this week

all week I have had blog posts going around my head, but getting to the computer, and uploading pictures was just too hard.
(those incredibly lazy days of summer are in full force around here)
but I finally did it, and here is a summary of this week for you!

our house is undergoing a bit of a facelift on the outside.
it looks much better than this now,
but that is another post for another day!




this guy had a birthday.
the big 1-2.
he requested skor trifle for his cake,
so that is what he got.
yum.
and we all went bowling.
except ben, because....




early monday morning Ben headed down to Calgary for EFY.
I can't wait to pick him up and see how it all went,
although I am sure he won't tell me too much,
being a teenage boy and all.
but I am excited that he had the opportunity to go,
and I hope he is having a great time!

found

well, the laptop has been found-
(right where I put it, of course)
but time to blog is hard to find.
because I am busy doing summer stuff-
killing ants
(we have an infestation in our kitchen. disgusting)
deep cleaning my kitchen to try to get rid of those nasty ants,
and sometimes just doing nothing.
so I will share a picture of us in Salt lake city.
this was just after we had lunch at the lion house.
so delish.
if you happen to be in SLC around lunch or supper,
my whole family would recommend heading there.
don't go to the golden corrall. not so delish.
just our opinion though!

snippits

the search for the lap top will be in earnest today- maybe even a reward offered.

do things always turn up in your house when a reward is offered?

that is when kids start to really look and things are usually found.

anyways,

some pictures that were took with an itouch-

it was getting dark, but Maggie (and Jack) got to ride Cory's uncle Jack's horse Maggie.

so fun!

we saw the beautiful

Salt Lake City temple.

first time my kids have been to Utah-

and the first time Cory and I had been there together!

riding the carosel at Lagoon- I told my kids that every time I drove past there as a kid- on our family trips past or to utah, I always wanted to stop there but we never did- and here they are on their first time to utah, and at lagoon. they said they never even had the opportunity to want to go- they just got to. lucky ducks.

(and the real reason we got to go to lagoon is because we crashed Uncle Jack's family reunion- and we didn't even see all the cousins there. it was crazy busy, and crazy hot.)

there is a taste of our holiday.

hopefully more to come soon when the laptop is found.

home again

we were off on a fun family vacation-

we headed to Utah, to extreme heat,

and lots of fun.

lots of driving,

and lots of shopping.

everyones favorites included DI and Target.

we hit sonic happy hour a couple of times.

(so good!)

saw old faithful blow twice.

drove and drove.

and now I can't find my laptop to download my pictures on.

but hopefully it will turn up soon, and I can share!

so check back. if you want to see what we were up to!

okay, I learned more...

I learned that big families= big fun.



those marshmallows are so big.
yikes.





and why didn't I bring a beautiful white dress for fantastic pictures in the pretty yellow wild flowers? possibly because we don't have one-
but wouldn't that have been great?
maybe next time!

what I learned at family reunion

say no to crack!

hee hee!

a relationship

I have a love/hate relationship

with peonies.

I love them for the 1 week they are beautifully blooming,

and I hate them the rest of the year.

I loved them last week.

now,

I do love that the girls have cleaned up all the petals that were dropped when it rained and rained.

it might be time to dig them out.

maybe.

you know it's summer when...

your kids make sure the watermelon has a safe ride home from the grocery store.

rainy days and wednesdays always get me down

last week we had sunburns.

this week they are fading away.

our internet wasn't working for a few days.

and that was hard. let me tell you.

but it is back.

and hopefully the sun will come back soon.

