time out

at the apple orchard.

apple day

I am feeling fall today.

Watching the rain.

Drinking a hot cuppa coffee.

Baking apple struesel muffins.

Using locally grown apples and a recipe from this book that Grandma gave me, to make the muffins. This book is great - you use the basic recipe and then add various ingredients to make over 100 kinds of muffins. And the kiddies and I love to make muffins...

Enjoying these photos from the past weekend at an apple orchard...

Christine invited Lee Anne, Jillian, Jen and I, together with our families to celebrate fall with a trip to the apple orchard. So after R's hockey, we met to pick some apples... go for a hay ride and play in the muck...

Then the mommies all gathered in Christine's kitchen to bake our apples into pies, crisps and bread puddings. And drink wine. And make a big mess. {I made an apple crisp using a recipe from Martha. It was a good thing}.

And when we were finished with that, the dads and kiddies {all 11 of them, so we were a group of 21...yikes!} joined us for a wonderful pot luck turkey dinner with all the fixings. And many, many kinds of yummy apple desserts to choose from.

Happy Fall!

richmond fair

A drive in the country.
Spending a day at the fair...

{the car I am going to win so I can be like Uncle VW...keep your fingers crossed}

Good times.

besties

Miss S and the other Miss S started pre-school together.
Miss S spotted her bestie as we were just arriving.
"I want to hold hands with the other Miss S"
And she was off.
And didn't look back.
Well, only for a minute, after they first got through the big doors.
And then the two Misses found the dress-up clothes.
And I knew my little Miss would be fine.

I, however, felt a little sad going home without her. I should be used to stuff like this by now. But it is still hard for me every time I leave my kiddies somewhere, when I am not going to be with them.

Note to self: Remember this feeling tomorrow when Miss S and her big brother are fighting and driving you crazy...

{Photo by Monique. Luckily she remembers her camera when I don't}

the many hats she wears

The scurvy pirate...

the wicked witch...

and the cute 'lil cowgirl...

Miss S and I updated the dress-up chest with some new hats from The Dollar Store. The kiddies love to play dress-up, and I am happy to indulge them. {And at a grand total of about $3 for all these fun hats, why not?}

I love to see the kiddies using their imaginations, so as long as they are having fun, I will encourage them to wear as many hats as they want.

pages

that have been completed recently and are sitting on my desk...My crafty boy {photos from a few years ago}...
Painting {R at age 2}...
Us in Penticton, BC {Miss S is 2 months old peeking out of the baby sling}...
K's birthday in '06 {R is 2, Miss S 2 months}. The journaling reads "You might think it is R's birthday since he is the one wearing the hat..." But it was K's party. R just loved the Elmo hat so much from his party, he saved it and wore it all the time. Just reminds me of all the cute little quirks he had as a toddler...

Photos of, in R's words, "the horse that bit me"...

The girls and I are starting our weekly scrapbooking sessions up again next week, after a break over the summer. It won't be the same without you Kelly, so I hope you post all your pages on your blog so I can still see them!

the one where I catch you up

R and I went Walking With Dinosaurs, and took Monique and his buddy E with us. It was an amazing show {go to the official website, click on Watch Footage, and then on the photo of the dinosaur eggs, to get an idea of what the live show was like}. We watched from a suite, which put us a safe distance above the dinosaurs, so it "wasn't scary at all" according to R. Miss S stayed home, but she gave me some carrots to put in my bag "to feed the dinosaurs"...

I convinced Renee, Lee Anne, Christine, Monique and Jill to join me at The Circus Starring Britney Spears concert! Despite the fact that we were too old, and clearly too overdressed {ie...we were actually wearing clothing} we had a good time. We missed the opening act because we were still at D'Arcy McGee's enjoying dinner and drinks on the patio. Luckily we did not miss the start of the circus, because those performers were probably the best part of the show. Brit may not really sing {all the gum chewing makes it hard for her to lip-sync even}, but she puts on an entertaining show. So even though I am not a Britney fan {sorry Uncle VW} I had fun! We took the kiddies to the Canadian Museum of Nature. They loved it. The interactive exhibits are so great for the kids and the The Trading Post is just the kind of thing that R would love. He is a collector {right now there is a pile of acorns and a strip of birch bark on his desk from a recent hike}.

I registered the kiddies for their fall activities. Swimming for both, dancing for Miss S and hockey for R {a "real team with uniforms" this time, and a big time commitment for the whole family I think}. Pre-school for Miss S and Senior Kindergarten for R...

We have been doing lots of bike riding and baseball playing with Grandpa, celebrated the other Miss S's birthday and K's too, and have finally been able to start putting together the kiddies play structure...

There. All caught up.

then and now

2008

2009

2008

2009

This is what I love about scrapbooking. And now blogging. Our life in pictures. Documenting the big events and the everyday stuff. Looking back at the past. Remembering the moments. I love it.

recovered. and recovered?

Photos from fried hard drive: recovered.
{Thank you super smart techy-guy that works with my husband. You are my hero}

Me after a looong visit with the outlaws: not quite recovered! Did not even have the time or energy for blogging during this time. But I am back in blogland now. With new photos {and some recovered ones} to share.

Stay tuned blogfriends...