little goblins

i forgot how much fun fall and thanksgiving can be for kids! Aidan has really gotten into making crafts during this past year. Kiara wants to do whatever Aidan is doing {usually!}. add the combination of me working and Aidan also at school....lots of ideas are flying around!


which reminds me....i should take photos of their bats and ghosts flying around our house at present!


we saw this "haunted house" at Micheals back at the end of August. it looked fun and also easy to do. perfect for us.

Aidan loves to put anything together. he also loves to follow directions that come with packages.

he only needed a bit of help.

Kiara has no use for instructions yet. as you can see, her ideas are better anyway....

this was a pleasant activity. until the two of them pulled one of the walls apart! c'est la vie!!!

it now proudly sits beside our fish bowl. Nemo II and Sharky get to look at it all day. lucky fish!

sweet

mmmm..... candy........
what a boy. such a girl.


we are lucky!

progres

remember how the backyard looked two weeks ago?
{here are the photos}


i think we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. hardly seems possible...it's been so long!

i actually have to take a photo this weekend after Kris puts down the rest of the sod. we chose to go without a sidewalk for now. too much time to make the forms and pour concrete. not sure if it is worth our time either. grass is good! i was just so excited to see the growing pile of junk disappear.

we even parked the car on our garage pad one evening! lol!

one of my neighbors got really excited when she saw me snapping photos. she told me that it was too bad i didn't have "before" photos. (apparently she doesn't know me that well...) she thinks that we have a good chance of winning a contest in Canadian Gardening about the best yard improvement. nice compliment. i miss the "green" we used to have in the yard. i will never miss the "shack" we used to call the garage. but hard to believe a building change would be that dramatic. glad she is happy.

our house will celebrate its 60th birthday next year.

anyways...so glad that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger. i'm nearing the end of my contract too. and my workload! i loved the job and wish i could stay on into November...a quieter month! great kids. great and supportive parents. super team. and a good challenge for me right now. at times i'm in disbelief that it was only two months ago i started.

so got to get back to the workload. the pile is getting smaller...wahoo!!

camera fun

downloaded some photos i took off of my Sony today. i still love that little camera. fits right into my purse {i now carry one!} and came in handy last week.

i had taken Aidan to "the Mall" for part of his birthday celebrating.

i don't think he had ever ridden this vehicle before...but what else do you do when all the helicopters are taken?!

love this one! {one of the many helicopter rides}

i got to work this morning and one of my ta's told me that she was given another digital camera. or you could say she rescued it from the trash. this was the second one in a month that she had given to her. {we're keeping an eye on her...she may need a digi support group!} she asked me if it was any good. it's a Sony Cybershot 6.0 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens. that should be better quality than my own little Sony. maybe i should have lied to her and offered to "chuck" it for her?! lol!! the problem? these cameras have awesome rehargeable batteries. for whatever reason, they did not have the recharger cord or were just buying new battery packs. i took it home to recharge -- no point buying a new charging cord if the camera is more broken. she will be thrilled to find out that so far her little freebie is recharging. hopefully it will be in good condition when all is said and done. my enthusiasm and excitement really got her going...so i would hate to disappoint her.

we're still trying to make a decision on Aidan's playschool photo. any help?

i was shocked that the photos taken at my school last Thursday....have already returned the proofs for ordering. definitely a record. my photo wasn't too bad. and the kids?! we worked so hard to get good smiles out of them....and keep some of them actually looking at the camera. they were all awesome! i hope the parents are pleased.

oh man. i've got another cold. this one came with a headache. hopefully i can get some more work done tonight and get some extra sleep. one of the school moms gave me these packets of vitamin C and immune boosters. so far no miracle has occured. or maybe i could be sicker if i wasn't using them?

okay. gotta stop procrastinating and get back to work. {i had fully intended to work during the weekend....didn't happen, but parts of my house that haven't been clean since "before-kid-days" are now clean. that made me happy}

help!

earlier this month Aidan had his first preschool photos taken. i do like that the photographer did out of the ordinary photos. lest you think i'm stealing her photos. i'm not. Aidan's photos aren't for public viewing. but there are some samples of her work here that you can look at!

but i need your help. we can choose ONE photo. which one would you choose?

the apple one is cute. and different.

but i like the close-up's of the others. i'm also leaning toward the colour.

#5 has his real smile.

see the dilemna?!

help!!!

i totally wish i could share his class photo....it is adorable...and only because the boy is 4. trust me when i say that it would not be adorable 10 years from now....yes, he's holding hands with his best friend he met at school. aahhhh...

thinking back

i love these photos for several reasons:

1. i love that these were even possible with digital. i am almost certain that these photos would not have existed with the old 35mm format.