I miss it.

but I don't miss the sunburns.

must remember to apply more sunscreen more often.

the boys are back.

they had a good time.

if you call having porta parties in the porta potties a good time.

and I think they did.

sheesh.

boys.

this week

the boys were at scout camp,
so it was just me and these two silly girls all week long.
we had some fun-

watched Monte Carlo,
ate pizza,
too many late nights,

but man, today we headed out to 2 places and I was just telling them to shh, and stop touching each other, and just be quiet for a bit.
yikes. is it really only the first week of summer vacation?

heaven help me!

it was a...

happy Canada day!

a parade,

(the picture is Jack hugging a mascot guy that was in the parade)

a bbq,

our own private bouncy house,

more bbq,

boys sleepover at uncle matt's

the beach,

fantastic fireworks.

what a great day,

and a great country to live in!

it's been a while

it was a crazy week-
Kindergarten graduation on Friday
handbell concert on Monday (picture above)
celebration of learning Tuesday morning-
this is where every kid in the elementary school gets a certificate for something-
not the most exciting thing ever.
Maggie kept asking when we get to go to the festival of fun.
unfortunately it was not a festival of fun. but a celebration of learning. very little fun involved.
Tuesday afternoon was the grade 6 grad.
wednesday was the last day of school- and awards ceremony at the Junior high school.
today no school. what a glorious day!

the floor

A little while ago I posted a picture of me stencilling a floor-

this is a bit of the floor finished-

(since I have had a couple of requests to see it lately)

it is just a small snippit of the floor-

just beyound what the picture shows is a mess on all sides.

there is a few more things I want to do in the girl's room-

I need to hang pictures back up on their wall,

get those girls to tidy up (an on-going struggle)

then maybe I can show the big picture!

last days

well, Ben is done classes, he only has one more exam on Thursday. then on to grade 11 for him.

Jack had his last day of classes today, has a few exams, and the awards ceremony is on Wednesday. then grade 9.

Maggie has a big day on Friday- kindergarten graduation.

- I was shopping with Ben yesterday and found the cutest dress, so I bought it for Maggie with the excuse that it could be her grad dress. yikes.

then next year all day - grade one for her!

Sadie and Jed have one more week. Wednesday is the last day- but really, I think these are just fun days. track and field tomorrow afternoon, Sadie is heading on an all day field trip on Thursday- just killing time until it is all over.

then onto junior high for Jed, and Sadie moves up into grade 5.

I am feeling sad about it all. (summer holidays, that is.)

my afternoons alone will be a thing of the past

- but we will definitely be sleeping in,

- we do have a great vacation planned,

- but I am seriously looking forward to the fall when all my kids will be in school all day.

it will be a long summer for me!

up on the roof top

so , the shingleing is still going on-

well, actually, I think that part of it is done now,

but man, this last weekend was a bit of a fiasco.

it took more time, and work than was anticipated since there was rotting wood on all the edges of the roof.

and one night there were no shingles on half the roof, and of course it rained that night.

and of course it dripped in the house.

so now there are a few more repairs to be done.

good times.

some day it will be done, and look fantastic.

some day.

if only...

Jack and I headed to Walmart the other day.

he had a coupon he wanted to use

(for some old spice body wash, but that doesn't really matter- just in case you were curious)

and I needed some tomato fertilizer stuff

(so my tomatoes can grow big and delicious- but you probably knew that)

so, we went to pay in the garden center, and the worker guy there might have been sort of new,

(I don't know that for sure, but that was my impression)

and when he rang through our stuff, and the coupon- this is what happened-

apparently walmart owed us $660,069.69.

then the cashier guy quickly called for help.

I told him it was okay if he couldn't get it fixed.

that would get us a lot of groceries.

and I told Jack we could get him the x box he has been wanting for a long time.

but unfortunately help came,

and we ended up owing them a few dollars - so we paid and left.

but it was fun imagining what we would do with that money for a little while.

extreme couponing at it's finest! haha.

what goes around comes around

so, back in the day

-the good old days,

my parents had friends

(okay, they had a bunch of friends, but this story is about a specific family)

- the father in this family worked out in the city that my family now lives in,

and the place where he worked offered big gardening plots to workers,

so we would come out with them and plant and weed and harvest.

I don't remember liking having to go out there,

but I do remember going to a nearby pond with the other kids and finding snails.

anyways-

where is this heading?

our city just this year started a community garden.

and we got a little plot,

the girls and I went over this week and planted some stuff.

and nearly got eaten alive by mosquitoes while doing it.

