more birthday

today was rather anti-climactic after the party day. Dad and Isaac were out the door early for church, and "us girls" puttered about while getting ready for church in town. We let Norah open gifts from the family last night, and she was enjoying them this morning. The rest of the cake came with us to church and was polished off there.



opening gifts, and modeling the new tutu.
















the new bike, from Grandpa Tom. She was very excited, but it was cold out, so she hasn't ridden it yet - and we haven't found a helmet locally yet either.
She is very proud of it. Isaac is glad to share his bike riding tips with her.

the birthday party

Today was the big party for Norah. "Finding Nemo" themed, as per her request. Which was a good choice, given the large number of little boys in her circle of friends, who would probably not appreciate the pink princess theme we were expecting.

Plans were made, friends were invited. Wasn't expecting to hit the snag of not being able to find a Nemo cake in town. Thankfully, a friend in town with cake decorating skills responded to our "cake emergency" phone call and helped out.

The house was decorated, 'aquariums' were made with blue jello and gummy fish (ick!, but loved), the kid-sized tables were waiting and ready, lunch was made. The guests arrived, fun was had. We enjoyed a lunch of "octopus hot dogs", submarine sandwiches, goldfish crackers and the kids favorite party punch. All the invited guests had fun, although we missed one pair of sisters who couldn't make it because the weather was nice and their family was busy combining the land. A couple of sea-themed crafts were made, giggling was plentiful, and aggression was minimal.


It was lots of fun.
The cake, courtesy of Melissa's decorating skills, and mom's baking.









One of the doorways, transformed into ocean waves, complete with seaweed.













Norah being mobbed as she opens gifts. There was lots of gift opening "help".









Most of the guests. Really, you just can't get them all in one shot. When the average party guest age is 3....

On love seat: (l to r)
Ryker, Isaac, Norah, Keanen, Kevin

in front: Olivia and Ruby
Dreya is hiding behind mom's leg in the background, Isabell is exploring, and younger siblings Jorja, Tyler and Hailey are scattered in the room.

I am aware that Norah's dress matches her cake. Entirely coincidence. Really. It's just her most 'party' dress right now, that was weather appropriate. However, it does affirm her choice of themes. :)

took this picture the other day

Just after a rain storm breezed past us, I called the kids upstairs to see the rainbow(s). They were sufficiently impressed. This picture hardly does justice to how beautiful it was.

progress in French

Isaac can now count to 8 in French. Tells us that stories are shared on the 'tapis'. Calls his teacher "madame Kate". Is able to do "head, shoulders, knees and toes" almost completely correctly.

In Sunday School this week, he even wrote NOM:______ on his craft, then added in his name.

I don't think he even knows he's learning yet!

Norah's new obession

"hey mommy...I think that new magazine has some nice pictures in it. pictures of kid stuff. can I see? please, can I see the kid stuff in the magazine"

(not realizing the can of worms about to be opened) "sure, Norah"

"yay!"
which was soon followed by
"wow, I want this. And this. And this too. I really want this bouncy slide, maybe for my birthday, ok?"


A big sarcastic thank you to Sears and the ridiculously early release of the Wish Book, and big ol' BOO to me for leaving it on the kitchen table for a day. She's obsessed.

end of an era

the crib is down. Ruby had taken to jumping out, and climbing in on her own. It appeared to be time to dismantle the crib and 'upgrade' to the toddler bed.

We were not quite prepared for how hard it was going to be to take the crib down. It has been up almost constantly since Isaac was born, even if there wasn't always a baby using it (as opposed to bunking in with mom and dad). A slightly more emotional experience than we had counted on.

As the toddler bed got involved with our basement floods back in '05, the base of the bed is in need of sanding to fit the frame (again). We currently have the headboard up though, with part of the frame, so that it looks like more than just a mattress on the floor. I'm hoping to paint the toddler bed soon, and Norah's bed, so that they are the same colour of white. As the girls will probably be in these beds until we buy a bunk bed set, we're hoping to keep them looking nice for a few more years. The bedroom looks so much bigger without the crib, and we took the armchair out too. It's turning into a big girl room!

a summer of growth

goodness! With Norah's 3rd birthday around the corner (what? what?), I decided to update the kids' stats. It's pretty easy to do, given that they love measuring things and weighing themselves - especially in pairs.

Isaac is now 44 1/4 inches tall and 41 pounds
Norah is 40.5 inches tall and 36 pounds (same weight as she has been, just taller)
Ruby is 36 inches tall and 30 pounds

no wonder they all outgrew clothes this summer! Especially with Isaac being all limbs these days.

see that?

that honeydew melon? Ya, that one. Guess where I found that today?

Yep, in the garden. Our garden. woo hoo!

there are also a lot of green, plump tomatoes out there. A LOT. About a dozen peppers that are supposed to be yellow or red, but are still green. Also, there was rather a shocking strawberry pick done today, we thought they were done for the year.

...also, we picked over 20 pounds of zucchini...no exaggerating. 20 pounds, and still more growing. Next year? Half the zucchini plants. Lesson learned!

"Bonjour, mes amis"

Dressed, and ready to head out. It was only a half day today, and parents were invited to stay. So I did. Our local chapter of Canadian Parents for French provided muffins for snack...which meant I was baking zucchini muffins last night.













