what's been going on

We have been keeping ourselves busy and enjoying the beautiful summer weather around here.  There's been swimming, sleepovers, gardening, and just general playing around outside.

I have been keeping myself busy.  I succumbed to the hysteria and read the fifty shades trilogy (oh.my.goodness).  I've also been enjoying yummy iced coffee with the warm weather.

Jillian had her BFFL Ellie sleep over one night.  (BFFL = best friend for life for all those like me who aren't up to date on the latest acronyms).  Sleep-over is a bit of a misnomer since not much sleeping happened...the girls were up giggling and whispering until midnight and awake at the early hour of 6:00am. 

Kyle obliged and tried on his new dress pants, shirt and tie that he'll be wearing to a wedding this summer because I wanted to check the fit.  Oh my he looks so handsome in nice clothes.

Leah and I went to her Kindergarden information night which included activities for the little ones and a take-home bag full of fun goodies.  I'm still in shock that my littlest baby will be starting school in September (a mix of how did that happen so fast she was just born yesterday along with HOORAY for 2 days/week I will have all 3 kids in school!!).  I was chatting with Jillian's former K teacher and she would love to have Leah in her class, I'm hoping that works out!

Jillian & Ellie enjoying a late night movie and snack

May two-four

We had a very nice long weekend...fairly relaxing and got to enjoy a lot of time with good friends.  I started out Saturday night at a BBQ with my good friends from high school (yes, some of my best friends I have known forever!).  Sunday was kind of a blur for me since I had a migraine headache (blech).  But Jeff and the kids had a nice day and I had a quiet one which is what I needed.

Monday was full of signs summer is here to stay... 

Gardening...which included Jillian planting a tree she brought home from school as part of a tree-planting project.  She was happy to do the whole thing by herself. 

Bike rides...Jeff and Kyle went out for a long bike ride while the girls enjoyed some craft time in the newly cleaned up and organized craft corner (dare I get my hopes up now it will stay clean?).

Painted piggies...the girls LOVE having their nails done.  The more colourful the better!

BBQ with friends...the best part about having a pool is having great friends come over to enjoy!  The kids enjoyed fresh mangos while the grownups had beer and iced coffee.  The kids splashed in the pool while the grownups snacked on chips and salsa. 

And of course the quintessential summer food...watermelon! 

We are ready for a summer full of fun in the backyard!

the signs are all there...

With Kyle's 11th birthday approaching there is no way for me to ignore the signs that pre-teenhood is fully upon us.  And I can't help but think about how many things have changed...

At 4 years old Kyle discovered computer games and never went back, he's been very proficient on the computer ever since and is good at finding interesting games.  Now he is no longer happy to just play games on the computer, Kyle is often playing online with classmates and on google video chat at the same time (on a related note, listening to 10 year old boys talk to each other while playing video games online is entertaining!). 

As a little boy he listened to Dan the Music Man and other various children's entertainers.  Recently while driving with a friend of his in the back of the van, Kyle and Davis spent the whole drive with an ipod between them and each having an earbud in...they were listening to Hedley and discussing the various songs and their albums.  In general Kyle is more up to date with music than I am.

I remember buying the tiniest of plaid shirts for my handsome little 1 year old boy, I could hardly stand the cuteness.  And now almost all of his clothes from last summer are too small and I find myself buying the biggest sizes for him from the children's section for shoes and shirts (does this mean soon I need to shop in adult stores for him, eeek!). 

I remember many (MANY) nights being up with a little boy who did not want to sleep, who needed constant comfort.  And now he stays up late with Jeff and I watching action movies or Dragon's Den.

There's deoderant, the need to shower frequently (especially on gym days) and he's getting very close to catching up to me height wise...not too much of an accomplishment seeing as I'm only 5'4" but still it will be strange when he passes me.  And last but not least he recently "liked" a girl in his class and was writing her name in his notebook (I have since been informed he is no longer interested...but it has begun!).

Of course there are still bits of the little boy in there...I won't embarass Kyle by listing them, but it means the world to me they are still there.  I hope there's always a bit of that enthusiastic and sweet little boy in Kyle.

field trip!