I need to go back and pick some more weeds,

but must make sure all skin is covered.

and we haven't yet discovered any pond with snails,

but I do believe back in those trees is a little creek.

some exploring might be in order.

activity days

a couple of weeks ago the activity day girls group headed out to the trails.
it was a nice evening, a nice walk, and they are nice girls.
then we went off the trails, into a field- to try to take some pictures,
and wowsers- were there ever tons of mosquitoes there.
they are so bad around here this year.
it seemed like all the millions of mosquitos all hatched at once-
there were none, then wham-o. bazillions of them.
the worst thing about them
(to me, anyways)
is when you are in bed, lights out, and you hear one buzzing around your head.
I hate that!
maybe all the snow in winter isn't so bad.
at least there are no mosquitoes!

today

we got these delivered today.

guess what will be going on here this weekend-

and probably the next.

and maybe even the next weekend after that.

but our roof will look good!

- because we need more projects to start,

because the two big ones we started last weekend aren't done yet, but who wants to finish one before the next one is started?

not us!

working hard

on a big project! it looks good so far,
but there is still much work to be done.


hopefully I can show you the finished product soon!

spring has sprung!

the tree in our front yard is only pretty for about a week- when it blossoms,

and now is the time!

it is so lovely!

last weekend

I married into an amazing family.
once a year, all the in-laws (and sisters) try to get together
- have a bit of a get-away.

we just had one last weekend.
all the girls, but one, got to hang out.
in the past we have done it at the parents house,
but this year, it was planned around a race that 4 of the girls were running,
so we stayed in a big hotel/condo place.
so fun!

we had a favorite thing night-
everyone was to bring 9 of their favorite things ($3 max)
so everyone got to go home with everyone's favorites!
so fun-
here is what was there-

-not pictured is a fantastic 10 minute massage. loved it!

2 babies got to come along- they were such great little travellers! so adorable.


it was such a nice get away
I am already looking forward to the next one!

me

I had seen a tutorial for bubble gum necklaces on line a while ago.

I thought they were adorable.

so, for Activity days, I had the girls make one for their mom's for mother's day,

then there was enough gum left over that they could make one for themselves.

so fun- neat to see the different color combinations- all so beautiful!

(the one I am wearing I made for myself- Sadie did make me one, but the kids ate it up right after church)-

it was fun to see so many moms of the girls wearing their necklaces!

- just like one year the cubs made duct tape ties for their dads-

so fun to see a few ties at church!

I didn't do any dishes on sunday- so that means it was a good day!

(and I had a big breakfast, and lots of fun gifts from the kids.)

but now that mother's day is over, it's back to doing the dishes, and cereal for breakfast.

it was nice while it lasted!

in love

I got to go and help in Maggie's kindergarten class this afternoon.

the snack was an m&m cookie - the kind from costco-

so, there I was sitting at the table with Maggie and the kids while they were eating them up,

and a little boy sitting across from me said

- these are so good.

I am in love with them.

haha

I love it!

so funny.

( I tend to say that I am in love with something when I really like it- so I could totally relate.)

so green

I looked out my kitchen window into the back yard,
and saw this green fertilizer spreader contraption that was taken apart,
and thought of Jacks green hoody,
and thought the two needed to be in a photo together.
so green.
indeed.

stewardess

last weekend was the year end show for Sadie's showbiz kids group.-
it was a trip around the world-
Sadie the stewardess got to hand out treats at intermission time-


so fun.
it was well done, and very entertaining.
I am so glad Sadie got to participate in this group this year-
I think her confidence in herself has definitely increased,
and that has been such a great thing for her!