Madame Kate and her class. Isaac is in M1, M2 attends the alternate days. Kindergarten is full day here - 8:55 to 3:30. It will probably be nice to have a smaller class of 12 or so each day.


Say hello to the first French Immersion class in this town ever! Aren't they cute?














Isaac during seat work time. Lots of new words to learn. Lots of new rules to follow. Lots of friends to make.

Well, his bag is packed...

and *he's* ready to go. Mom and Dad? Not so sure.

Kindergarten starts tomorrow. Full day kindergarten, every second day. French Immersion Kindergarten.

He's excited. He wants to know where "the garden" is. He can't wait to see his "new friends" and carry his new backpack to school.

We want to know where the last 5 years went.

why bother trying?

seriously. why do we attempt to book a trip for portraits at Sears when we are in the city?

Every time, someone gets a visible injury.

Today, Ruby. We were playing chase, and she fell. Right into the metal bedframe. Nice red mark that will probably turn into a bruise, right across her left eye area. lovely.

No pictures today.

On the other hand, we got all of our school shopping done. Isaac now has his indoor shoes, a brand new backpack, some random clothes he needed to round out the wardrobe, and a kindergarten sized thermos. Big days ahead.

the beach

We may not have done much swimming, but it was still a great hangout.













On a windy day












That Norah is brave...

but loves a good "wrapped and cozy" after a dip










































the big water fight with Nanny. I think Isaac lost.












Snuggling with Dad












Sandcastle building with Nanny












Of course, all princesses are wearing their tutus to the beach this season.

the climbing

They started off the week mildly...ya right! Check out Ruby's bold moves here, with her sister right on her heels. That climb was mastered in one day.










































Later in the week, they moved on to more vertical climbs. both girls had that one mastered quickly as well. Still didn't mean we were comfortable watching it!

A week at the lake!

What a week. It was lovely. It was relaxing. It was peaceful. It was cold. Well, mainly at night, but still, too cold for August. There wasn't enough swimming, but we just weren't that brave. A 15 minute dip here and there was plenty.

We started off the mornings with hot chocolate all around.






Out front of the cabin.










In the wooded campfire spot, with our successful fire, last night there. Isaac loved the lights strung about the trees. Not quite as much as riding his (training wheel-less) bicycle all week though.

the most exciting day EVER!

Guess what showed up at our OUR house yesterday? It was also the very thing that had these two children glued to the back window.




















You may notice that the lights are on.

We had to call 911 because of a bbq gas leak. They came, and the leak was fixed. We felt really stupid calling 911, but what else is there to do when the firehall's phone wasn't being answered?

Oh, and just to reassure us ALL. 911 had to call us back after 15 minutes. They couldn't remember our address. We will all sleep better knowing that tidbit of information.

GARDEN!

We are amazed. Our garden is actually growing and producing. The tomatoes are a bit (to say the least) unruly, but things are growing. Tasty things at that.


a little "harvest". Isaac loves the yellow cherry tomatoes. there is also a huge container of ripening tomatoes in the house.










look what we found today! apparently, ignoring the garden for a couple of days will cause zucchinis to grow at double time in protest. That is no trick photography, that is a massive zuke next to the boy.

a beautiful baptism shot

from baby I and baby J's baptism. that's baby I.

Camp photos

Our "chalk monster"












in the hole "her boys" dug





































on the top bunk. Yes, it really was that high up. Ruby is a daredevil.



Every night topped off with a Saskatchewan sunset

a quartet of cousins

cute kids, and the flowers aren't bad either!

Mid-summer posting

It's been a long stretch since we've updated. We've been enjoying summer, and haven't had much time to keep up here. Lots has been going on, it's a great summer.

We're always just a phone call away if you are wanting more info on what's new and exciting here! Feel free to leave a comment too - it's nice to know if people are "out there in blogger land"

Let's try to sum up things so far...
(we're also short some pics that are on the laptop, which has a recently departed power cord)

-Canada Day. Sick dad, but fun picnic at the lake, followed by a parade. Glad we brought a change of clothes, very wet kids swimming in lake.

-Dad's birthday party. We had a lovely "Mexican Fiesta" party to celebrate Rob's birthday. I think the final head count was 17 adults and 16 kids...wait, not sure if that included us5 or not. Build your own burrito bar, strawberry slushies, Melissa's fantastic avacado/mango salsa, a pinata and lots of laughs. To be true to a party we throw, the weather turned too windy to eat outside, so we moved indoors. Tight, but fun, squeeze. As Isaac was the oldest child there, we went with a pinata that used pull strings, as opposed to the wild, stick waving style. Much safer!

-double baptism at church of two little girls who are in our circle of friends. What a beautiful day it was, even though it was stinking hot and we were on the way out to camp.

-Week at camp. Kids had adoring fans all around, lots of fun, swimming, playing, singing. Even got to try out bunkbeds - which went over very, very well.

-visit from cousin Katie, and her parents too. ;) They are all asking when Katie is coming back to play. They all got to experience life here at it's hottest.

-VBS - Dad ran one at our smaller church, and Isaac tagged along. Then Mom helped run one in town, and Isaac and Norah participated. That was lots of fun, and we still have the songs stuck in our heads. The songs have led to some great mini-chats about God looking at our hearts, and how important it is to be strong and brave because God is with us.

-Next, we're off to the lake for some rest and relaxation. woo hoo!

now to post some pictures...anything to get out of packing...