summer days

in the middle of spring.




we have been enjoying some amazing spring weather. i think the season fairies are dizzy. {if you have ever watched Tinkerbell 50 million times you will understand what that meant!}

these photos were taken on the weekend. we had some quiet evenings and early suppers. which translates to lots of time for a walk down to the duck pond. if you are an adult.

for the half-pints in our family that means a bike ride. young miss Kiara is really picking up strength and speed again. i've been hanging on to our chariot stroller/bike trailer in case she decides that it is too much. {or we decide.} last year we biked the 2.5 km to our local McD's and she did amazing. the only hurdle we had was on the return trip. in an effort to prevent the traffic from being held up, we walked her bike across the merge lane. much to all of our demise. it was a temper tantrum the entire trip home.  who knew 2.5 km could feel like 30km in a head wind. had we only known.




being it is spring, it also meant a check on the newly arrived feather friends. this is one of my favourite parts of our new community. a noisy Canada Goose awoke me early one morning this week. that was a first for me. we have a little birdhouse in our backyard and we're hoping that some nice little songbirds will come and frequent it this year.



this is one of my favourite close up photos of a goose. they really are a beautiful bird. i would have loved some of the Mallards, but they were just too far away for that. i've heard that Canada Geese mate for life. isn't that cool? they also fly in a "v" formation and take turns being the lead bird. that is the limit of my knowledge about them. however i think they are pretty cool to be such team players.




baked alaska.

the kids were pretty amazed that we could "cook" ice cream. it was a treat for all of us that night.

last night the kids had their final AWANA session. each week they can earn AWANA dollars by attending and doing their homework/memory work. Kiara spends all her money when she can, whereas Aidan had decided to save his. as of yesterday he had $60. Kiara spent most of hers on candy, and Aidan spent his on toys and one tiny candy.

since Aidan finished his entire book of memory verses, he earned an opportunity to throw a pie in the face of one of the leaders. i love that they have so many fun and creative ideas to do with the kids. they have games every week.

it was also a big day for Aidan at school because they finished their final page in their printing books. as each of the kids finished their book, his teacher would get the class attention and say, "hip hip hooray! Aidan finished his printing book today!" then the class would clap. i happened to be volunteering yesterday and got to join in. it was amazing how something so simple had each of the kids beaming like they were royalty.

i am looking forward to the freedom of summer. however i am already tearful that Aidan will be done kindergarten in a few months. his teacher is a friend of mine and i have many great memories of subbing for her before Aidan joined our family. i taught for many talented teachers, but as Aidan grew i knew that her style would be perfect for him. it was completely divine intervention that he ended up in her classroom.

learning academic stuff comes so easily to him. i love that mrs. k encourages the kids to excel at the level they are capable of and keeps her classroom flexible for that. he read his first "library book" on his own this week. ironically the title was "All By Myself". he also loves, loves, loves to ride his bike. more than any other kid we know right now. just like his daddy. {these days he refers to himself as a little engineer. of course i remind him that teachers are the smartest because they are the ones who teach the engineers. i have to defend my profession!}

i am excited to teach my year in review students again tonight. this is a fun and artsy layout. i'm still working on the next layout. it will be elegant and clean. it has been fun to put these pages together. i love that this job really energizes and inspires me. i'm looking forward to what the students think of the new techniques tonight. i always enjoy hearing how they use their favourite new techniques too. i am also working this weeks' late night crop. can't wait for that. we have been very fortunate to have some awesome ladies the past few months. some nights they keep us challenged finding all sorts of products or sharing ideas. it is always a blast.

well, off to go shopping! Kiara loves to check out stores with me. i will take advantage of that as long as i can.

a sign of spring

we went out for a bike ride after supper yesterday. we were thrilled to view the fountain that had been missed over the winter!


everything is so brown and yucky. dust is everywhere. thankfully the snow is pretty much gone. that is important! as we went around our duck pond, i spotted a little rainbow. very cool.


my wish is for the wind to stop completely and instead have warm rain for a few days. we would gladly exchange the dust for some sprouts of green. even a walk in calm and soaking rain would be welcome. just leave out the wind. and the cold!

looking for spring

we had a couple of beautiful days last week. on Thursday it all went downhill! the kids and i literally enjoyed the spring weather right up until "the big wind" blew. we knew it was coming, but it was still hard to believe the snow that blew in too. the wind was ferocious. it slowed down on Saturday, but it finally stopped today. Aidan asked me where the sun was today. and it was Kiara who responded, "it is in the clouds!" a correct answer. however i think Aidan was wondering when the sun would shine again. preschool grammar.

the gist of the whole frustration is that we are simply ready for spring.

on Book-Face i commented that i "thought i had said good-bye to winter". one of our cousins suggested that perhaps i didn't say it loud enough, and another suggested Danish would be the language to use. so i am now shouting - along with my children who are anxious to leave their coats and shoes inside and trade them for swimsuits - am shouting at the tops of our lungs....farvel vinter!!!!!



on another note. i have decided to plant numerous spring bulbs this fall. there is no colour anywhere on this property. ugh! i would have done it last fall, but i knew i would just be digging them up again when we move some trees and flowerbeds around this summer. after a decade of watching the little tips of the tulips appear i realize that i really miss that part of the spring ritual.



even when the bulbs are as old as the earth and don't last for more than a few days or get their petals blown off in a gust of wind! these old things were once dug up and replanted. i had bought a package of new bulbs and only ever had a few of them appear the following spring. whatever i decide to plant this fall i must be patient, follow the instructions implicitly and buy good bulbs! most certainly a few will be red. but i think some yellows or pinks would be excellent too.




my neighbour had a flowerbed filled with these beautiful forget-me-nots. i also discovered that they grow very easily from seed. to my relief, they also are very unobtrusive. {unlike the lily of the valley. they look so innocent and cute....kind of like 2 year olds.} love those pretty little flowers. so did the kids.



we will have blooms from the 2 fruit trees in our yard. that will be nice. i do miss the huge, old apple tree. it really looked spectacular in the spring with it's full coat of white blooms.

we were discussing the future of our new yard one day. Aidan informed Kristian that i wanted lots of roses. hmmm.... i'm not sure if i commented on roses specifically. it was not until last year that i realized my need for summer colour outside my windows. when we discussed our yard with the landscape designer we also requested trees that have some kind of colour in the winter. like evergreens or junipers. or the lovely red or yellow bark of leafy shrubs.


my trial version of CS4 expires in a few days. has it really been that long? there are still a ton of things to figure out and learn!


oh, and if you see "Spring"....could you send it over here to help us wait for summer? thanks so much!