Family Fall Fun

Around Thanksgiving, my sister and her family came out to visit. There were a few sunny days, so we took a little trip to a local "farm." We left the youngest kids with Oma and Opa, and then all of us big kids enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of Willowview Farms. I love the cutesy-country feel of this place! They have great decorations for Fall and the Country Store--oh my! Loved it!

 It was quite a sunny day, and it seemed like all the photo opportunities were facing the sun! So here are the kiddos, squinting as I forced them to stand for a picture!

 My adorable niece! She loved seeing all the pumpkins.

 And my adorable kiddos!

 Walking through the big pumpkins, and trying to move them. We were not successful at that, but it was fun to try.

 And many more pumpkins to choose from. Too many actually!

I loved this little "How Tall This Fall?" height measure! If only the sun were shining the other direction and I could get a decent picture. . .oh well, maybe another time. Or to create one of my own somewhere. . . (to my hubby's horror!) 

 Our favourite animal of the day. . .little piggies!

 A picture in one of the pumpkin patches. . .those are big pumpkins!

 And a picture in the corn field. . .the kids had never walked in between row of corn before, so that was kind of exciting for them!

 Oh course there was the apple orchard, the play area, the animals, the candy sticks and pie. . .so much to do and enjoy there!

{And the bees! Who can get away from the bees this year!}

And so much fun to do it all with family!

So long Fall Fun Day!



After-School Closet

This past weekend my hubby did the greatest thing. One of many of his greatest things, of course.

We have re-done (well, almost re-done. . .you know how those ends of projects--the little details, the little fix ups, the last coat of paint--last forever!) our kitchen. In our "older" box-like home, we had a closet at the top of stairs. We had turned it into a pantry soon after we moved into the place as we needed the space to store stuff as our small kitchen/lack of cupboard space didn't allow for the room we needed. Now that our kitchen has a few more cupboards and drawers, I didn't need all that space for pantry anymore.

I love the new kitchen, but I was getting annoyed at the mess made by the school bags, dancing bags, diaper bags and extra junk sitting around the living room and kitchen--and I was making that mess too! We just didn't have a spot to put it all that "worked." I had talked to the hubby about converting that closet into and area for all the "bags," and he had said he would do it one day, but. . .you know how that goes.

So maybe it was the fact that I had thought I had checked all the pockets of kids' clothes after the school week was done. I have kids who like to find treasures and a hubby who likes to keep candy wrappers in his pockets, so this is quite a ritual for me. Maybe it was because it was Friday night and work week #3 was done for me. . .but apparently there were crayons in my son's pockets. They went through the washing machine just fine--and gave no sign of them being there. But then when I was getting the clothes from the dryer. . .it was a tie-dyed mess! Primary colours were EVERYWHERE!!! (I was suddenly cursing the meal out we had (you know , the kind of meal out where they give your kids crayons with the menu that somehow ended up in my sons pockets!!!)--even though it was really nice not to have had to cook that night!). So there was me, googling to find a fix. This and the accompanying articles saved me! All the clothes are spotless and the dryer is cleaned! Phew! Don't think I want to test that out ever again! I figured if I were ever going to have to clean up a crayon mess, it would be from kids colouring on the walls. . .nope not me! I get to be the one to figure out the dryer!

Maybe when the hubby came home on Friday night really late and saw me crazy at work (and maybe a little annoyed!) prompted him to get started on this closet project the next morning. Or maybe it was just on his to-do list.  At any rate, I am totally happy about it!

First he took out all the shelves, with the help of two fine workers.

He enlisted the help of one of those workers to take out all the old screws and brackets. . .

 Then he was busy constructing away. Here is (kind-of) the end result. I have two storage/pantry shelves above a space of hooks for the bags, backpacks and so forth! There are hooks for the brooms and aprons, and he mounted one of those plastic storage things for re-using plastic bags.

(The big paint bucket is our current recycling bin, so I have to get a new one of those, and there is space on the bottom for storage, too. Again, those ice-cream buckets have to go, but I had them for now, so they are in the photo! I was just so happy with this closet! I had to post about it right away! The rush out to get proper containers will happen next week or so!)

It needs a little organization and rearranging of the food items, bins, etc, but that will come. It also all needs a coat of paint and a few holes filled. . .you know, all those kinds of details that take forever to finish. . .but right now it is very functional, so I am a happy wife and a happy mom!

 Here is a closer photo of the hooks under the shelf. . .

 And the other side. . .

 And, once the door is closed, you'd never know that there is a lot of junk hiding behind it! Now my living room and kitchen isn't scattered with lunch kits, backpacks and the like. . .and I love that!

I think my hubby is the greatest!

Airplanes. . .

A highlight of the summer for us has been the airshow.

We were very lucky this year and my daughter won (well, her name was drawn to win) a colouring contest that got her a family pass to the show. Maybe is was random, or maybe it was the excessive pink and purple used to colour the photos of these old fighter air crafts. Who knows?!?

The family (some of us) also went to the airshow thanks to the wonderful berry farmers who let some lawn chairs be set up on the edge of the property for a few hours. :)

 Here is E's (and one of Princess A's) collection for the airshow. He spent some time on the website researching the air crafts he would see and wanted to be sure that he could make up his own airshow at home based on what he had read and what he saw.

 Checking things out. . .

 Gotta love kids and binoculars!

 See Princess A eating? I think she really goes along for the snacks.

 Here is one of the photos they got from the fields of the snowbirds. Not too bad. . .

