J is coming on July 3 and mom and dad on Aug 3.

A couple of celebrations I need to include - Happy Birthday Petrica on the 28th. Happy Anniversary Stan and Shirley on the 29th and Happy Anniversary mom and dad, tomorrow, July 3.

Honour Roll

This was a great year for Sterling. While he was very nervous at the beginning of the year - he had had some run-ins with his teacher that were not very positive in previous years and he was concerned. His teacher was amazing! The best teacher he has ever had. She was so amazing (I can't say that enough). She did everything right for him and us. She stayed in contact with us, worked with Sterling to bring him out of his defiant ways, and helped our family see Sterling for the young man he has become. I had hoped he would have her next year as well but she has been promoted to Vice-Principal at another school, so we will be missing her. Sterling's new teacher seems just as great and she has already taken the time to speak with Sterling about next year and speak with me as well. I am really happy with our choice (we had one this year) and Sterling seems happy as well.

Now onto the important stuff. As you know, Sterling made Honour Roll this year - what a thrill! He has known for a few weeks as his tic was getting more frequent as he was worried about not making it after all his hard work. His teacher was kind enough to email me a couple of weeks ago to tell me in the hopes it would calm Sterling and allow him to finish the school year a little easier. On Wednesday, Sterling stood up in front of the whole school and accepted his award as an Honour Roll student. I was so proud. He was amazing! Unfortunately all the pictures from the ceremony have other children and teachers in them so I have only this one for you. This was taken outside his school immediately after the ceremony. He took the rest of the day off and spent it with friends and is now officially an 8th grader. I can't believe I have a child who will be in high school in a year. How can that be????