hit the road Zack...

Zack passed his learners test today...on the first try and I tossed him the keys and let him drive me home!!
The pic is of him parked in the driveway cause he refused me bringing the camera with us to the registry place!



Let's just say, I was a bit nervous. He did ok till it was time to pull in the driveway...I thought for sure he was taking out the front of my van with the basketball hoop...lol!!! It's not as easy at it looks and I think he knows that now but that's why we will practice lots...around town and in empty parking lots...lol!!!

bittersweet moments

Gavin learned how to ride a 2 wheeler today!!
He just decided he was ready so I took the training wheels off and we headed over to the basketball court (I taught the other boys how to ride on one too cause the concrete has a bit more give). The whole family decides to come and cheer him on.
So we get there, I hold the bike for him to get his foot on, tell him to start with the pedal that's on the top and off he goes.






Just like that. We were all shocked it was that easy for him.
I was a bit sad...this is just one more thing that I won't do that "one more time" like it's been up till now.
In no time at all he was trying to lay skid marks on the concrete...even stopping a few times to get off his bike and have a look...lol! Yeppers...he's all boy!!

A few other details to share but I'll wait till the next post...this one is all about Gavin and his accomplishment today!

some layouts to share

been awhile since I shared anything scrappy...these are a few recent pages. I am still going to upload the rest of the character pages from our trip so you can see them too!










I am hoping to do some more scrapping soon now that the patio is finally built! Brian will be gone for 10 days so I should have some time to be one with my stash and get a few layouts done or even other projects completed! If I don't get any done before he comes home for a week, I won't have time as we'll be tackling more house and yard jobs while he's home.
So the patio...I can't wait to show it to you..you have to wait till we get the dirt pile out of the way and I get some planters put around it and finish making it purty! We are in love with it...the pattern the bricks were laid in Brian designed and our friend (from now on I'll call him Superman...lol) had never seen before in his 11 years of working with paving stones. We'd just be finishing it I'm sure if we hadn't had the help we did! I seriously have a new found appreciation for what he does for a living...it's a talent there's no doubt about it! After we were done, we celebrated with a steak dinner on the patio...it's so nice to have a place now rather than the lawn! Next year...we'll do it all over again as we make a space for our hot tub! (just kidding...we're building a wood deck to go around that! We'll never do a project of this magnitude again!)
So, in some ways,we took a step or two back with the mess we made building the patio but it'll be totally worth it when it all comes together next year!

Not much else to share...we've been consumed by this backyard project we haven't done too much else since my last post.
The boys and I are thinking about heading to my Mom's for a few days while Brian is away and then meet back up with him on his next set of days off...not sure I want to travel for 8 hours...alone...with 4 kids and a dog! But we'll see.

So, I guess, that's it for now.
Over and out!

catching up

Alrighty, so the end of June was really busy with year end stuff and helping the older 2 prepare for exams...I am very pleased to report that all of the boys are moving on the next grade in the fall and with pretty darn good grades I might add!
We survived all the crazy scheduling that often required me to be in more than one place at almost the exact same time but I managed to catch everything the boys were doing...recorder recitals, mini games day, track and field and class parties!

So far, the first week of summer vacation has gone pretty well...the first few days I thought I'd end up the town drunk if the boys kept up their behavior...seems that we have all adjusted to being home together during the day!

We were lucky enough to have Brian come home a day early last week...that meant 6 whole days and nights of him being home! I can't tell ya what that does for all of us. The boys were sooo excited but...it just made it that much harder yesterday when he had to leave :( Gavin said to me this morning, "Wasn't it so fun having Dad home Mom"...I darn near cried! The good news is, there might be some changes for our family that will have Brian here. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

We had an absolutely fantastic Canada Day...started out with the whole family getting decked out in red and white and walking uptown to watch the parade...





these are the only ones I can show that just have my family in them or floats that don't give away where I live (ya know for those creepers that might stalk my blog...lol)

Later in the afternoon, we hosted a bbq with 28 people attending...I can't tell you how much fun this was! We provided all the food and non alcoholic beverages and I had some games planned and a prize for every kid...they loved it! I wish I could show you pics but I don't have permission from the guests to post them on the net so I'll have to show you the yummy patriotic desserts I made...



I finally put the maple leaf cookie cutter I bought 3 years ago to good use...



we were able to sit by the fire in our backyard and watch the fireworks...managed to get s couple of snapshots that turned out...




Brian parents were here for a few days, it was nice to see them. They bought themselves a trailer so they stayed at a campground in town and we went to spend some time with them at their site yesterday...all that did was get us all back on the camping band wagon. I've been looking at trailers for hours on the net!

Our patio was not built during the time Brian was home..the bobcat has been delayed till late this week or early next! I want this job done soooo bad...can't wait to show you all when it's done! We did manage to get a few other yard things done but I won't share it till we're done! That way, you'll get the whole picture.

We've been spending quite a bit of time hanging out by the pool and just enjoying not having anything to rush off too...hope you are able to enjoy some down time too!

I should go...my to do list for the day was pretty long...now I can scratch 'update blog" off the list...lol!!

I'm outta here!

True Patriot Love

Happy Canada Day everyone!
We're hosting a bbq with about 30 people today!
The pool is up and ready, all the prizes are bought for the games we'll play, food is outta control and all my decorations are good to go!
We'll be attending the parade this morning and then getting ready to kick back and enjoy some fun and friendship!

I'll blog again soon with how the last part of June was and what we've been up to so far since the kids got out of school! And of course, I'll share some pics from today!!