I've been going on as many field trips as possible throughout my kids school years and I have to say as Kyle gets older, the trips are much more interesting (can't say I'll miss those farm trips once Leah is done with kindergarden!).  Today I joined Kyle and his class on a trip to the ROM downtown Toronto.  Since I absolutely detest have an aversion to yellow school bus rides I opted to drive Kyle and I down myself.  To avoid downtown rush hour and parking we parked at the mall and took the subway since there's a stop right beside the museum.

We made it through the whole ROM and the kids really seemed to enjoy all of the exhibits.  Kyle especially liked the ancient Egyptian area because he has read the Kane Chronicles (he's a fan of all Rick Riordan books). 

Unfortunately some guides called in sick today which meant our groups went without the 1 hour guided tour as planned.  But we would walk slowly past each guided tour we came across and listen in.  The kids also did a lab in the classroom all about Mayan Civilization (to tie in with their current curriculum). 


I enjoyed walking around, although my feet were a bit tired by the end of the day.  I haven't been to the ROM in ages so it was nice to walk around and enjoy with just older kids who are able to read all the descriptions and learn while they go.  Enjoying our lunch outside in the sunshine reminded me I need to plan a picnic lunch for Leah soon.

This area was pretty neat because each display case had a touch screen in front with a picture of the contents.  Then you click on any of the stones to get a detailed description including chemical composition and closeup picture.

Here Kyle is holding the oldest rock you can hold in your hands...it is 4.7 billion years old!  This is one of 12 that fell from space and landed in Australia a few thousand years ago.  This rock was created at the same time the planets were formed...pretty cool to be holding that in your hand.

Kyle was asked to participate in a short photo shoot the museum was doing to promote a new type of app-based exhibition this summer...he might be included in one of the guides or some of their promotional material (I had to sign a release)...so keep your eyes open for him if you are at the ROM this summer.

wouldn't want to come across any of these guys in a dark alley...

I found Kyle like this reading the information about this particular cross and the Byzantine period.  At first I thought he was praying based on his pose but when I asked he said he was just reading.  I thought it looked interesting how he was posed with his hand on the glass.

Yes, please!

One of my favourite exhibits...a gold and gem necklace designed by Paloma Picasso (daughter of THE Picasso).  She has been designing jewellery for Tiffany since 1980 and this is part of her signature X's and O's line. 

the pool is open!

It's so nice to see this clear blue water instead of the ugly black cover we look at all winter long.  With a weekend of nice temperatures ahead and the heater running on the pool we are now open for business.

Kyle and Jillian literally jumped right back into swimming.  Jillian can now touch flatfooted (this is now how we seem to be measuring the kids each summer). 

Leah is a little more hesitant about the pool but I'm sure within a few weeks she'll be back where she was last year and be swimming across the pool this summer.

Leah wasn't so sure about getting in (even though the water is really warm!)

After a little help from Daddy she makes it into the water.

more randomness...

It's been a busy week for Leah and I, just a lot of running around.  On Friday morning she sighed and asked "when are we just going to have a lazy morning again?" ha ha ha.  The tough life of my 4 year old.

All the kids are enjoying the warmer weather and our street is awesome because there are a ton of little kids and being on a crescent means very little traffic.  Leah is enjoying her trike and little car (it seems as soon as Jeff and I even talk about getting rid of something we think the kids have outgrown they suddenly develop a strong fondness for said item...).  So the little car will stick around for another summer and then get passed down to my niece.

The warmer weather is finally here to stay so it's safe for the flowers to come out at last

May 5th is Free Comic Book day which Kyle loves.  We got to the store right at opening time and had our pick.  Kyle used his money to buy the Green Lantern (and each purchase got another free comic book).  They even had a comic book just perfect for 4 year old Tinkerbell fans, who knew?

And finally, while all the moms I know are awesome in many ways I'm sorry to say the Best Mom has already been awarded to me by Jillian...I would like to thank all the great moms I know and my wonderful children and husband for making this award possible.  I am still waiting for my golden statue, I'm sure it's in the mail.  For now I'm happy with my award posted on the wall.