Sept. 6th

It's Sept. 10th today, but Sept. 6 was a very special day in our house. It was Steve's birthday, and although I wished him a HB on Facebook, I didn't do it on here. Too many social outlets to remember to post on, I think!! At least I remembered to say it to him face-to-face!!

We had a good day that day, even though it was overshadowed by the first day of school. That was always a bit of a drag for Steve growing up... having his birthday in the first week back to school, and often (like this year) on the actual day that school starts.

But, we had fun. It was just a half day, so we took the kids to Boston Pizza to celebrate school, and to celebrate Steve.

Then, later, we took the kids to Steve's parents' place and we joined up with another couple for some delicious Mexican food.

Here are a few memories from our day.

All ready to go for the first day. How can I possibly have 3 kids in school already? That went by so fast!


Elise listening to her first story in Kindergarten. She was so excited to be there!


Lunch at BP's, I love father-daughter pictures!


Olé!! Dinner with friends at Del Pollo Restaurant.


The food was delicious... we love Mexican food!



Happy Birthday, Steve. Glad I got to spend the day with you :)

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!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today was a Zoo Day for the grade ones. I had the privilege of leading a group, and they kept me on my toes. We saw all the animals, took a train ride, visited the reptiles, and even spent some time on the playground. The sun came out to play a couple times, but mostly, it was an overcast day. I am good with anything but rain when we're at the Zoo.

Here are a few pics. I took lots of pictures of animals, but most of the other photos had more than just Todd in them, so I can't post them here. They will make it into Todd's scrapbook, though! Here's one of Todd on the train - all the kids sure loved that ride!


A little bird came begging for food, but the kids weren't willing to share!!

I love the expression this hippo gave me from across the water!


Bald Eagles are one of my favourites. In flight, or at rest, I love this bird.


Time for the lion feeding. What powerful creatures.

And, finally, a majestic peacock. I love all the colours God used to create this bird. Truly amazing. I just snapped this quickly before a kid (not mine!!) chased it away. I didn't get to see the tail feathers proudly displayed today, but I love it when peacocks get all puffed up and show off!

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?!"

Scott's Art

I don't have any of my own artwork to share today, so I thought I would show you a few of my favourite pieces of Scott's artwork from grade one. Since grade 2 starts for him in exactly a week, it seemed like a good time to show it :)

Corduroy the Bear

Thumbprint art

An Inukshuk that he made during Olympic fever!

First and last day self portraits!

First Day

Here's another easy breezy card... I used the set "First Day." If you like it, or others from the Summer Mini Catalogue, then act fast... the sets and accessories that didn't carry over to the big catalogue are gone for good as of August 31st.

SHOP NOW... Open 24/7

Sports Day

You know the end of the year is fast approaching when there are field trips (last week, both boys had a field trip) no more library books brought home (they still have library time but aren't allowed to sign any new books out) and Sports Day! There are only 7 days of school left. And for Todd, one of those is being spent on a field trip.

Today it was Sports Day. I always loved having my mom around the school when I was in Elementary School, so I thought the boys would like having mom and dad there for their Sports Day, too. With both of us at the school, it meant Elise got to come along. She was thrilled!

This was Todd's favourite moment... playing hockey!


This relay is called the Caterpillar, and it is so funny to watch. So glad for a sunny day, because in the rain this would make for one messy activity!!

Elise hamming it up for the camera!

THIS was Elise's highlight of the day... when "Hawkey" from the Abbotsford Heat got down and hugged her. It was so fun that the Heat mascot and another representative came to our Sports Day.

This was my favourite "Kodak moment" of the day - Scott and his friend in a bunny hop relay, and I happened to catch them both in the air at the same time!

Here, Scott is trying to unwrap a candy while wearing oven mitts! Not as easy as it sounds :)

Science World through my lens

Here are a few pics that I took at Science World, yesterday. It was such a fun day, and the workshop on roller coasters that the kids got to participate in was also very well done. The instructor, Andy, was funny and related well to the kids. The kids loved him!

Here's Scott on a giant hamster wheel... it was a lot of work to power this thing, but he got the metre up to "clock radio" power!


Boys love water and building dams.

In the Pirates/Treasure exhibit, they were promoting geo-caching. One of these days we'll get a GPS and take our kids geocaching... it sounds like so much fun!

Pirate canon shooting game... another thing boys love!


Scott practicing his piano recital song on the larger-than-life keyboard!



This is the Science World favourite. They should make a whole wall of these things! This is something the boys (I was in charge of Scott and his friend) kept going back to throughout the day.


Homeward bound... some kids fell asleep on the bus ride back!