Most Sincere Apologies

It has been far, far too long since my last blog post and I am sincerely sorry for the hiatus which was unintentional and entirely unforgivable.  In my defense, these past months have been busy ones.  A visit from relatives in Texas, a trip to the east coast with a gaggle of travel-mates, a week of glorious fun-filled camping, mad preparations for my new (LTO) grade one classroom followed almost immediately by mad preparations for my new core French classroom, which is PERMANENT!  The first weeks of school were crazy: learning how to teach core French in an entirely fresh and engaging way took up 110% of my time, and waking up with a racing heart before the sunrise really took it out of me. If I could sleep past 3 am, I felt somewhat rested ... and ready for the onslaught of the day. Now it is beginning to feel manageable, and my husband suggested I take a look at this long-neglected blog.  Et voila!

Now for pictures!  I will try to post some of the highlights from these past months. Enjoy!

First up: 
P's birthday in early October ... mmm ... cheesecake!

Somewhere in New Brunswick, at a touristy lighthouse that had information on local sights:

In old Quebec City, with the Chateau Frontenac in the background, on a day where the temperature fluctuated between blisteringly hot and unbearably humid: 

At low tide at Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick, posing quickly before other beach-walkers ruined the picture:

Happy 80th Birthday, Poppa!!!!!!

What a terrific occasion to celebrate! P's dad is eighty years young and grandkids from near and far came to partake in the festivities and cake.  There was also fruit which on a hot and sunny day was a delicious treat.  

These cousins don't get to see each other very often because two of them live in Texas, far, far to the south. This heat wave is nothing for them. In fact, I had to convince them that parkas and Sorels weren't necessary.  


After the birthday cake, the kids sat nicely on the couch and let me take a few photos of them all together.  Thanks for not goofing off, guys!  

Four Score and Twenty Years ... or more accurately One Score Minus 4 Years ...

Today is the birthday of our eldest son, a milestone after which he'll be able to drive a car, become a life guard,save lives. He'll begin to narrow down what he would like to do with his life.  

Perhaps he'll join the rodeo.

 

 Or become a bear hunter.

 Or start to shave.  Oh, right. He's got that one covered.

 

We're looking forward to seeing what exciting adventures will unfold!

Con- grad-ulations!

From a wee four year old lad on his first day of school, our youngest monkey has grown up, acquired heaps of knowledge, matured in ways too many to count, and has conquered grade 8 with confidence and competence.

    

And he has the diploma to prove it.  (I know because I've seen it!)

Congratulations, J!  

School's Out!

As the school year winds to a close, I was the grateful recipient of many home-made cards from students, usually last-minue and hand-made. This one was memorable and is worth sharing.  Am I really the best teacher?  Um, judging by the spelling, no.  But judging by the creative use of phonetics, um, maybe I've had a modicum of impact. 

I love it. 

Almost as much as I love the mall.

The Grass is Always Greener

With so many acres to trim, the grass cutting becomes almost a full-time effort in the summer months, and calling in all the bairns is necessary to get the job done before sunset. We need to buy another mower ... or have more children.

Adverbity

Shaggy Scooby, in need of a hair cut, sits prettily in the living room, his eyes pleading deeply with me to make an appointment with the groomer.

The kids jump noisily on the trampoline, tirelessly working off the build-up of wintry months indoors and stagnant hours of school drudgery.

 In mid-air, S spins expertly with enviable nimbleness (nimbility?).

Scooby preens proudly post-clipping for the camera, with the shirtless wonder, J, our exhausted wonderkid.

Sadness on the porch ...

Our front window is a danger zone for lots of birds. They're attracted to it because they can see right through to the backyard and think it's a short-cut. Sadly, they crash head long into the glass, then are stunned and dazed, breathing on the window ledge until they feel well enough to try it again.  Until today, they've successfully shaken off the trauma and flown away, but this little guy wasn't so lucky.  We buried him in the field next door.

 

 RIP, yellow bird.

Hats Off!

S is in the drum line at high school, and part of their new uniform includes a baseball cap with an awesome design on the front.  He hasn't taken it off all day.  The competition is tomorrow ... fingers crossed!

High Fliers

When the phone rang I didn't imagine that we'd be 2000 feet in the air before the day was through, but that's exactly what happened. A friend with an airplane was coming to our local airport in a Cessna Skyline so we piled in the car and met him there. Other friends were staying with us (check out cutie C with S&J) and they came too. It was so gloriously sunny and clear, a perfect day for flying. We killed some time waiting for the plane to arrive, rolling around on the grass and climbing rocks.