But then, back to the actual airshow. Dad hadn't been there last year to look at the museum, so we took him along this time! Here we are checking out some of the army vehicles.

 Here are the kids trying to fly one of the HUGE ones (this is a US one--there were more of those and they were bigger.)

 Not a bad shot, I think. Especially when you are trying to take a picture right beside two people who have the big, specialized Nikons and Cannons with all the bells and whistles. This is the result of a cute little point and shoot!

 Here is some of the family in one of the big ones again.

 This is how Princess A enjoyed the airshow. . .although I don't think Dad minded too much either.

 My cutie!

 My other one! Sporting his Airshow T-shirt. . .

 And another shot from the show. . .it was a fun afternoon.

Good-bye Summer, Hello School

Gone are the carefree days of summer,

staying in pajamas late

going outside to play early

Mom having a cup of coffee in semi-peace

when the kids would play all day

together

pretending to be everything imaginable

 and exploring the world around us.

Oh, how I savoured those last few days!

Good-bye summer!

Hello school days!

Welcoming first days of school and students!

 This year was a little different as mom and son both had first days of school! It was I who welcomed  a batch of my own group of primary students, and it was Dad who brought E to school on the first day.

(And as a result, fewer pictures than I would have taken!)

 But he met his friends and met his teachers and started all the exciting things school had to offer a "bored-summer-mind,"and it was okay that summer was over for him! School was way more exciting. . .plus there are still hours after school and in the evening to play and bike and swim!

 Princess A was a little bit jealous and a lot bit going to miss her playmate. She needed a first day of school for E picture, and took a few days to get used to playing without him. But soon enough she got to start a "school" of her own. . .

Dancing!

What kind of princess can resist wearing pink and prancing around???

And I rush out the door--some days with no coffee at all--wondering,

"Where has summer gone?"

Making a Rainforest

It so happened the my son was sitting though one "boring" church service and paging through a magazine called The Banner. It was the August 2011 one. This publication has a section called, "Just for Kids," and this particular month's was all about the rainforest (Really Cool Rainforests by a Mrs. Baker).

There was one part in it called Rainforests in a Bottle, and E decided in church that he better go home and make one. So. . .that is what he did (with a little help from Dad!)

They took a 2L pop bottle, cut it in half, put rocks in the bottom, and covered it with potting soil, just like the directions said to do. They added water to moisten the soil, and put a small strawberry plant inside. Then they attached the "top" of the bottle using clear packing tape.

The directions said to put it out in the sunshine, and that no more water was needed  because the water inside the bottle recycles itself and the plant should grow. (See all the droplets on the sides of the bottle?)

And according to Mrs. Baker, "You've successfully created a rainforest!"

Pizza Pasta

My kiddos were part of a the summer reading club at their local library. In addition to the reading they did at home, there were various shows/presentations that they could attend. One that we went to was put on by The Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a cooking show, where they connected the need for reading and writing with working at the various levels within the restaurant. They also had some of the kids help them make a special secret recipe created just for the event.

Well, not so secret, I guess, when they give the kids the recipe, right?

So, my son came home and wanted to make it. It was called "The Old Spaghetti Factory's Secret Pizza Pasta Salad."

So, he put together the ingredient for the dressing: 1 c. tomato sauce (we did a home made version of the kind we like. OSF obviously used their tomato sauce recipe), 1 c. ketchup, 1/4 c. diced onion, 3/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. red wine vinegar, 1 t. basil, 1 t. oregano, & 1 t. black pepper

Then he added  cooked pasta (3/4 c. to each 1/4 c. dressing), added diced mozza cubes, sliced pepperoni, and even tried to decorate it with fresh basil like the chef did!

This was supposed to be a "cold salad." He wanted to try it warmed up, so we added a bit more dressing and a bit more cheese, and baked it briefly in the oven.

Add a little garlic toast. . .yum!

Thanks to the Old Spaghetti Factory for the recipe and the fun of making it at home!

This post is linked: Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday

A white dress. . .

A long time ago. . .

my best friend and I got dressed up. . .

 and decided to spend the rest of our lives together.

 Thank you God for many wonderful years!

And. . .as I was looking through some photos, my kiddos wanted to know what it was like. They remembered their Grandma's wedding, but it seemed very different to them than the pictures they saw in the black photo album. Then. . .all was quiet and I though the moment had passed. I went on to bake some snacks. E suddenly came upstairs with a big white garment bag and said, "Try this on!" Someone had found my wedding dress! Princess A of course couldn't resist a "princess moment" so. . .

Photo was courtesy of E ("because that is what happens when girls wear pretty dresses, you know. People always take pictures of girls in dresses and boys on bikes.")
It still fits! (I kinda do that every year (or more if needed!) after a baby. . .make sure I can still squeeze into it!)
*~*~*

The excitement of it all prompted my two older ones to have a pretend wedding. It was adorable! I love my kids! They are so creative and so darn cute! (I'm very, very biased, of course!) All of a sudden, Princess A came out of her room looking like a princess and E came upstairs in his best black clothes, and it was announced that it was time to sit down so the wedding could begin!

They got dressed up in their "wedding best" and had a ceremony of their own.
And, of course, there always has to be a picture of the ring. . .

And the dancing that goes along with it all. . .

(E said he knew what the boys are supposed to do for the dancing and then proceeded to help Princess A do a twirl and then a lift in the air! I couldn't help but giggle! I think he did okay!)

I love my kiddos! They make my life so full of overflowing joy!

And I love my hubby--of course! Happy Anniversary!