2. i love that this photo started out as a posed photo with four cousins and ended up being candid with just three. the photo with all the cousins will have to wait for another day.

3. i also love that we were able to be together. i think it had been two years since we had last celebrated thanksgiving together.

4. and here we were celebrating the first thanksgiving in John and Arlene's new house.

5. there were many years that we were not able to celebrate thanksgiving dinners with Kristian's family. it is a blessing that we are able to do it now. that is a story for another day.


back to the photos of the kids....LOVE those expressions!!




and so glad my camera was fast enough to catch this....

sigh.

the first meal we had after meeting at John and Arlene's acreage was hot dogs and smokies over a campfire. we've come a long way since then....this time we had a yummy and tender roast. cooked in a civilized oven! and dishes washed in a dishwasher. yes. meals like nature intended!

after the meal we were able to enjoy a campfire for a short while. this is one joy that i have personally missed this year. i hope that we'll be able to enjoy more campfires like this next year. it is amazing how those flames relax every part of you and the crackle is so peaceful. so funny. two campfires in totall for 2008...one in September and the other in October. go figure.

is this not the most pathetic look you have ever seen? cats seem to be able to pull these looks off rather well.

my mother in law loves to decorate tables. Arlene let her have some fun. it was beautiful. and then we ate. but even after the mess and enjoyment, i think it still looks great. decorated, but warm with memories. Martha Stewart, what do you think of that? maybe those kinds of photos would be worth publishing? like the mess of gift wrap on Christmas morning? hmmm....maybe i should publish my own book? we can have Martha Entertains. and now Roxanne Messes. kinda' catchy!

FOUR candles

still in disbelief that this guy is now four years old.

the time has flown by.

i also hoped to have taken a recent photo of him too. such was the weekend that we never had the chance! this fall was so busy for all three birthdays in our house...we just had to sigh...remember to breathe...and remind ourselves that next year will be different...we'll make sure of it!

i do have some photos from when he got to share a cake with his uncle John. it is uncle Johns' birthday today!

I think Aidan was taken off guard by the HUGE cake they got. (actually all the eyeballs got pretty big!)

he was pretty excited. he has been waiting for his birthday since April. no i am not kidding.
but wait! shouldn't there be two people here? Aidan..."someone else" needs some room too...

he relented. and then we got to sing Happy Birthday....

LOVE that face he's wearing!
full cheek power.
oh Uncle John joins in too.
isn't it cute that they both have the same expression?!
so lucky are these two to celebrate their birthdays together.

truth be told...John did try to encourage me to wait until his birthday to have Aidan. perhaps if we had lived 100 years ago that is how it would have worked too. labour for 2 days with that boy. sure, i may have been able to hold out for another 5 1/2 hours....but somehow forgot the incentive to wait! wonder why.

right now our family tradition is to have a "fancy" restaurant supper of the birthday person's choice if possible. Aidan wanted to eat at a place with a fish tank. Kris was pretty happy to tell him that Red Lobster had a good one. and so, on his fourth birthday, Aidan got to "pet" a live lobster. and we all got a great meal too! (no dishes, either) we are so fortunate to have kids who are willing to try new foods. they got to try a variety of shrimp, snow crab legs and lobster. very different textures and tastes. they loved it!

Aidan also loves amusement rides at Galaxyland at the local BIG mall. (the price for young kids is lower during the early afternoon...but that special price has doubled exactly since Aidan was born...how is that for inflation?) Kiara is still free. and i get to go on rides with her as a chaperone. good deal. if you like going in circles for hours on end. i tried really hard to avoid the vehicle derby ride....i always get dizzy after a few rounds. no luck. Kiara is small for her age. in retaliation...i may have her conveniently remain 2 years old for an extra year. hmmm...

and his big gift was a Rescue Hero ship, firetruck and police car. bedtime was not a fun time at our house, as you could imagine. Rescue Heros, firemen {he recently told us that he will be a fireman when he is big}, rockets and robots are his favourites these days.

on the weekend i also took just him to see Wall-E. i had wanted to take him months ago. but that just didn't work out. we were lucky to catch it in the theatre at all! he loved it. we called Daddy on the way home, and that is all he talked about. and actually i was impressed with it too.

no i am not done yet.

today he is at preschool. and more treats for him. which was a gong show for me. so many allergies to work around. impossible to find treats to please everyone. how horrible it must be for kids with allergies...we finally found something that all but one child can eat. one bakery was recommended, but they were closed for this week. what?! and you can't make anything in your own home for some programs any more....not that there was time to do that this week anyway.

now i am done.

next up. Halloween. sigh.

keeping a list and...

working away at checking everything off....


and wondering if it will ever end!!


ever feel that way?

