A successful 4th birthday

I think by all accounts this day was a success for everyone!
The splash park in town finally opened the day before CJ's birthday and the boys have been waiting with baited breath for the announcement of the opening.
The sod has been laid (it does not look as though it is doing well) and the weather is warm enough for the water to run.

We started out the day at the park and I thought we would be there for an hour or so, but the boys played for over two hours. CJ didn't stop moving the whole time!

I was surprised that there were not more people there. Some kids arrived at about 1pm but they didn't stay very long.

Once we convinced our boys it was time to go we packed up and headed to have CJ pick out a cowboy hat and boots. We asked Max if he wanted and cowboy hat and boots for his birthday and the definitive answer was "NO!" It makes me laugh how even though the boys are so young their personalities shine through.

Hat and boots in hand we left to drive back to the wagon races. Soon after we got onto the highway we had a flat tire and had to call roadside assistance. Of course we had to unload everything out of the back of the van so we could lower the donut and I said to Shel I was sure glad we hadn't just done a month worth of shopping!!! I cannot imagine unpacking all the groceries onto the side of the road.

I took some other photos of the tire being changed and I didn't notice that the kind gentleman who changed the tires was experiencing some uncomfortable sweating in the bum region. I posted the photos on facebook and there was quite a conversation about our tow truck man's "swass"! CJ would have liked him to come home and bring his tow truck with him.

Once everything was loaded back up we headed to the races. We made it in time for the first race which was awesome! 

CJ's only disappointment of the day was that he did not get to ride on the chariots.



birthday boy

When I was growing up a birthday was a special thing. My parents didn't have a lot of money but a birthday was all about the person whose day it was. We got to choose a cereal for breakfast (normally we didn't have cereal in the house). We got to choose what we wanted for a special supper and mom always made whatever it is that we wanted.
We would all get up in the morning before dad went to work (if he was in town) and we would gather on mom and dad's bed. Everyone would sing "Happy Birthday" and we would get five chocolate bars - one from each other person in the family. Having a birthday was a fun, happy time and I loved my birthday.
Now I am a parent and I have to say I am just as excited for my boys to have birthdays as I was to have one.
My baby boy, my humpback whale, turns FOUR today. I cannot believe he is four already. The time has just flown by. I am SUPER excited for his day today. I hope that my sons will have as great memories about their birthdays as I do.
Happy birthday my boy.
I love you.

Outside my Window - July

Outside my window... the sun is shining brightly and this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous!
I am thankful for... my boys. Tomorrow my baby turns FOUR!
From the kitchen... last night Shel and I had a salad. I think it has been a month since we last had a salad?! We needed it!!!!
I am wearing... my birkenstocks ! I STILL need to paint my toenails  - it was on my list last month!
I am creating...toy boxes for the boys.
I am reading... Cold Fire by Kate Elliott
I am hoping... to have an amazing birthday tomorrow for my humpback whale.

I am hearing... Pink. Blow Me (one last kiss)
Around the house... we are sorting a lot. We have a LOT to go!!
One of my favorite things... birthdays.

Here is a picture I am sharing...  working with the boys on the lid of a toy box.

creative fail

We are having a devil of a time trying to keep the lawn mowed in the yard. If it isn't raining, we have no gas or oil for the mower engine, or the wind is blowing at ridiculous speeds, or...., or.....
What I am basically saying is that we haven't mowed the lawn in FOR EV ER and so it is ridiculously long. I thought I would be creative and lay in the long grass and take photos of the boys and puppy playing from a different angle.

My plan didn't quite work out as I had intended because as soon as I lay down everyone came to see what I was doing. I took some photos, but they were not the artsy, imaginative shots I had hoped for. This is what I got instead.

hallelujah

There's a lot to be grateful for. My boy has the right attitude.

6th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

So I have done it. I have signed up for a book challenge.
I was inspired to join by fellow blogger Teena, who has participated in this challenge every year.
This is a particularly challenging goal for me for two reasons,
number one - I have to admit I am not usually a fan of Canadian literature, and number 2, I am not good at writing reviews. I like reviews, I am just not good at them!
However, I had a goal on goodreads this year to read 64 books and I am already finished that challenge so I needed something else to work on. I figured I should challenge myself and so I have!
In one year I must read and review 13 books written by a Canadian author or about Canadians.
If you are interested in it yourself you can link to the official challenge page by clicking on the image I posted above. Let's see how this goes!!!

incomplete

Outside my office window is a flower bed. It has been there for a few years and I quite like it. It is a perennial bed and I think this year I am going to plant some bulbs in it in the fall. Today a new employee was weeding the flowerbed. I saw him weeding and I saw him leaving. When he was gone I looked at the bed and saw this:

I am hoping he was called away on some groundkeeping emergency and not that he thinks the weeding is done.

