Dots of Life

camera love

for the past few months i have been OBSESSED with replacing my old point and shoot camera.  i have purchased and returned about 8 camera's in total because i simply was not happy with the pictures they produced... too blurry, too fuzzy, to grey, to blah, not crisp enough....

leslie and melissa have been encouraging me to purchase a digital slr for a while now... melissa even went to the extent of letting me borrow her camera for a couple of days.  so, last night... i snuck out of the house and purchased this...

let me tell you.... i am in CAMERA LOVE!  i have only taken about 20 pictures, but i am really digging the colour, the detail and crispness of the pictures.  i have seriously got butterflies in my tummy as i am typing this.... can't wait to test it out on the kiddies in the morning.

here are a few of the first photos that i have taken with my new "main squeeze"....

uncle chris working in the "man zone"...

 

benny boo sleeping...

 

me.... so happy... so so happy...

 

here's hoping for a long lasting, fun-filled and loving relationship..... and a lot of amazing pictures!

1st day of school '08

so, as anyone who has been around me the past couple of days has probably noticed that i have been pretty G.R.U.M.P.Y.    and not just my usual grumpy.... my stressed grumpy.  although i have been saying that i was looking forward to back to school, what i was actually looking forward to was a schedule and children who listened a little more and fought a little less.

it really hit me when i jumped in the shower this morning... they're going.... they're ALL going to school.  and then the tears started and i thought that i hadn't cried like this since adison was born.  and now, here she is going off to school.  like, how did that happen that fast.  i know it is such a cliche, but time really has flown by.... and it can slow down anytime now, please and thank you.

anywho....

daddy started the day off with our traditional back to school pancake breakfast, and as usual nan and mimi (and gigi too) joined us as we watched the kids get ready for school and on the bus. 

i spent the morning in adi's class... trying to keep a low profile, but there to help out the teacher and educational assistant with the back to school mayhem and her diabetes management.  her sugars were running really high and she needed twice the insulin as usual.  i rode my bike home to grab a quick lunch with matt and then it was back to school for the afternoon.

before we knew it, we were back out on the front porch watching the kids get off the bus... eager to show us their new planners and duotangs and tell us all about their first day.  anna pearl is in miss boundas' grade 2/3 split class, while boo is in mrs. strikers' 4/5 split class.  the kids seem really happy with their teachers and are excited for a fun and busy school year.  this is a good thing!

the kids had requested taco's for supper and after we were finished eating we headed to oak lake for a swim.  then we headed home and topped the day off with an icecream cone.... now let's see how that 8 pm bedtime goes.......????????

all ready, all right

tonight we have been busily preparing for tomorrow... the first day of school.  ben will be going into grade 5, anna pearl into grade 2 and (GASP) my adison is beginning junior kindergarten.

our school routine, includes picking out your clothes the night before and laying them on "your" chair at the kitchen table. adison was very excited to be able to get everything ready and layed out on her chair.  as you can see from the pictures, she has got everything under control.... not only did she gather her back pack, lunch pail and clothes, but she also included a scarf and a touque!  hopefully she wont be needing those for a while, but hey.... one can never be too prepared!

and i love the fact that she even remembered to pick out her socks... and that she even took the time to tuck them into her shoes..... how cute is she!!!

back to school tradition...

it is now officially a back to school tradition.... every year at back to school time; aimee and abbie, tara and kenzie and anna pearl and i get together for supper and shopping.  this year we headed out to dinner at east side marios where the little girls enjoyed shirley temples.  we sat and ate and talked for over 2 hours and even had a visit from mike.... an old school pal that was always just like "one of the girls". 

we didn't get out of supper until 8:45 so we hit old navy and then decided to go over to zellers.... (they're open 24 hours don't you know!).  althought we didn't end up buying the little ones any back to school clothes... we did let them choose some new hair accessories. and what girl doesn't like her hair accessories?

okay then....

the past few weeks the kids and i have been cleaning out their closets and clearing out the toys that they no longer play with.  believe me, you.... there was a lot of stuff.  originally the kids and i were gonna have a yard sale.... but we decided to donate everything to value village (which supports the diabetes association). 

