Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father’s Day

Last week was crazy. CJ was working like mad (as usual). He ended the week by pulling an all-nighter on Thursday night and then going to work for a full day on Friday.

Well actually he got to work a bit late because he took the kiddos to the allergist. Looks like the Boo is still VERY allergic to peanuts, and Sebastian is allergic to cats and horses. Kenzie told him this morning that he shouldn’t eat horses. Lol…

So we got home on Friday afternoon and Sue came by to visit… she ended up inviting us over for BBq dinner so we messed up the Woock’s house at dinnertime instead of ours. It was a lot of fun though. The kids put on a fashion show and Kenzie was declared the winner. She is still talking about it, so it must have made her very happy.

Yesterday morning Sue, Bev and I met at 6:30 for a walk around the lake. At 6:30 it was already super hot and humid, so when the skies opened up and it started pouring rain halfway through our walk it was actually quite refreshing.

The rest of our day was consumed with soccer photos, naps, household stuff like garage cleaning and gardening. Before we knew it, it was 7:00 an d we hadn’t had dinner yet… CJ bbq’d up some yummy steaks and we enjoyed eating dinner outside. The weather was perfect.. warm enough for short sleeves but not so hot that it was uncomfortable.

Kenzie really wanted to go for an evening walk so we headed over to the park… Kenzie ran over to the woocks to see if “RachelJenna” (that’s how she says it) wanted to join us. Jenna had a friend Deeana over so CJ and I took the kids to the park.

Then Sebby decided “big” Sophie (as opposed to little Sophie – who is Sophie Wood) should be there too, so he and I walked over to see if Bev and Sophia wanted to join us (John is in the Bahamas again). They were about to go to bed but we convinced them to come out. It was a beautiful evening. We hung out at the butterfly garden for a while and then came home. The Woock kids had to go home for their late dinner. So Sophia, Seb and Kenzie played out on the street with the neighbourhood kids (Olivia) why Bev, CJ and I enjoyed a drink on the porch with a citronella candle burning… It was 11:00 by the time we got the kids to bed.

This morning we ladies went for a walk around the lake again. It’s such an amazing way to start the day. When I got home everyone was still sleeping. I woke up CJ so he could go for his 10K run (he is in fantastic shape – so handsome and sexy too). As soon as he walked in the door after his run, all hot and sweaty and tired, the kids bombarded him with all their Happy Father’s Day wishes and the presents they made for him. This was the card that Seb attached to the picture frame he made…. I think it is hilarious!
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So it’s now shortly after 1:00. Jenna, Rachel, Sebastian and Kenzie are downstairs watching a movie. CJ is outside setting up a 12’ wide pool he bought.. I thought he was going to come home with a 3’ pool so this was a bit of a surprise. But I am sure the kids will LOVE it when they see it.

This afternoon I am hoping that CJ and I will get some downtime to just hang out and relax and enjoy the nice weather, our good life and each other.

CJ… I hope you have a great day today. You are an amazing father and a spectacular husband. We are all so happy to be part of your family. xoxoxoxox

Thursday, June 12, 2008

weekend photo blog

I’m tired so I wont write much. Just want to say that life is good these days. CJ and I are absolutely swamped with work. CJ has a big deadline at the end of this month and my big deadline is July 16th. We are both just running on adrenaline these days trying to get through the next few weeks. Luckily we have some fun things to look forward to (e.g. camping at the end of this month) and we are having fun along the way (e.g. our bbq last weekend – see pics below).

Kenzie and Sophie
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I love a house full of people
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Look at my hottie husband… he’s getting so skinny!
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Rachel and Sophia
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Helen and me
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Bev
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Kids eating lunch
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Bigger people
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Sprinkler fight
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Sprinkler fun
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And what would make the day perfect?.... a visit from the ice cream man…
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Kenz Benz
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Rachel
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Big Seb
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Helen and Dave – make such a cute couple
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And of course the baby
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The tired new parents
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Sunday, June 01, 2008

Butterfly Garden

My main focus at Kenzie’s school has been in the area of health and environment. Angela and I have been working hard to do something with the school yard to bring some life and “green” into it. She has been working with the Environmental club (students and teachers) to get a concept together. Angela and I both raised funds – enough to plant a “butterfly garden”. The kids in the club came up with various ides for the garden and one of the parents of a student at the school (who is a landscaper) to the kids ideas and put this concept together.

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This is what the area looked like before.

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Last week every student in every class in the school participated in the laying of flagstone and planting of the garden. This is the final product! I think it looks amazing and I can’t wait till all the plants grow and bloom.

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The next phase of the project is to build an actual outdoor classroom where the teachers can have lessons. Basically it will look like this.. (this is one from a different school) and it will be covered in vines. Hopefully we’ll get enough money by the fall to build it.

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Canada's Wonderland

Yesterday CJ decided that he was going to clean up the garage. If you saw our garage before you’d understand what a huge endeavor this was to undertake. So, to support him as best as I could, I decided to take myself and the kids away for the day to give him peace and quiet.

I had previously mentioned to the kids, the possibility of going to Canada’s wonderland – it’s only 20 minutes away but we haven’t managed to make it out there yet since we moved here. To be honest I kind thought it was a bit too much for the kids… I didn’t think they were old enough.

But yesterday morning we considered going. The weather report called for “strong showers” so I was a bit dubious. But then we looked outside and the sky was clear and the sun was shining, so we packed up, threw the wagon in the car and headed out the door. I called Omi to see if she’d want to meet bus and she did! So at 10:00 am we met her at Canada’s Wonderland. When we arrived the parking lot was almost empty and there were no lines… so I decided to bite the bullet and buy season passes for the kids and I. I figure that since we are so close, we can drop in there in the evenings on week days, go on a few rides and be home again before bedtime. They also have some good concerts there in the summer.

I any case… The day was a HUGE success! The kids area is HUGE! And it’s perfect for these two kids. We stayed for almost 6 hours and the kids still didn’t get to try every ride in the KIDS AREA! Here are a few pics from the day… I can’t wait to go back. They have really done a great job with that place and I love that they have so much for the small kids to do.

Kenzie and Scooby Doo
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Merry Go Round
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Driving cars
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On the roller coaster
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Swings
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Balloon Ride
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Fishing for prizes
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Prizes
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Planes
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Mini rockets
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Bouncing rocket
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Jumpin Jet
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Mini Putt
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Ice cream
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The Dora Show
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Kenzie loved it
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Kenzie got a butterfly face.
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