oh wow

is this not the coolest thing ever?!!

i was catching up on one of my favourite scrapbook blogs and came across this post.

unbelievable!!

they are real.

but that is not all of them....

check out Dalton Ghetti and more of his art.

taking time

to capture those memories. last week flew by for us! it was good, but incredibly busy.

i woke up on Friday morning and was worried if i would have enough energy to get through the day, let alone be awake for a long shift at Urban Scrapbook. by lunch i found that much needed second wind and it stayed with me longer than i needed.

i thank a restful day and Starbucks for that. ha! for someone who loves their coffee as much as myself....to wake up to only a few beans in the grinder was not helping my tired state. i did not even have the energy to walk to the store to grab a cup! or beans.

actually we have been buying the bag of Starbucks beans at Costco. my friend, Kathy, tipped me off on that. seriously i don't know how we ever missed seeing them for sale. we've been lovers of their roast ever since!

we took the instant VIA coffee when we went camping. not as good as the brewed kind but a major improvement over the alternative grocery store brands. phew!



at times i miss the big old apple tree in our old yard. until now. i don't mind having apples around to make treats with. BUT it always ended up being several days in the kitchen. sometimes even the nicest end of summer days.

we were surprised to see that the apples continued to grow on our brand new tree. they are so red! it is good that fruit trees grow quickly. by the time it is full and plentiful i will have 2 more helpers to process the apples. perhaps equalling less time in the kitchen for all of us? i hope.

the amount of rain this summer has been incredible.

last year we had the biggest struggle to keep the grass growing. this year, it wants to grow everywhere. including our lovely cedar bark chip beds. ugh! it does not look nice at all. hopefully Kris will have successfully killed it off and covered it with more bark chips by the end of next weekend. after last summer we would have never thought this possible.



lil' miss Kiara was not a happy girl. i really loved the photo opportunity as she came stomping down the green belt. since she demanded i stop taking photos...i had actually moved the camera away from my face....so as to appear to be complying to her wishes! uh huh. tell me YOU have never done that! but see. i think this is one of my favourite photos of that series. she will thank me later. much later. anyways, i think she owes me. the lovely 'threes' where the kids listen soooo well!!



the overcast sky was good for something that day.



she did not need this outfit. but it better fit her next summer too! it was too cute to put back on the rack.


we are in the last days of summer. the empty kids pool is taunting us as it is leaning against our fence. i keep hoping for some hot days so that it can be refilled and enjoyed just one more time. September 2009 was hot enough at the end of the month for a pool day. i keep hoping. with our luck the snow will fall early.

just for the record....if that happens....we MUST get away for some mid-winter sun exposure. for the good of all society. really.


other than hoping for sun....it looks to be another busy week. not as busy as last week. but busy enough. i'm thrilled that my recent layout class filled up. as well as the other classes being offered. even the late night crops are becoming popular again. one of the major scrapbook supply companies just released some amazing new papers. i think nearly every customer on Friday purchases at least one item from that series. i've already created one layout from the amazing amazing! paper. check my projects blog to view it. the rest of us are swooning over the new papers due to arrive. can't wait!

Aidan is nearly bursting with excitement over starting back at school. we all got to take a tour today. the classrooms are not all that exciting. however the common areas have finally been designed to be useful! it is intended to have all the latest and greatest technology...however it is all still arriving and awaiting to be hooked up. for now they have three grade one classrooms, with the possibility of a fourth. {compared to my 1977 grade one class of 6 students combined with the grade two and three classes.....this will be quite amazing.} they already have 5 kindergarten classes. the school has officially been given its first challenge!

okay, must get off the computer....

going places

this week the kids are at a kids camp at our church. the theme is the "High Seas". very fun.

this is the first time helping at an event like this. i've done week long kids camps, so i'm familiar with those. but this is new to me.

my role is the story teller for the preschoolers. each group rotates through varies stations 20 minutes in length...story, craft, snack, games, etc. the theme today was "God's Word is SURPRISING". don't i know it. one of the points was that God loves us so much, that sometimes He enjoys seeing us surprised. i had not thought of that before.

