I've spent too many minutes in the last two days trying to load up more pictures. Not sure what the trouble is but I'm not spending anymore time on it for now.

I think I'll go put some wash in the washer and join the boys who have the hose on :)

Saturdays

We got home on time from Dad and Mom`s to catch the last 1/2 of the VBS week. And the small part I had was tiring.

I think I just admitted to being wimpy.

Back to VBS. The best part of it was the round 2 we had here at home with Leah and Sam. They stood, with their blue and yellow bags, on top of the slide and on the cover of the sandbox and sang songs and recited the 10 commandments for their invisible audience.

Their recitation was priceless. They had a small tag with the commandments written out in shorter form. Leah would read the first one and then tell Sam, okay, this is what you say next. Then Sam would do his best to read his commandment by way of his memory from Sunday morning services and Leah`s recap.

Precious.

(I am having some trouble here and I cannot use certain punctuation, like apostrophes, without getting weird symbols. Hope you can follow my stories none the less.)

I don`t know what I do wrong but none of my children have ever been one of these kids that takes a 2 hour nap until they`re 3 and still go to bed on time. So this afternoon when Cody and Cara were still fooling around at 2:40 I took them out of bed with the knowing we would just have to work around a disaster supper time.

The problem is this is becoming more and more common and I shudder to think that their nap time is becoming a thing of the past.

Anyway, this is what happens at supper time when they do not nap. We watched and laughed for 5 minutes and then I just put them both into the tub where they promptly woke up and played happily for a half hour while everyone else ate supper.

And since I`m on the subject of Satuday nights this is what happened last Saturday night.

We went to White Spot for supper. It was yummy.

I asked Steve`s permission and ordered a salmon fillet burger and caesar salad. Yes, I asked permission. Ordering caesar salda can be a cruel and unusual punishment if you`re hoping to kiss someone who doesn`t like the stuff.

Then we thought to go for a short walk at a nearby park. One that looked like it would be gorgeous on a sunny day. Unfortunately for us, it was not sunny.

In five minutes we got soaked. But it was such fun and more than half of us were headed for a warm bath anyway! :) Sorry to those who were not as amused but up until now, this was the highlight of my day.

And then we got ready for bed. I made one last check on the kids and crawled into bed. Steve pulled me close to give me a good night hug and promptly set me away again.

There`s 3 people in this bed tonight, he muttered.

Three, I questioned.

You, me and caesar, he drolly answered.

And that caesar salad with it`s measly single cruton became worth it`s weight in gold because of the shared laughter of the next five minutes.

Sorry to be so fickle but I instantly had a new highlight of the day!

Some more

Today has been a crazy day. Hopefully the pictures speak for themselves because I don't have enough energy to add extra's tonight.



Sunday was a wonderful day of biblical preaching and meeting the Calgary congregation.

Monday we visited Fish Creek Park. A more beautiful park I never thought to see in Alberta. Granted, everything was a lush green and sunny, warm temp! That might rule out visits from September to May :)

Sam got tired of pushing his bike uphill. Opa helped him out.


Leah thought it was a brilliant idea and gave Opa hers too.

Looking over the bridge at all the cedar wax wings and some sand piper sorts.

These bridges were great fun, especially on bike. And check out that sky, I love the wide openess of it. I can't say I missed the mountains at all.

This was the deck upon our arrival home.

A game of CandyLand while Opa and Papa did some work.

A couple hours later the fun (destruction was done) and a new deck started.

Before Steve and Opa could get started they had to go rent a couple of tools. Earlier in the day they had talked about going to play tennis and Sam was very excited about going along to watch. When Dad and Steve had been gone longer than any of us expected Sam started to wonder if they had gone to play their game of tennis without him. He told Nana, "I think they went on their honeymoon!"

A cute little helper. (That was probably the best part of the deck project was watching the kids enjoy Steve "at work."

Even Justin who visited Monday night got to catch some action from the patio window.

A third, wonderful, oh so special, day.

Saturday

Well, we're home again after a wonderful 10 day visit with Opa and Nana and I want to put some of these moments "to paper" for posterity's sake. Actually, it's only for the sake of my memory but the other sentence sounded nice... to me.

Friday, July 2, we set out in Gramma's van (thanks Gramma!) and had a road trip that was beyond what I dared hope for in the way of 5 relatively cheerful and contented children. It was, in all seriousness, a gift from God.

I had packed summer outfits thinking it would be summery in AB but would you believe we put the fireplace on downstairs for the evening!

Saturday was the first of many special days.

The kids played with all the toys they had forgotten Nana and Opa had and explored Mom and Dad's beautiful backyard.

This is what the guys did. :)

And then in the afternoon we went to Spruce Meadows. As you can imagine, horse crazy Leah was delighted.

We sat there and watched

with Opa

some of us totally enthralled

cool stuff like this...

and this....

Thoroughly delighting in the being together.

After the jump off and the championship parade was over we went to the Playground Ring and...

practiced our jumps

And did a little dreaming.

It was a most marvelous day and we ended it looking forward to spending a Sunday with Opa and Nana in church.

soccer game

For all the fun it was I thought it deserved a post on its own!

Getting warmed up.

Getting in there.

Some strategizing.

He's obviously in total agreement. What remains to be seen is whether or not Uncle M's plan will be successful.

Way to go, Sam, right between Opa's feet!

There was a whole lot of determination and competitive spirit.

Uncle D's gonna send those boys packing.

And if all else fails, grab the little guy with the ball, roll him over and stuff him through the "posts" for a goal.

Those little guys are quick and it's gonna take some effort to stop them this time! (I so wish I had been holding the camera horizontally!)

More big plans. Uncle M was suggesting a collaberated effort to give Uncle D the beats. Little did he know Sam was single minded. This was a soccer game, not a wrestling ring! The minute the ball hit the ground Sam was heading toward the goal, plans forgotten.

Such a great time! Hopefully we'll be able to do it again sometime!

Bedtime Fun

There's just something special about having a crib partner! He tossed his puppy into her crib and she has no intention of giving it back yet. She threw him her kitty and he's okay with that... for now.

Mama Goose

A dear lady left this special gift with a poem for me.

I laughed out loud. The poem was a great way to remember the story. The Mama Goose stuffy... like I said, it made me laugh out loud.
A piece of gum and a bit of tooth floss tied neatly in a bow made an oh-so-appropriate necklace.
My kids all wanted to be the one to eat the gum but don't worry, it's staying on the necklace as a crazy reminder for a long while yet.

Thank you, you dear poem writing lady!