Summer

The summer is officially over and it seems to have flown by so quickly.  There was a lot that happened, but I never seemed to have the time or energy to blog about it.  Here are some of the Highlights and Lowlights.

1.  Death of a Loved One:  My Granny (Dad's Mom) passed away on July 22 at the age of 90.  Her funeral happened to be on my 35th birthday, at a time when I was dealing with a lot of medical stuff myself.  I was scheduled for an emergency EMG at the hospital that day and was very sad not to be able to attend the funeral.  She was a special lady who loved her grandchildren.  She enjoyed spoiling us when we visited her in Agassiz, but took even greater pleasure in showing us off to her friends in the care home where she lived the last part of her life.  She will be missed!

As I mentioned, it was a rough time for me physically, but I was also having a rough time mentally this summer.  I have been missing my mom a lot these days and the death of another loved one always brings it that much closer to heart.  I was extremely saddened when my mom was not mentioned in my Granny's obituary with her other deceased loved one and it made me realize how quickly people are forgotten once they have passed away.  Maybe I am taking this too personally, but I still feel like my mom was a daughter to my Granny for 40 years and should not have so easily been left out!

2.  Hair Donation:  I decided to make another hair donation and cut off my long locks!  This time the donation was made to Angel Hair for Kids, a Canadian company who makes wigs for kids.  I was able to donate about 11 inches!

3.  Camping:  We had our first ever camping trip with the kids at Allouette Lake in Maple Ridge.  The kids LOVED sleeping in a tent with their new sleeping bags and drinking hot chocolate to keep warm.  It rained both nights we were there, but that didn't stop them from swimming in the lake or having lots of fun.  I hope this will be a new tradition that will help us make some great memories as the kids grow up.

 

4.  Family Time:  We did not do any big trips this year, but Johnny was home most of the summer so we were able to spend lots of quality family time together.  We had a few day trips the last week of August.  We get free tickets for living so close to the PNE, so I was able to take the kids over a total of 4 times to see different shows (twice all by myself!).  The highlights were definitely the Backyardigans and the Superdogs.  Johnny and I also splurged one day and bought the kids all day ride passes with their cousin Taylor.  Such joy!



We also went to the zoo, which is always a hit.  Here we are checking out the giraffes (my favorite).

4.  New Roof:  Johnny loves doing projects around the house.  His work does not afford him much time to do many of these projects, but this one was at the top of his list to get done before the rains came.  He and his dad re-did the roof on our garage and did a great job!

5.  Birch Bay:  During my summers growing up in Birch Bay, the C-Shop was a huge part of our lives.  It was such a treat to walk over to the candy shop and pick out something special to eat.  This year, we made our first trip to the C-Shop with the kids.  They each picked out some Jelly Bellies, candy sticks and salt-water taffy.  We had quite a feast!  I can't believe we waited so long to start this tradition.  :)

The summer is now over, the kids are back in school and have started their other activities.  We are back into a routine and I am already missing the lazy days of summer.  Until next year.....

Second Year of Pre-school

Shaylah is an old pro at school now.  She is already into her second year of pre-school.  Most of the kids are the same in her class and she was very excited to see them all again.  I was unable to take her to her first day because of work, but thankfully Grammy and Grampy were in town and Daddy could take the morning off to make it very special for her.

Shaylah loves to pose for the camera.  She is wearing the special dress that Grammy bought her.

Walking the 2 blocks to school.

So excited to see her best friend Bronwen!

First Day of Pre-school

OK, this blog post is a little late, but our schedule seems to be so full these days!  Ashlyn and Caelan started pre-school this year at the same school their big sister goes to.  Ashlyn and Caelan go on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while Shaylah goes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Three kids in pre-school....it just makes me hope that next year never comes, when Shaylah will be out of the house all day everyday at Kindergarten.  I am missing her already!

I was able to take a couple hours off work on their first day, so that I could walk the little ones school.  I wish I could have stayed with them (like all the other moms!) and picked them up too, but at least I got to see them off.

Ashlyn transitioned to school so easily.  She walked right in and sat down at the circle.  She was very excited about going to school like her big sister.

Caelan had a bit more difficulty.  He did not want to let me go and he cried for most of the morning (they were only there one hour the first day).  He has become quite a bit more clingy to his mom since school started, but it is already getting better.  Last week he walked in without difficulty....although I am told by the teacher that he stays very close to his little sister.

Shaylah very proudly helped walk them to school to show them the way.