one of the high-lights of the evening was with one group. part of the story involved "surprising" them with a bag of gummy worms. apparently this group was either difficult to surprise or i did not do that great of a job of being secretive. and so i said just that. one of the kids quietly says, "you're nice. we like you. so we are not surprised when you do nice things for us." awwww....cute! bring on the treats every night.

okay a second high-light. as time passed i think i got more clever with the "gummy worm" surprise. or they got more tired. let's go with clever, i like that. ha! i went on and on about hinting towards my brown bag containing worms from my garden. way over did it. then, i picked one of the kids to peek inside the bag. his expression was priceless...his eyes widened and he licked his lips!! i guess you really had to be there. when he pulled one out to eat....the rest of the kids were a little tense....until they realized they had been tricked!! oh the fun!




on the weekend, our kids got a surprise of their own. some good friends we met at our new church invited us to their cabin for the weekend. the kids got to have some more new experiences in their young lives.

here is just one set of pics that tell a story very well. i love the burst option on my camera! now if only i could figure out how to keep the camera steady on a moving boat, pulling an unpredictable tube...




Kristian was nominated to go on a "more wild" ride with the 2 youngest kids. check out the face of Kiara's friend in the yellow life jacket. she knows what is coming next.








cool!



i know i cut someone off...but i love the looks on Kiara's and Kris' faces.






good times. good surprises. good memories.

the sunset in my previous post was from the end of the visit. it was amazing.





and now...speaking of surprises....

i wanted to share a cool blog with you:

Silver Strands

Denalee is a faithful reader and commentator on my blog. i wish i could say i did the same for her! she has great uplifting posts. go check her out, and be sure to leave a comment to let her know you were there!

she surprised her mom recently. her mom was diagnosed with cancer and was going to lose her hair due to the harsh chemo treatments. Denalee happens to have very similar silver hair as her mom. she donated her hair to make a wig. it surprised her mom very much! as i'm sure you could expect. how encouraging it must be for her mom as she fights this battle. be sure to watch the video and read the story.

she continues to share the ongoing story of her life right now. but she also keeps the blog to raise awareness of those who donate their hair for various organizations.


can't end without sharing this great news....
my friend, Jan, just finished her last round of chemotherapy. we are celebrating!! {for the record...she happens to look as amazing with her wig as she does with her head of her own hair!}she is the most talented scrapbooker. even in her exhaustion, she has made some of the most amazing layouts. her attitude is also something we can all envy. yay, Jan!!

beauty

perfect day. much needed rejuvenation. with a treat like this sunset.

missing photos

i can't forget to share these!


Taylor managed to capture this little creature with her hands. each of the kids took turns holding it before they set it free.




among many of the hilights....










Greg loves to find cool toys for the kids. we all really, REALLY appreciate his stealth shopping abilities. i lost track of how many hours the kids spent on this amazing slide and pool. definitely more time on the slide.

when they were not on the slide...

the were riding around in Taylors' John Deere Gator....or tractor as the kids referred to it.

having water gun fights. way more fun to sneak up on someone and soak them, than aim and miss when they are expecting it. try to explain to kids how it can't ALWAYS be that way!

a couple of water balloon fights and games. the sad part of water balloons and young kids is that it takes much longer to fill the balloons than it does to empty them. Stacey and i decided that we would most definitely use small regular balloons next time. they just aren't able to always catch them in their hands, and even the whole drama of a balloon game gets lost on them! apparently they had also tried the dollar store package....but EVERY balloon had a hole in it. ours were a treat purchase from  Toys R' Us. great quality, just too thin for younger kids.

when they needed a break from the sun, they all retreated into the loft for colouring or playing with dolls. Aidan was not thrilled with the amount of time the girls wanted to spend up there. this would be the first time he has ever voiced his desire to be outside and active 98% of the time.

we have been wanting to do this cabin retreat for several years now. the last time we got out there was when Aidan was only about 9 months old. the summers in between managed to get filled with other events. it still amazes me how the years can pass by so quickly, when the days seem to drag by at times.

