Week 3

Here are my pictures from this weeks challenges.


Aug 15 - on the highway leaving Albertsville. No idea we were not going to make it home this day.


Aug 16 - the loaner car from the dealer in our driveway. Home sweet Home, at last!


Aug 17 - On my plate challenge. All of the stuff I had on my plate this day. There is always so much work to do when returning from a holiday. The toughest part was everyone getting sick :(


Aug 18 - a morning walk to the post office to pick up the mail after a week. Hooray way fewer bills then I imagined :)


Aug 19 - my picture and my tripod ;) I actually do have a tripod but this worked just as well. An evening of putting our feet up and watching Olympics (oh yeah and eating nachos) after kids were in bed.

Aug 20 - August photo challenge. This speaks August to me...being outside and then eating ice cream (which replaced supper since she had a fever).



Aug 21 - a great end to a long day at the store. She recently was faced with the unexpected loss of her sister. She and her family have been on my mind daily. This is a friendship that withstands time! This is one strong, amazing woman. I love this girl to death and have been so fortunate to have her in my life. The smiles were less about posing for the picture and more about laughing at me practically belly flopping into the tub before the camera took the picture.

This is my week in review. Despite all of the illness in my house, the lack of sleep and no van/transportation...it has been a good week but I certainly look forward to the start of a new week without illness, on a little more sleep and having a van.

Happy Holidays!

We are back from our holiday. Despite an eye infection (US medical bill which will be covered by our Blue Cross), a fever for my other daughter and a leaking transmission we made it home in one piece. Our van on the other hand is still in Fergus Falls getting repaired. We currently have a US rental which according to the border patrol we cannot drive in Canada. I quickly edited a few pics for my picture a day August challenge. My zoom lens is in the shop so I'm using a portrait lens for candids which was REALLY frustrating and made for some not so good shots. But the good thing about this is it encouraged me to put my camera away and enjoy. Here are my shots for the week:



Aug 8 - What's on your feet challenge. What a great time for this challenge since baby DD has been wearing every shoe she can find. She loves the one that make noise when she walks! :)



Aug 9 - A trip to Winnipeg . A stretch for the put out the trash challenge going to Wpg to bring my lens in before my warranty ran out and my lens became trash ;0)


Aug 10 - at our hotel in Grand Forks. DS never plays with his Elmo or Cookie Monster but chose them as his toys to bring along on our trip. Guess it was a result of the Elmo Makes Music Show that we saw in Grand Forks this same day.


Aug 11 - A quick stop in Albertville at the outlet mall resulted in this...much more in the bags! This was only the beginning because we stopped on our way home as well.




Aug 12 - Mall of America. I wasn't sure if I should take the kids on this ride with me but went for it anyways. DS was pretty scared. DD was scared as well, but she didn't have much of a reaction. I loved it! In the above picture the kids are showing off their new build a bears!


Aug 13 - Como Zoo. I couldn't decide on one picture so did a quick little collage. My favourite thing was the Gorilla - very cool to watch. We even saw him pick his nose (Yuck).


Aug 14 - Valley Fair! GO, GO, GO challenge. The kids started off on the cautious side but then got braver as the day went on! They loved the monster :) I even went on the Wild thing
"Valleyfair's hyper-coaster, Wild Thing, features one of the world's largest weightless zones and a 200-foot, 60-degree drop!"

Go Team Canada!

A huge congrats to my cousin Brooks McNiven who is currently in Beijing for the Olympics. I can't wait to see him on the pitching mound at the Olympics...WOW, what an accomplishment. I love the Olympics and always waited for them as a kid. What a dream come true to represent your country amongst some of the best in the world! Go Brooks, we will be rooting for you!

Photo Challenge Week 1

Thanks to Laurel for putting on a great challenge over at Rhubarb Roots

It has been great getting that push to use my camera for taking pictures of my own kids ;) I am still missing some of the moments that have defined the day but I am generally remembering to get snapping a whole lot more!

Here are my pics from the first week:

Aug 1 - Good Morning Challenge. A great way to start off the morning with an oatmeal bath :) Teaches me for sneaking away to check email while the kids were eating breakfast.


Aug 2 - "These are a Few of My Favourite Things" (this was the song they had playing on the keyboard and were playing along. If anyone was walking by my house this morning they would have been graced with my fabulous singing:) I love the Sound of Music


Aug 3 - I want to see you challenge. This is just one pic from a fantastic day which all started off with this breakfast:





Aug 4- a shot of the moon at the end of a fun photoshoot. I came home to my kids dressed in one anothers pajamas and in each others beds.



Aug 5 - Swimming lessons consumed most of our week. It was nice to have a place to go each morning.



Aug 6 - Challenge A House Is a Home. The last coat of paint went on in the living room. These are the colours I chose, the grey for the kitchen, beige for the hallway and entrance and brown for the living room.



Aug 7 - Challenge Look Up. Practicing for the show they were about to put on. He found my old clown costume in our dress up trunk and decided to juggle as part of the act.

Peter Pan and a taste of royalty

So our fairy hunt has taken a new turn. T has come up with the most brilliant idea to trap Peter Pan and that way Tinkerbell will certainly come to find him. She was telling me the most intricate plans tonight as we were lying in her bed about how she will make Tinkerbell some clothes from paper and if she doesn't like them, then she can just wear a diaper. You can guess what type of toothpaste she chose last week - Tinkerbell. She thought spreading a little of it in her bug catcher may help in her quest. Good luck little T...I'm rooting for you!

Besides our fairy hunts we have started our two week swimming lesson sessions today. I think it will go quite smoothly. The kids are very comfortable in the water, much more then last year and seemed to have a good time. It is a nice place to spend the mornings.

T had the honor of passing the flowers to the 2nd princess at our local festival. She was a little nervous considering "the whole universe would be watching," but did absolutely fantastic! It was such a highlight for her and I'm sure she will remember it for years to come!

Fairy Hunter

Anyone that has been within earshot of my daughter over the last several days will be no stranger to her fairy fantasy! She has become completely obsessed over catching a fairy. I have no idea what she saw or where she came up with the idea. It happened the day we gave her a new book about fairies but before we started reading the story of a little girl who had a chance to befriend some fairies. She only was able to see them because she believed in them. So this is not helping our situation ANY!

The night before we started reading the book she was up until 11:30pm crying because she wanted to catch one and trying to devise a plan. She even thought she should take its wand away to ensure it didn't cause trouble. We were outside at 11:00pm, flashlight in hand because she needed to show us where she thought there may be one.

She has made a home for these fairies in her new bug house (which she saved up her allowance for). She even made a sign for her "fairy house" asking me how to spell yes beside her drawing of a fairy. It is amazing to watch her imagination soar and at the same time sad to see my little girl longing for the impossible. The first of many dreams I wish I could make come true! I love this girl to pieces!

He's 6

I can not believe 6 years have passed. This little guy is growing up right before my eyes. Teaching me so many things and bringing so much joy to our lives. I love that he still loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses, tell us how much he loves us and is not TOO embarrassed by our craziness (although he does sometimes ask me to stop singing while rolling his eyes). He had his birthday party on Saturday and had chosen a small party with 2 friends and his 4 year old sister (by choice :) ). We went mini golfing and go-kart racing and then out to Dairy Queen for lunch. It was so much fun being able to focus on such a small group. We had a singsong in the van (Barenaked Ladies Popcorn is a favourite in our house right now)!

Tonight we had another little get together. He seemed so excited last night to say "see you when I am 6," but tonight is missing being 5. :(

You are such a blessing little man. I'm looking forward to many more days, months and years with you.