Thursday Thirteen: 13 things that make me happy

Thirteen things that make me happy:

1. Listening to my sons playing and laughing together - or singing.

2. Reading

3. Coaching my sons soccer team

4. A cool breeze on a warm summer day

5. Sunshine

6. Flying kites

7. Taking photographs

8. Making lists of things to do and checking them off when they are completed (The checking off part makes me particularly happy!)

9. Making crafty things - (Pinterest has renewed my joy in this!)

10. Spending time with my mom

11. Pruning

12. Fixing things with my sons

13. Our pets

Teenage lesbians shot in Texas

I am absolutely devastated to read in the news today about two girls shot in Texas.
One of the girls was killed and the other left in serious condition. I honestly do not have any words.
Why, why why, is there so much hatred in the world?

You can link to the story here:

http://www.newser.com/story/148868/teenage-lesbians-found-shot-in-texas.html

Powwow

I love attending the local powwow each year. As the boys get older they can appreciate it more. I wish we could find a way for them to learn the drums and singing.
Here are some photos from this years event.

Max graduates

It is so hard to believe my baby boy, my first born, has graduated from kindergarten.
He amazes me every day with the things he learns and just how grown up he is. Grade one here he comes!
Today in the graduation ceremony h e sang his heart out and did all the actions to the songs. I remember when we first went to see him in stepping forward, his aide had to sit behind him and hold his arms to do the actions and he didn't sing a word of the song. Last night I was in the van with him and he was singing away and telling me what song they were performing today (Love in my family).
Yesterday afternoon we went and got him a haircut and he sat so well in the chair. His head did keep drifting to the right, but he was GREAT. In so many ways he is outgrowing his need to have us close and hold his hand. I love watching him grow, but I sure do miss having him depend on me so much.

 After his graduation with the family.

 Waiting in line to get his certificate.

 Singing Love in my Family.

 Certificate in hand!

With mom at the school entrance. Last day and first day!

Max graduates from kindergarten

Today Max graduated from kindergarten. We took a photo outside with Shel holding a photo of them in the same spot from the first day of school. We got the idea from pinterest and like it a LOT!

Maxies favorite song

Shel and I had to go this morning to the school for the final meeting with the teacher for the year.


They put together this neat little booklet that had things like Max's handprint, a note to Max from all the teachers and Aides, and some photos.

Each kid wrote their name and filled out a little blurb about what their favorite color was, who their friends were, what they wanted to be whn they grew up, favorite song, etc.

I looked through the book and had to laugh.

All the kids put as favorite song things like, "itsy bitsy spider, an elmo song, the alphabet song - Maxies was...... " I like to move it move it!"

That kid makes me laugh.

Back entrance

While mom was here we had plans for quite a few things and the weather was not supportive of our endeavours. It rained and rained and RAINED. We had two "big" things we wanted to get done - one was to paint the barn and the other was to do the back entrance. Earlier this year we needed to replace the doors (front and back) on the house. Where the back door was we could not fit a regular sized door and so we were stuck with one of two options. One was to special order a smaller door and the other was to move the entrance from the east side of the back porch to the south side of the back porch. Since we have had such difficulty moving anything in and out of the house because of odd sized doors we opted for number two - to put in a regular door but move it to the south side. So we moved the door, but then we were coming in and out of the house into what used to be a flower bed and we were tracking mud in and out. So mom and I decided to fix it.

I found an idea on pinterest that I LOVED and showed the photo to mom. She loved it also and so we did it!

We had to begin by removing all of the old soil. We dug all the way to the bottom and took it in the wagon (because of course the wheelbarrow had a flat tire).

We have determined that every time we begin a project we run into all kinds of problems and so what begins as a one stage project ends up being a ten stage project!

We cut the wood from our own wood pile. We had to wait until the wood was dry so we carried logs into the quonset to dry out. Then we got the chainsaw up and running and cut the logs. It is heavy work to cut the logs and so mom and I were taking turns with the chainsaw. After we cut what we had in the quonset we went to the log pile to see if we had anything there we could use. We had a couple of super logs to use and so we started to cut right at the pile. Mom was holding a log for me and then I was holding the log for her. In one of our trade offs mom went to hold the log for me and fell into the wood pile! Oh we laughed and laughed.

We got the logs cut and laid them out. As we were digging out the old soil we realized that the edge piece of wood was rotted right through so we needed to find a new edge piece and stake it into the ground.

We found a new edge piece and staked it in.

Then we brought sand (from the boys said pile and using the red wagon) and we filled the spot with sand. Then we had to put in each log and level them all. My log cutting is not perfectly even so some of this took some creativity!

We had cement hand prints from us and the boys that we used as two of the logs. We left a spot against one wall of the house where Shel would like to build a bench so that still needs to be done. After we got all the logs in and leveled we used rock from the driveway to put between the logs.

We also filled two baskets with flowers and hung them on the wall on either side of the door - I thought I had a photo of that but I apparently need to find where I put it!