Then we climbed into the little plane and put on the headphones. The engine roared, the plane shimmied, we lifted off ... !!  My stomach lurched, my head swam, then I totally got wrapped up in looking down and trying to identify the places I knew, and I completely forgot about barfing.  

 J loved it! 

The view of the city was amazing! Seeing the farms and creeks and schools from above was so interesting and thrilling. It all looked like a miniature play set, complete with cows and cars and other planes flying around us.  What a wonderful adventure!  

The Circus Comes To Town

Final Touches in the Loo

You wouldn't think it would be very hard to select a mirror and light fixture for the main floor powder room, but it was! Finally, after much head-scratching, I bought a large round mirror, frameless but with a bevelled edge, which looks polished and doesn't distract from everything else in the small room, and it's width is exactly the same as the vanity, so it fits quite well. 

The light fixture was equally difficult to decide on. I was looking for something interesting and not a duplicate of the lights in the upstairs bath, something a bit modern to go with the Ikea cabinets.  And behold!  I found it at Lowes.  (Or should I say Lowes and Behold!?)  This has three small lamps, each taking a 60 watt bulb.  Nice and bright!

Tricky McTrickster

Scooby knows a new trick, thanks to lots of practice with a certain young lady with the initial K who really deserves a puppy of her own ...  hee hee.

One, Two, Three, Forsythia

 My Mother's Day present last year included a few plants, one of which is the forsythia which is sporting some spiffy plumage these days, thanks to the glorious weather and generous rainfall.  Is it too soon in the year? Has Jack Frost got a surprise up his icy sleeve for us?  The mornings have been spooky with drifting fog, and the ambiance is quite lovely.  This photo below doesn't entirely capture the solemnity of the sunrise, but I had to share it with you!

Home Again, Home Again

While we were away, our area was battered by a terrible rain storm with high winds and ferocious thunder and lightning. The rainfall, combined with quickly melting snow, was so significant in such a short period of time that there was a flash flood on our road, washing away entire portions including a piece right beside our driveway.  With the ground so soft, P took the opportunity to smooth it all out on the ATV.  

And what gorgeous weather!  Warm and sunny and smelling of spring. The upside is the burgeoning growth in the gardens: are these daffodils? Crocuses? Can't recall what I planted there!  

March Broke

March Break is done and now we are March BROKE! But it was worth it ... wasn't it?  Look at all the fun we had!

Surfing, riding the lazy river, swimming, hanging out and relaxing ... 


What a wonderful week!

Road Trip!

It's March and it's cold in Canada.  But we wouldn't know about that because we're on a road trip to the sunny south! Armed with yummy snacks, we drove for two days and we have arrived in the land of sunshines and orange trees.  On the agenda: swimming, swimming, swimming and then a bit more swimming.

Sunny Endeavors

I'm not quite sure what madness possessed me but the minivan is clean, inside at least. The sunshine was beckoning and I couldn't resist. Vacuumed, windexed, wiped and polished. Who needs to pay for detailing when Scooby and I can do such a fine job ourselves?  And who minds the few paw prints on the seats?  Not I!

We even filled the washer fluid, of which we haven't used much this season, thanks to the mild weather.  As for the outside of the van, it's supposed to rain later this week.  Who needs to pay for a carwash?  

Awesome YouTube Video!

I love this video and I really encourage you to take a look.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exBEFCiWyW0&sns=fb


I'm going to plant a huge garden and grow heaps of yummy fresh healthy organic food and invite everyone to come and feast here at the farm!

Powder Room At Last

With the sink vanity and tower cabinets purchased and assembled, the end is near! There's light at the end of this tunnel!  P installed all the plumbing, tested it and found it to be leak-free, and then installed (or re-installed) the toilet.  A second toilet is so very useful in a house of teenagers!

The cabinets are from IKEA and are floating, so P built in extra bracing in the wall, which is still open on the other side in the family room.  It'll be nice and easy to vacuum under them, to gather up those dust bunnies before they get out of hand.

 Here's P, cutting twice and measuring once. Or is it measure twice ...?

The final touches, aside from trim around the window, are the light fixture (I have my eye on one from Home Depot) and a mirror over the sink.  Any suggestions?

Oh, it was so nice to unpack more bathroom goodies from boxes in the basement and put them where they belong in a brand new drawer.  Heavenly!