(and you can see her new short hair-do!)

our weekend

it was a happy easter!
that easter bunny hid the kids baskets- they were not too hard to find,
then Cory and Ben hid the plastic eggs-
I always think after they are hid that I should have counted so we could know if they were all found.
I did find one this morning- hidden behind the computer.


we ate dinner at my sister in laws house- and the ham we ate was so delicious.
it is haunting me.
I am heading to Costco later today to see if they still have them,
so I can eat ham forever. so yummy. I want some right now!

on Monday my sister and Sadie got their hair cut.
they cut off 8 inches each- to donate for wigs for cancer.
this is the second time they have done it!
I am so proud of them both!
so- when we knew it was happening soon, I curled up Sadie's long hair, and took her out for some pictures.


now it is so short and cute- my after pictures were blurry, so I will have to take some more soon.
but man, there was no whining that it hurt as I brushed her hair today!
it looks adorable.

and- on Saturday Maggie lost her first tooth!
then I lost her tooth. I put it on the counter- and it was not seen again-
the tiny little thing.

today when maggie and I came home I saw a Cute little bunny in our front garden.
it ran and hid under our bay window, then later it was in a little bush in the front-
I put a laundry basket on it and called the bylaw people- they should be coming by to get it soon.
I contemplated keeping it as a pet, but when it started making weird noises at Maggie and I,
I decided I wasn't ready for the comittment.
and I don't think Cory would be too happy about a new little member of the household.
- the animal control guy just came and he said it was a wild bunny-
he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he said he would find a good place for it.
poor little guy!

yay!

this morning she was saying she would not ride a two wheeler until she was 7-
and this afternoon this is what she was doing-



yay! I knew she could do it! (Cory took off the training wheels without her knowing-
she would have never let him do it!)

sometimes

sometimes Maggie will come grocery shopping with me.
somtimes she tells me to go in the afternoon when she is in school
sometimes I like having her with me,
and sometimes it is very nice that I get to do it all by myself!


(and she had to bring the creepy doll that Cory gave her that he got a a white elephant gift exchange. nice)
sometimes these toys dissappear into the give away box when the kids aren't around.

today-

I thought we were done with all this.

really?! really.

curses

yesterday I got a call from the school speech pathologist.

Sadie had been in to see her, and she thought Sadie was doing very well,

and could stop coming to see her.

(I find it interesting that Cory and I never had speech issues,

but all of our kids have done speech before school, and during at least half of their elementary careers.) anyways,

Sadie knew she had called and was asking me if she had said she could stop going.

(this conversation all happened while I was lying in Maggie's bed, after the girls were in bed,

far too late into the night)

I said that yes, she was done speech.

she then said that she kind of liked it because they got to play games and she got stickers.

so I asked Maggie if she liked it, and she said no. she had to say hard words.

then Sadie piped in with-

when I was little I said sh instead of s- so I should have never said sit.

what!?!

oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

this out of sweet little Sadie's mouth.

it still makes me chuckle.

then when I was telling Cory what I was laughing so hard about I was thinking-

I don't remember that ever being a problem,

but I do remember for all my kids the tr sound was hard, and they would say f instead.

making trucks a very bad word.

now, go listen to a catchy song, and don't think too hard about those bad words.

get them out of your mind.

this is the song that never ends- it just goes on and on my friends...

fun

I got to test a pattern out for Amanda from Pardon My Chaos-

I think it turned out pretty well!

Sadie requested green when I asked her what color hat she wanted.

I think she sort of likes it.

she even wore it to school.

it is fun to try new things!

Friday night

Cory and I headed out without kids.

sort of a date, I guess.

we went where we used to go on dates-

silly, but we like it-

to Value Village

(it's a big thrift store)

we always head to the books.

even though the adult ones are way over priced for a thrift store,

we managed to find a bunch to buy- and my favorite was this one:

the Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery.

I remembered that someone in my book club said it was their go to book-

when you have nothing to read, and want to read something good.

and yes, it was good.

highly recommended by me.

(don't let the cheesy cover fool you. good stuff inside!)

this weekend

if you want to find me this weekend,

it should not be hard.

I will be hunkered down in the basement, bundled in a blanket,

probably knitting,

while listening to this amazing man

(president Monson)

and many others,

from our church talk to us and teach us.

I love that we can watch from our homes-

I love that we have cable (for now- probably once March madness, and conference are over we will go back to being cable- less.)

and I am thinking it will be a great 2 days!

it's spring break-

all the kids all the time things are a little crazy around here!

I had an idea

and this was sort of it.

a photoshoot with Maggie, and a blanket and the snow.

where we went to take the pictures was at a field across a sort of country road, just a tiny bit out of town. I love the location of that house- and the field- love.

