Almost Done

The school year is quickly coming to a close, and the last couple weeks have been a blur of activity. I was up late last night finishing a sewing project for one of Todd's teachers (I'll post another day) and I delivered the gift this morning.

One week ago, there was a special field trip for the grade 1s... they only had to go out to the field and parking lot. A mobile petting zoo came to visit, and the kids got to pet bunnies and ducklings, as well as some other animals. Here's Todd with a turkey, which was just on show!!

All the kids in grade one (60 in all) got to have a pony ride, as well. The farm ladies brought both a pony and a small horse. Todd got to ride the horse and was pleased as punch! I got some good shots of the day, and am looking forward to scrapbooking these pictures!


Tomorrow is the last school day, and I will be playing the piano at the closing assembly. The it's on to summer fun! I just hope the sun will show up soon. Today we've had about 2 minutes of sun, and then a bunch of wind and rain. Oh well, I bet it makes it easier for the kids to pay attention during the last week of school if the weather is not perfect!

Happy Birthday!

My little Todd turned seven yesterday. What a joy he is. Kind to his friends, and such a sweety (most of the time :) For the next two weeks, we have two 7-year-olds in the house! I'll get a picture of the boys together at some point while they are the same age. And in between their 2 birthdays we will have a joint party for them. (Pictures will come after that, too!)

Yesterday, he got to open a gift (a hotwheels bike, which he loved!!) and we had a DQ ice cream cake as a family. Today, Todd took Wagon Wheels as a treat for his friends at school and then got to go on a date with daddy after school and spend $2 that he got in one of his birthday cards.

Happy Birthday, Todd!
You are very loved.

Apple Barn

Last week, I got to accompany Todd's class on their field trip to the Apple Barn. It was a great afternoon of tasting apples and apple cider, tractor riding, pumpkin choosing, listening, playing and learning. The kids had a great time, and I am so glad I went along.


Tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch... the kids were allowed to choose one pumpkin each, but the rule was they had to be able to carry it themselves :)


Loved all the different colours and textures...

The apple sorter from the '50s... still works great!


Todd and his buddy heading out to get their pumpkins... can't you just hear them sayin, "You been farmin' long?!"

Annual Pictures

Every year, I try to get a picture (or several!) of my dad (Papa) and Todd. They are so much alike... right down to their ears and favourite kind of cheese. Recently, Todd got glasses, and so the newest photo of the 2 Musketeers together is of them both wearing their spectacles!

A New Look!

Todd's sporting a new style... It is taking me a little bit to get used to him toothless. So cute, eh?!

Arrrr... Shiver Me Timbers!

Last night, Todd's school put on a play called "Pirates!" It was awesome. I say "Todd's School" because even though Scott goes to the same school, his grade was not involved. The school does a play every year, but the participates alternate between grades k, 4 & 5 one year for a Spring Musical, then grades 1,2,3 the following year for a Christmas musical. Next year, the boys will both be in the musical together.

The stage curtain was the Jolly Roger before the show started.


The kindergarten kids were the Queen's parrots, and they were very darling! I helped make the parrot hats. The eyes are even made with my SU! circle punches!! All 120 of them :)

I love all the colour on the stage!


The kindergarten kids stole the show... no question! Here they are doing the bird dance. It made for a LOT of colour flashing around on the stage. The Queen in the play had quite an air about her and she said, "Start the music, it relaxes me... dance parrots, dance!" Then they got up and did this. It was totally adorable! Of course, it helped that one of the little parrots on stage was my own little boy :) He did so well... I think he quite enjoyed his time on the stage - perhaps there's a little of me in him!!

Todd is in the green :)

2 New Pages

Last night, I stayed up far too late working on a couple scrapbook pages. It's not that they were so hard that they took a long time, it's just that I started them around 11pm :) While I scrapped, I watched "Sister Act." Love that movie. Might have to do a couple more pages tonight so I can watch "Sister Act 2" - both of them are great, and the music in there is what I would love to hear in church all the time!

The first pages I did were for Todd's book. I've had these black and white pictures kicking around (ok, they were filed, but they are already a few years old!) for almost 3 years. They were taken back in July 2007 when Todd was only 3 years old. After I finished these pages, I pulled up some videos of him at that age and my heart just melted - he has always been such a tenderheart!

I used the Accents and Elements: Flower Fusion, as well as the Pretties Kit on this page.

Then I came across this scrappin' kit in my stash, and thought it would be great to use on Elise's swimming lesson pictures from last Summer. The kit is called "Sunny Day." See full kit HERE.

The little birdie's eye is made with a Circle Ice Rhinestone.

Happy Birthday Boys!

My boys each celebrated a birthday over Spring Break, Todd turned 6 and Scott turned 7 two weeks later. Last night we had a joint party for them. Todd had a hockey theme and Scott went with Wall*E.

This was the scene before the guests arrived... Scott waiting patiently and looking out the front window for his school friends to come!

- 2 Birthday Boys
- 2 cakes
- 2 tables
- 2 sets of friends
- But only ONE party and one shared movie!

The boys each had 4 friends over, and Todd technically had 5 friends because he let Elise join his table - what a guy! I sure noticed a big difference in the kids from Kindergarten to Grade one... wow! Way more energy in Gr. 1, plus they are so much more familiar with each other that they seem to know what the other ones are thinking. It was great to watch my kids interact with their friends.

Here are a few pictures...

The Wall-E cake started like this, with just a black outline - I was tempted to leave it like this for an abstract kind of look. But, I didn't!


All coloured in with icing. This was fun to do, but the next cake was definitely easier!

Todd wanted a hockey cake, and this one was decorated in just a few minutes.


Todd loved it.


Now that the party is over, these posters are going on the wall in Todd's room.

Scott surrounded by Wall-E things on the other side of the dining room.

First Day of School!

We made it through the first day of school madness! Todd started Kindergarten and Scott is in grade one... they both had a great day. Elise was a bit sad that she got left behind this morning, but hey, her turn will come all too soon!

One of only 3 photos I got of Scott today... and none of them very willingly! I found out that when you're in grade 1, you are much too big and cool to pose for your mommy's photos!!!

Scott has to get another year out of his backpack, but Todd got a new one...

Todd loved exploring the playground!


Then, while we waited for Scott to be done school, Todd and I went on a "first-day-of-school-date." Todd chose apples and caramel as his snack. And I had a vanilla iced coffee.

He was totally tickled that he had the whole playplace to himself! At one point, from the top of the structure, he said, "oh, mom, someone put some words up here... but it wasn't me, I don't have a pen with me!" So, I was quite glad at that moment that he can't read just yet... I didn't climb up to investigate what the words were... but I can only imagine!

A Princess and her pony!

*** Before I get to the pony story, here's an addition to the camping post: 17 is a big number... especially when it is the number of mosquito bites on a little girl's face... poor kid! She hasn't even complained about them, though... what a trooper!


And now... onto the fairy tale!!!

Elise has finally warmed up to the idea of wearing her princess dress... just a few days late for her princess party, but it was still pretty cute. She really wanted to open the dress up shoes and jewelry from one of the gifts she got, and when she put it on I was then able to convince her to put on the dress. Todd jumped right in and said, "now you just need a crown and a pony!" He plopped her crown on her head and then got down on all fours to offer his services to her majesty!