we got a "hunk" of sod delivered early Friday morning. and some contractors down the street caught some thieves trying to pile it into their truck. they managed to get 4 or 5 rolls before they got caught and drove away. this happened during working and daylight hours. on a school day. and we live in front of a school on a busy street. i had heard once that the majority of break and enters into homes occurs during the daytime when most people are at work. apparently this makes us fit into the statistics. great. it was just what we wanted.

so if you have neighbors who own a black truck...and they just put down a few rows of sod...you now know where they got it from.

one more item checked off our list. the concrete driveway was finally poured in the early and freezing cold hours Saturday morning.

it is presently covered in plastic and curing.

we have extra crushed gravel. it is slowly making it's way out to an acreage far, far away. soon we can put up the long awaited fence.

then some of our remnants from the tear down and building can get carted away....and our sod put down in it's place! and we will have a yard just in time for winter.

or spring. depending on how you look at it.

the next major item is getting our garage electricity. woo-hoo! it means lights and a working garage door. maybe we can park the cars in time for snow?

regardless...we are THRILLED that the list of "to dos" is getting shorter.

and for exciting news....

our first born is going to be FOUR years old tomorrow!! where has the time gone?

he has been counting down to this birthday since April. no exaggeration. finally it is his turn for the birthday.

hoping

for some more nice fall weather....


we're expecting frost when we wake up tomorrow.


last week it was actually quite warm during the day and even part of the evening was comfortable. and when the sunflowers get planted in July they finally bloom in October....love how the ladybugs enjoy them.

i'm wondering how frost-hardy sunflowers can be? their name doesn't imply much hope. but then neither does the "pansy"....sounds wimpy, but they are so tough. i guess time will tell.

a bit more fall weather

makes us all very happy!




finally managed to get us all together during daylight hours for a family photo session.

i was about to snap the first photo when a passerby offered to take our photo. would have been nice. probably was a pro too. that would have been very nice! but i was so excited to use the timer option on the camera and test it out. who would have guessed a blinking light would have gotten a smile out of the kids. maybe they were hoping a mouse would pop out?

this is where i had hoped to take the photo. there is a fountain here. and lots of big and old trees that form nearly a canopy over the roads. but the fountain was turned off. it would have been so awesome! fortunately that happily engaged couple got to take advantage of it....no bitterness here. snort.

only a few more weeks of being three.

recently Aidan and i had a conversation about age. he had wanted to do something...can't recall specifically now what it was. i told him that he could do that when he was ten years old. he knows he has a birthday coming. he asks me in the most sincerest tone, "will i be 10 at my next birthday, mommy?"

have i mentioned that this one has a crush on his hairdresser? Kris tried to get his haircut last week, but Simone was on holidays. Aidan refused to let anyone touch his hair. and with all the busy-ness of the week had i thought to make an appointment? nope! and today was his preschool photos. not that he looked 70's shaggy or anything. maybe just some OCD creeping in?

so today we tried to get in to see Simone. we had an hour window. she was busy. how dare she?! so i did what any self-respecting and desperate mother would do.

i bribed. "coffee". "fountain park". he was getting weak.

then i lied.

not to be mean. i told him that Simone could not cut his hair. but she had a friend who would be able to cut his hair in time for photos. yeah. but really...aren't all hairdressers truly kindred spirits anyway.....well....it wasn't a great move to model honesty...but it worked. the real problem is that he is attached to one hairdresser. hopefully she will not quit or move away for a few more years at least. fortunately we discovered a pinch hitter not too far away. and i forgot to get her name. yeesh!

he did get a cool bag of candy. and he was cool with that.

so was i. until he told Daddy that a friend of Simone's cut his hair today. way to model honesty. guess i have to turn in my mother of the year crown now....

you know

you take a lot of pictures when....

a Rescue Hero dog turns into a camera!

more busyness....

we had a quick visit from Sarah and her family. the kids and i had gone on a trip to Washington in February, so you might remember photos from that time.

they now have a four month old baby girl added to their fam.

Sarah
Nathan
Malachi (pronounced mal-ak-eye)

then they had

Violet

she is too young to participate in cousin shenanigans. yet.

for now she is content to keep her mama busy with feeding and holding her. i was sooo not thinking and missed an opportunity to take photos of her awake. and in good lighting. i know. i should have my photo and scrapbooking licenses revoked! please give me a second chance!

i was thankfully able to get some good opportunities to take photos of the oldest three. this was one of those opportunities that make you very thankful for a camera!

and so was this....

cute!

the extended fall weather has made for a great photo time. i had hoped to get some photos of the four of us last Sunday. had the perfect spot. perfect lighting. perfect weather. ruined by a happily engaged couple getting photos taken by a pro. seriously have never had that happen before. that is one lucky couple too. i should know. because that should have been us using that spot! lol. next time.