i am a little worried now. i am sad that our summer is nearing to an end. there are still other things on our list that we did not do this summer. we have yet to make it to Fort Edmonton. the weather has been partly to blame for that. i was hoping to do some long exploring walks or bike rides. has not happened.

on the other hand...there is plenty we have been able to do. the kids will have completed 2 sets of swimming lessons. a week of summer camp. a week of camping. almost a week out of town with friends. lots of neighbourhood friends play time. aside from having that "dream list" still not completed, it has been a fantastic summer.

another adventure

i don't think i've shared all my photos from my last adventure.

oh well. eventually they will find their way on here!

in the meantime we had some more summer adventures.

part of the "fun" involved me dropping my blackberry into some wet sand. it was sacrificed in order to swipe a horsefly from Kiara's back. not even sure how it slipped from my grasp. however, the horsefly did not remove any skin from little miss K-bear, so that was good. even trying the bag of rice trick could not remove the moisture from my phone. ironically i had just been chatting with an old classmate about backing up my data because it was more valuable than the phone itself....since i use it for planning and my address book. {thanks, Derek!} i should have taken that advice. in the end, we were able to salvage about 95% of addresses and such. i consider myself lucky.

when i returned home i tried to find a replacement. just slightly ridiculous costs for that. slightly. ugh. i decided to be old fashioned and see if i could put our phone plan on vacation while i went without.

in the end, after several frustrating adventures, Kristian surprised me with the iPhone4. anniversary present. cheaper than an iTouch because we could continue to keep our old cell phone plan. the first "phone adventure" that made me smile that week. other than my hairdresser sharing how hers landed into the toilet bowl. as her young-potty-training-son was using it.

just so you know. a teeny bit of water and electronics do not like each other. how us mothers manage to get them near water in the first place...well...multi-tasking simply is not possible all the time.


soooo.....next adventure....

apple has some really cool apps for phones. here is an example from PictureShow. love that app!!



this is how tightly packed we got everything. i do believe the kitchen sink is under the lawn chairs....

for your information, BOTH of our children are major Transformers fans. thanks to their daddy-bear. this is what had their attention held so well. don't you love Kiara's outfit?! she put that together herself. just because i know you care. wink!


and the next adventure....

road trip.

"are we there yet?" is asked frequently these days. here is a tip. have a good road map. and 3 different coloured crayons. circle where you started and where you intend to end up. as you drive, connect the 2 points with the third colour.

our spirits fell when we discovered our favourite campground was full. on a Wednesday. seriously?

then they were lifted by one of the young wardens who stated, "this isn't even a good campground. i have no idea why it is so popular in the first place. there are much better ones nearby."

and he was correct. much to our GREAT relief. and initial shock.



the kids were so thankful that we could go to the beach EVERYDAY. cute.



they loved being outside ALL day. campfires and s'mores at night. tent sleeping. not once did we hear, "what can i do?" or "i'm bored." it helped that we brought some new activities with us....like painting, colouring, foam models, etc. but they had their own ideas of what they wanted to do as well. Aidan even made up a scavenger hunt for them.



this was the most relaxing camping trip Kristian and i have had with the kids yet. both of us managed to read an entire novel during the holiday. despite the extra work that camping involves, it was very restful for us.



momma-bear needs a new hat. but don't i look relaxed?



the beach was AMAZING. we even found teeny shells. the water was shallow for nearly forever. we all managed to get completely wet. one of my hi-lights was having a water fight with the kids. apparently we are teaching them this skill very well!



our final day photo.

this was the ONLY day the kids had the grumpies.

fantastic. it made for a long day, but we are happy that they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

we tried banana boats for the first time. huge hit.

aunt Stacey and i instilled a desire for campfire, s'mores and campfire songs in Kiara...who asked for all three of those every night.

here is another important tip. invest in a camping mat by Exped. the SynMat is revolutionary. really. if we could have our way, i think all our camping gear would be from this company. i am not exaggerating when i say that Kris and i voiced our happiness over them EVERY day.

lots of photos to look through. these are just a quick pic of my faves.