QUOTE FOR THE DAY

This is what Jake and I look at in the bathroom mirror while we brush our teeth each morning. If anything, it puts a smile on my face.

Our family made our way back to Pasley last weekend. Despite the very unfortunate job of cleaning up all the crap that fell into the cabin after the boys re-roofed, we did enjoy some sunshine, collecting firewood, building a fire, roasting marshmallows for breakfast, playing lots of cards, going for a row, and being together just the 6 of us (including Kirby)...

1 to 10

Our family likes to use a scale from 1 to 10 to rate something. The "something" could be anything, from a sushi dinner to a weekend at Whistler. Every day when I pick the kids up from school, I ask them how was your day, from 1 to 10?

Today, Sam rated his day 1oo, and Clara's was a 4. Apparently she "lost" her best friend at recess (as in they are not friends anymore), her milk leaked in her lunchbox and made her sandwich soggy and to top it off, her favourite art teacher is leaving.

According to Clara, this is how the scale works:

10=really, really really super dooper looper great!

9=really, really, really great

8=great

7=good

6=just OK

5=not that good, medium

4=not very good at all

3=bad

2=really, really bad

1=really, super dooper bad

0=the worst day ever!

So I guess her 4 day could have been worse?

THE LITTLE THINGS

The little moments always hiding in plain sight are the ones I love.

I'm loving my 5 year old today, even if he chewed 5 buttons off his shirt (above) yesterday. That boy loves to chew on things.

I'm just wishing time would slow down just a bit.

TYPICAL EVENING

This has been a typical evening around here these last couple of weeks.

A 3 minute dinner, followed by playtime on the street with the neighbours and Rocco. Even though I pine for a fenced yard, I'm going to miss this street when we move.

Tonight, the kids played "nature people" and "we are so poor we have to live in the car" (Jake's car).

Speaking of Jake...if you are reading this, we miss you!!

GOODBYE SUMMER

Summer seems so long ago already.

I think I'm OK with saying goodbye. I do love the coziness and crispness of Fall. And I love the feeling of starting fresh. Maybe we should go pick some apples. Anyone no where we can do that?

ME DO IT!!

Currently, this is Will's most used expression.

WEEKEND

(Daddy and some Daddy friends went to Pasley this past weekend to re-shingle our roof. For those Daddies who read my blog, thank you!! I understand that it was not a traditional "boys weekend" of drinking and leisure and a morning of golf, but rather a weekend of hard manual labour in the pouring rain. Anyway, we are very thankful to have a new roof over our heads).

So while Daddy was roofing in the rain, the kids and I spent Saturday with Annie and her girls over in her hood.

My kids love cats. Maybe because we we don't have one, and never will have one.

We saw the movie "Despicable Me" and I laughed my butt off. It was so funny, despite being anxious that Will wouldn't wear his 3D glasses and essentially watched an hour and a half of fuzziness.

(I had nothing to do with Sam wearing black socks with his crocs).

And my sister took Clara skating twice. Despite our efforts not to start up any sort of hockey program (we are encouraging summer water activities), sissy also took Clara to a hockey drop in (which she loved).

And I can't believe how old she looks in this picture (waaaa!)

CLARA AND KIT

Clara and Kit have been reunited after a summer apart. They have hardly left each other's side these past 5 days.

(overexposed, but I love it anyway)

SUMMER

I posted this on my photo blog, but it makes me feel happy. What amazing summer we had. Please bare with me while I do some catching up. Apparently I took a lot of photos in July and August...

SAM'S FIRST 2 HOURS

Day 3.

It is unclear when Sam's actual official first day of school is. Was it the apple juice and muffins in the gymnasium on Tuesday? or the afternoon stint on Wednesday? or the 2 hours this morning? Regardless, some more rushed pics on our front doorstep from the morning, this time with Sam and his new backpack.

Will really wanted a backpack too...

So I quickly found one in the closet for him...

Which he wore for the rest of the day.

FIRST HOUR OF SCHOOL

Well, the morning went surprisingly well. Clara was up and dressed (all on her own) by 7:24am. Despite the good start, we still were running down the hill to make the bell at 8:35am. Consequently I only got a few quick pics.

The token doorstep pic:

Running down the hill. Will brought a suitcase:

Sam and Will and their buddies (while waiting for Clara to finish her hour of school):

Tomorrow, is a full day for my girl, and Sam has a brief afternoon shift at Kindergarten. Soon it will be just me and Will...

THE END

We are home. The summer has ended. Tomorrow, school starts for 2 of my 3.

Supplies have been labeled, outfits have been chosen and laid out on the floor, kids have been bathed and nails clipped, tags from the new backpacks have been removed, lunch kits have been decorated with stickers...

The house is completely engulfed in dirty laundry and duffel bag contents.

Bedtime didn't go very smoothly. There was not enough room in the bunk bed for all of us to read the book side by side. Clara fell out and Will hit Sam in the head with a car. No one wanted to go to bed and Clara finally fell asleep at 10:03pm.

Today was rainy and cold, which I thought was a good way to end the summer. We even lit a fire at the cabin and played cards and roasted marshmallows. It was a good transition for me from cabin life to real life.

Anyway, off to bed I go...we have a busy today tomorrow.

2

It has come to my attention, after just recently photographing a 4 day old, that Will is not, in fact a baby.

He is actually pretty big. And I am utterly smitten with him right now.

When you ask him how old he is, he tells you 2. And when you ask him what his name is he tells you 2 (not to be confused with Sue).

Jake was just commenting on how much he has changed over the summer. He is taller, poops in the toilet, talks more, plays with his siblings, counts to 5, makes motor noises with his boat, jumps on the trampoline, runs fast, rides his trike even faster...

But he is also still soft and squishy and cuddly, and still my baby.

He got some dirt in his eye here.

This is actually a baby (my friend's new little guy). I'm kind of smitten with this size too.