Lots of company!

On the eve of Canada Day, my sister and her three boys came over to visit for a few days! How exciting! Unfortunately the weather has not been very kind today for summer fun... but that didn't stop anyone from swimming!







Our rule is to have one person on the trampoline at one time however Maelie did jump gently to make baby Brennan bounce!



This summer, Maelie is being babysat at Natalie's house. She is LOVING it. I don't think she has ever enjoyed being babysat so much!

Today they went strawberry picking! Hereare the ones Maelie picked....



They also prepared and packaged some Canada day snack mixes! How sweet! Maelie brought home one for each of her cousins and her aunt Jo. She also brought home Canada Day cupcakes... but something happened to them before I even got a picture of them. Somehow... they were eaten! I wonder how that happened....!



I am so happy my baby is having a GREAT summer!!

a gift :)

I received a wonderful gift in the mail this week!

My friend Kathleen made these awesome dish cloths herself!! Such talent!! i LOVE them!



Also in the package was a calendar for next year! It's beautiful... and it SMELLS good! You know those nice smelling boutiques? well that is what it smells like! Even the bag smells nice (it's the red and white one that the cloths were pictured on)



Thanks sooo much Kath!!!

Long weekend away - part 3

The main part of this long weekend was attending a family reunion. These are the two people who made it happen. These are my mom's grand-parents. I was 2 when my great-grandpa passed away, and 6 when my great-grandma passed away so I don't remember them. Most kids didn't really want to go because they didn't know anyone. I reminded Maelie and Lucas that that whole crowd was our family! They were not sure how to soak that in! All they could say is that they have a HUGE family!



Here are the kings of the mountain ... just before Lucas scraped the whole front of his leg!



The reunion was at a sugar shack type place by the woods, so Maelie was happy to have her net a bug container with her for this special event!



Nathan liked to sit on the 4 wheeler so Jo decided it was the best spot for a pic of her and her boys! It would at least keep Nathan still long enough for a picture!



Who knew you could fit 2 babies in the little pool I got at Dollarama! A bit snug though!



Jo made a nice trifle for my belated birthday celebration. They wanted to sing me happy birthday. As you can tell... one of us was WAY too exhausted to sing.... LOL. So in her usual fashion, Maelie wrote a note so he could participate too.



Maelie and I headed home in the afternoon. Once close to home, Bill and I surprised her by going Go Karting!! She was quite nervous at first not expecting the kart to go fast at all.



Once she got going though... she did not want to stop!! She says she is now officially ready to drive!!



Great ending to a great weekend!! It's always good to be home though. For the next 2 days, I need to child proof my house as my nephews are coming over on Wednesday!! Nathan is a very very very busy bee!!

Long weekend away - part 2

To continue our long weekend....

Here are Nathan and Lucie in the swing. As you can see, Nathan has an ice cream cone again. It seems when we are on vacation, that's all the kids eat!



Now what kid doesn't like to play with water? The rules are clear though... don't even think of spraying a grown up!!



Nathan jumped right in with the older kids.... Mr. Busybee.



Here is grand-papa with Brennan. He promised he would change his diaper one day! YEAH RIGHT! haha



After supper the older kis were rather pooped so they relaxed and watch a movie in bed on the portable DVD player.



The next day, back at grand-maman's, here is Nathan a few minutes after getting up. Self-serve buffet apparently!



The kids went to let the ducks out and guided them to the pond. There is a fox that hangs around so they are safe in the middle of the water.



Poor Maelie was a bit disappointed that these ducks eat frogs! She was unable to catch any because of them!!



Here is Bidute, the life guard. She was very concerned that they were going so far away with grand-maman in the water! When she heard a noise, she growled. She truly is out to protect our kids. What a wonderful cat.



Back at grams we had a small posing session with the 2 oldest! That's almost pure torture for Lucas and Maelie! They don't enjoy posing very much unless it involves sticking your tongue out or bunny ears.



Maelie couldn't help herself but run throught the flower sprinkler! She LOVES water!



She found chalk and started coloring with Nathan.



She decided to write down the names of the family members on my side of the family.



Gram and Gerry enjoying the sun and kids! We love that our kids are blessed to have great grandparents. So many people to love them!

Long weekend away - part 1

Maelie and I just returned from a long weekend away. We visited my family and my sister was also visiting with my 3 nephews.

Can you believe this little baby is the same one I saw my sister give birth to last August? Maelie really enjoyed spending time with her cousins!



Of course we ended up in the river even if it was a bit chilly! Lucas is quite the fish. I'm not sure I would want to have goggles in this water! I would be afraid to see things I don't want to see! hahaha



An emergency pose with the flowers to make mom happy.



Here is Nathan with a bug net.



Maelie is teaching him at a young age!!



We headed off to the "patate sur la 5e" for a bit of lunch! This chip wagon is on a main street in the town where we went to school. It holds a lot of memories! and yummy food!



One cannot finish a meal without rainbow ice cream!



We stopped at my mom's workplace on the way back. She works in a day place for mentally challenged adults. They have a relaxing room with a colorful hammock. I must say this was Lucas' favorite spot! a little relaxation after a nice lunch!



As you can see, kids are easily pleased! Grand-mama is giving them a ride on a cart.



I spotted flowers and immediately forced my sister to hold the baby so I could take pictures. He is not too keen on grass and stuff. I guess it tickles the little chibby legs!



Oyr last stop before we left my mom's work was playing with a bunch of shredded paper bags! who knew that could be so entertaining!

Strawberry workshop

It's hard to decide whether to post this on this blog or my craft blog!

Today, Natalie and I were hosting a strawberry workshop. We were making adorable pic-nic baskets and strawberry boxes. We got the idea for the basket here,



and the pattern for the strawberries here.



We had some yummy food and drinks made with strawberries. I didn't get a picture of the delicious drinks Sonia made! We were just too busy slurping away! The only reason I have pics of the food is because Natalie kidnapped my camera... otherwise I would have forgotten!!





Our small group was a lot of fun! It's great to meet such different people from different groups of friends!!

I wonder what the next theme will be.... any ideas??

another bday party

Maelie attended another birthday party today. Twins from her grade were turning 8. When I asked one of the girls for a suggestion as to what they would like for their birthday, she said she liked money! LOL At least that is simple! So I got them both a gift card at Walmart. I didn't want to simply put the cards in an envelope so I made them little boxes with their names on them.

Maelie found them cute so that was a relief! Sometimes she finds my ideas a bit tacky!

Volunteering

Every year, Maelie's school holds a little assembly and either tea or lunch for all parents who have volunteered throughout the year. Not too many show up because it is a lunch during a weekday, and not everone can get away from work. But I always make the effort to take time off to go, even if it costs me vacation time!



The kids from different grades have poems for us on stage, and on grade played a song on the recorder. A few classes made some art.




After the little ceremony, they invited us into the library where a yummy luncheon was served!



These flowers were gorgeous and I could just smell them a mile away even with a plugged nose!