A change of seasons

Well, looks as if fall IS really here now....although this past September really was the weather we should have had in August!! Ethan finally wore long pants today after realizing that it was a little cold for shorts yesterday but of course I'm just Mom, what do I know?! We had our annual Meet the Teacher BBQ last night, I brought my camera but did not take any pictures :( I was quite busy helping out then sitting down with Virg to quickly eat a hamburger and then run off to meet both teachers. Victoria's teacher is new to the school and seems like a wonderful, motivated and organized teacher. When we were in her classroom we discovered that Victoria had won an award that morning for Character Counts for the Respect pillar...WOW!! Ethan is in grade 8 and he was really off on his own most of the night hangin out with friends (quite a few of whom were girls :) His teacher, Mr St Louis who we were told already was great does indeed seem to be another gifted teacher. We are very blessed with a school who does have some super teachers and a great sense of community.

We`re continuing to keep the Fryer family in our prayers.....Malik is a very special fella who has a brain tumor. Seems like God is calling him home sooner than we thought...love Amanda and her family and pray for them all the time.

Poor deglected blog...

Funny how the summer just fly by although the weather we've been having this week is a lot more hot and humid than the whole summer it seems!! Started watching Lily on thursdays and have had 2 weeks with her. Of course you know I'll be taking a ton of fun photos...here's one from last week..

Looking forward to a night out tonight at wine fest in Amherstburg and thne hockey starts this weekend for Ethan. I'm really thinking about visiting the farmers Market on Saturday...something I've always wanted to do and really want to do some creating as well. I have some new pics developed and itching to do something with them.

Off to pick up Victoria...Ethan rode his bike today with his friends and don't want to have Victoria walking by herself.

Summer laziness...

Well, can't believe that July is already half over!! The weather has been quite nice except today it did get quite muggy in the afternoon and around 4:30 I went over and kicked the air conditioning on again.

Been kind of in a funk the last few days....not much energy to do much. We had the Dragon Boat races on Sunday and even though I was only in the first race, the day being out in the hot made me quite tired and drained the next day.

Victoria has been busy this week visiting and swimming with her friend, Cynthia yesterday and then she spent the day over at Camilles. Ethan (poor fella LOL) has been here at home with me mostly. I picked up a badminton set at Canadian Tire and we've had a few matches between the two of us. Harry Potter's new movie is out tonight and Ethan and Auntie Leigh are having a "movie Date" together!!! Victoria wants to just chill out here in the house tonight and if Virg makes it home after his meeting and before going out to play cards, we may make an ice cream run. I was hoping to post a few pictures, although not recent...I must take more pictures!!!...the battery is being charged at the moment.

I did spend a little time in my room upstairs and completed one layout after seeking inspiration on the Studio Calico website. I did a layout using pictures of Spring from around the cottage. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress made there this weekend and Virg informs me we'll be doing some painting while we're there.

Get to see this little muchkin and her Mommy again tomorrow night for dinner. She's such a dear and am looking forward to my Wednesdays with Lily beginning in September!

It's a beautiful but HOT day in the neighbourhood!

Although I really should be doing some tidying up around the house just wanted to post some pictures before doing the other "fun" stuff LOL Went out this morning to get some needed lawn chairs for the big fireworks show tonight down at the river and some snacks as per Victoria's written request: gummy bears, chips, Fruitopia yes, I will also be bringing some mixed nuts, green grapes water for healthier choices too. Another item on our fireworks night supply list is glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces so got those at Dollarama as well. So of course before going to the grocery store I stopped off to look....and picked up these goodies:

As I'm checking out I see this interesting wood box on the shelf and score!! It's filled with all stamps from I'm assuming an old general store perhaps? It does smell a bit like old tobacco so I have it airing outside but I LOVE it!!!!!!!

I also have to share some pictures from a recent visit with Lily and Tamara last Friday. We sat in the backyard and had lots of smiles and playing of peek a boo from her....just Loving her curls at the back of her head. Ethan had the same thing until his first haircut.

Not sure how to organize my pics to load and display a little nicer...sorry!!

Summer is coming!!

So one day this past week after school the kids are I were talking about summer vacation and some of the things we wanted to do. We decided to make up some lists. Their lists were actually daily chores they wanted to accomplish as we talked about having quiet mornings and then by 10am making sure beds were made and then before heading off with friends and stuff we'd get our daily tasks/chores done first. I was making up the fun list of stuff to do LOL On Studio Calico this morning I received an email with a cute idea of making up a summer list....I used some scraps from my pile and made this piece up for us. Thinking I'll use it on a page with photos from our summer in a mini in September!!

Virg is out making a floating dock for us to bring out to the cottage tomorrow. He just called and is very excited! His friend, Colin made up the design and they're at his place working on it. It's 8 x 10 and says "it's like a floating party platform!" Can't wait to see it :)

June is flying by!!!!

Last Friday I cut some peonies from the front bed and placed 3 sets around the house. Gorgeous blooms and so many due to the rain we've had the last few weeks. On Tuesday I brought a friend out to the cottage to show her the "before" of the kitchen as we wait for the real work to begin (hoping this means tomorrow!!) After that we went to L&K Antique place and I picked up a few things :) including these cute pastel name place holders. I put them around the vase on the diningroom table and like the look.

As Virg and I looked over the calendar for the month we seem to have a lot of weekends booked but that's fine....just looking forward to summer...relaxing by the lake, late evenings, no more school lunches to make, having my kids around, nothing on the agenda days....

Look what happens in a year.......

Look at these two cuties!! Look at how they've grown...these pics are almost exactly one year apart (minus a week or two).

Ways in which they've changed...

Victoria..she's gained confidence and ability in gymnastics, grown a size in clothing and a size larger in shoes, lost 4 teeth, enjoyed trips to Portugal and Southern States, stopped her habit of biting her finger nails (for the most part!)

Lily..she's learned how to say Mama and Dadee, walks like a pro, laughs, almost has her first tooth, started day care, made new friends, uses her finger nails to "tickle"

Ways/things that haven't changed...

Victoria..very excited to have a baby cousin, still has her hair in a shorter style, still enjoys plane rides but is not patient on car rides, still flips her hair behind her ears

Lily..is loved greatly by her family, still amazes me with her beauty, dresses superbly, changes each time I see her

One thing for sure that hasn't changed and I don't think ever will....these two are crazy about each other!!! Cherish your special cousin bond....love you girls!!