the kids were quite excited about donating their stuff to the "poor kids" (as i explained it to them), but ben was a bit sad that he wouldn't be pocketing any money for his offerings.

so this was the conversation that we had on the way out of the value village parking lot...

mom (to kids): see; doesn't it feel better to have generosity in your heart than money in your pocket?!

anna and adison: (nodding in agreement) yeeeeeeaahhhhh!

ben: (looking at me with a disgusted look on his face) now, mom.... that's just geeky!

cedardale '08

just like last year... we had a great time at cedardale campground; hanging out with great friends and our respective families... the abrams', the prestons, the macdonalds (us) and the lightfoots.  this year mimi, chris and georgia joined us too and it just made a great day even better.

though we were originally going to camp out in a tent for the weekend, we decided on making a day of it instead. we all gathered at the prestons trailer at mid afternoon; enjoyed a swim in lake ontario; enjoyed a fab barb-q (complete with aimee's homemade trifle which is "oh so delicious"); dressed the kids up in costumes and celebrated halloween by trick or treating throughout the campsite (this was so much better than any other trick or treating we have ever done); enjoyed some tunes and a few dances at the dancehall; and then finished up the evening with a bonfire, sparklers and roasted weenies/marshmallows.

what a blessing it is to be able to gather with old friends and watch our kids play together and make memories of their own.  which reminded me of a quote that i stumbled upon that i absolutely love.... "it takes a long time to make an old friend.... but it's worth the wait".

love this picture of tara!

adi in lake ontario.

and look who smiled for the camera?!

trick or treat?

kenzie and her boogie board!

ben and keaton.... gettin' down (sorry les, i couldn't crop you out :))

abbie and anna pearl; cuttin' a rug.

nolan; enjoying the dance show.

miss abbie lights up the night!

happy birthday autumn abracadabra

here's to 6 years of magic.... we love you girl!

adi alert!

today was a big day for adi foo-foo... she went up to her final meet and greet with her jk teacher AND she received her medic alert bracelet that she had been waiting for.

she was excited all morning... looking forward to taking her indoor shoes and a change of clothes up to her class room. she suggested that we should bike up to the school and it was such a beautiful day... i took her up on it.  she was just the cutest thing.... riding her little bike, with her strawberry shortcake backpack on her back and her my little pony helmet. 

thank you anna pearl and boo for being such good helpers today.... adi is lucky to have you both!

new camera... new me?????

after many purchases and returns... this is the new leading lady in my life.... we are still getting to know one another but she takes fairly good pics and has lots of manual options as well.  there is a little more to learn with this camera than my beloved kodak, but i'm up for a challenge.

speaking of challenges... tonight i bit the bullet and purchased a gym membership.  this is a huge milestone for me... i haven't had a membership since i was pregnant with boo but i always told myself, that when all of the kids were in school, i would commit to going back to the gym.

 i am sooooo looking forward to working out and hopefully losing some weight.  i have gained about 40 pounds since i started taking meds for my panic attacks.  my doctor said that this was a common side effect and that i could either be {and i quote} "fat and happy or skinny and sick".  after trying to stop taking my meds, only to find myself very "not so good", i have accepted the fact that i NEED to take them, BUT... i have vowed to do all i can to counteract the effects of a slowing metabolism.

so i am going to say lots of prayers and hope that hard work will = results.....  i know i'll never be thin, but pleasantly plump would be okay with me!  to jump start the process, i am beginning with 12 personal training sessions to get me off on the right foot. my personal goal is to lose 20 pounds by christmas..... just putting it out there so that i will be more accountable to myself.

so here's to new beginnings..... and a a few pictures of the tractor parade in stirling last week, including one of my sweet little adi sitting on a vintage makeup case that i bought at the stirling thrift shop for $1.00.

she walks

not on her own just yet... but she is almost there.  nan bought her this little walking toy and almost immediately she grabbed onto it and was off and running.  it's so cute how she will look around for praise as soon as she grabs hold... almost like she can't walk without claps and ahhhhs!  but oh, well... she deserves them. 

gigi is just the smartest little girl.... she can bark like a dog when asked "what does a puppy say?", say uh-oh, hug on request and so many other extraordinarily wonderful things.... she just brightens my world when she is around. oh, and did i mention that she is getting more beautiful every day??????