I was telling Maggie we should build a house in the field, and she agreed,

and said that we could take pictures every day.

love that girl!

it's good to try new things

last night a friend of mine called me up, and wanted to go see the movie red riding hood.

now, I had seen a preview, and it wasn't really a movie on my must see list,

but I went along anyways,

and wowsers.

I really, really liked it.

it was so suspenceful,

it had romance,

I laughed,

I cried,

who could it be- who was the wolf?

it was...

kidding.

I won't tell.

go see the movie, and find out!

today-

lucky charms?
check.
green milk?
check.
chocolate coins found under the pillows?
check. have a great day- and don't get pinched!

the big 6

wow. I can hardly believe my baby is 6 now.
she is such a fun kid.
here are 6 great things about her-

1. she still grabs her blanky and likes to cuddle with me on the couch when she wakes up in the morning.

2. she has her older siblings wrapped around her finger. they do almost everything at her bidding.

3. she loves to watch movies and eat popcorn. loves it.

4. many mornings when I go to wake the girls up I find her snuggled in Sadie's bed, where she has moved sometime in the night.

5. she loves going to school, playing with friends and learning new things.

6. she is so stinking cute.

big party to come on Saturday. good times. she can hardly wait!

the c monster

so- here it is. not even close to the cuteness of the one I boogled,
but hey- let's not judge. we're all friends here! and yes, he is eating a digestive cookie-
because that is what I had in my house.
and his eyes are just icing blobs with chocolate chips,
and yes, it was delicious.
and isn't that what really matters?
we will see what the kids in the kindergarten class thought of it when Maggie gets home.
hopefully no one will say- I don't care for this.
that would be a tragedy.

jump on the band wagon

so this morning Jack's junior high band played in the music festival.
they needed someone to take all the large instruments to the festival.
Jack vollunteered me.
so we went to the school and were packing in the instruments,
and one of the kids said-
put it in the band wagon.

pretty funny kids.

(maggie and the instruments in the band wagon)

they did pretty well.

the van- well, it made it.

everytime I had to stop and get going again something in the back would creak.

I was just glad it wasn't the door and that it didn't fly open and instruments didn't fall all over the road.

that would have been bad.

boogle it

so, it's Maggie's birthday on Sunday.

she gets to take treats to kindergarten on Friday for her birthday.

I asked her what she wanted to take,

and she said cookie monster cupcakes.

I told her I wasn't sure how to make those,

I would have to look it up on the computer

and she said- you can boogle it!

(love it!)

so I did- and found this-

adorable.

now, to see what I can come up with.

I don't think it will look this good.

sadly,

but I shall try!

troy and gabriella

after a day of the girls and a friend playing barbies in the toy room,

I went down to run on the treadmill- to find this-

our troy and gabriella barbies hanging out- a bit close,

by the edge of the toy shelf.

I thought it was so funny.

I wonder if it was my girls who put them like this-

or if it was the friend.

the latest

I am reading this book-it was recommended to me by my friend who is a librarian at our high school.

it is really good.

I think it is a book that Kami and Kayli would enjoy.

just saying.

watching-
on season 4. sometimes inappropriate. most times funny.

Cory came home early yesterday afternoon and I was watching it, and he came down, stood for a moment then walked away saying 'I can't even listen to this show.' hmm.

but he doesn't like a lot of tv shows, so we won't go by his word.

not sure I would recommend it to anyone, but now I this far in, I need to find out how he did meet their mother.

knitting- I bought the yarn for this project last year. I finally got a pattern for it a couple of months ago- I am starting them today! they are called thrummed mittens- you knit them up and every once in a while you add in some wool tufts, so the inside is super warm and fuzzy.- like this-
mine will be about that color for the outside, but my fuzzies are white and pink and blue. they will be so fun.

- because I have been wearing the mittens ben sewed in his sewing class last year out of polar fleece. and while they are warm and stylish, I think it is time for some new ones.

and the way the weather has been, I think I can finish them and still wear them for a few months.

nice.