more firsts at our house

Gavin lost his first tooth...





he was sooo excited. He called to tell my Mom and went across the street to tell the neighbors...it was kinda cute. Until they told him that they thought the toothfairy gives $10 for the first lost tooth....not at this house she doesn't...lol!! He was very excited she left him a toonie!!


for the very first time...all 4 of the boys had homework...talk about a busy time of the day!! We may have to break it up so that the younger 2 go first and then the older 2 cause it was really hard to help the three that needed it...Zack had a couple of questions too but seriously...algebra...go ask the teacher...lol!!!


Gavin loved having homework...he kept saying so and the boys kept looking at him like he head three heads and Brian was in the living room calling him a nerd. What a Daddy hey...lol! He was just teasing and for those of you that don't know Brian...he's like that...a lot!!



and...a few of my layouts are being shared on Scrap the Teenz


I am experiencing my first full day as a SAHM with kids who are in school all day and no hubby here to bug me either...have no idea what I'm going to do but I will try to enjoy it before they all come home and the chaos ensues...lol!

Have a great day everyone.

Sunday sharing

Reilly is going back to school on Monday!!! The opthamologist said he can return but is not allowed to participate in gym class or do anything outside at recess but get some fresh air. He's been outside a few times over the weekend, just hanging with the boys and neighbors. He says he's not happy about going to school but I think he'll be happy to have something to do and friends to see.
We do have to go back on Thursday for another appointment and we'll go from there.

We spent Saturday packing up the pool, pulling out dead plants and moving the last of our dirt pile from when the patio was built...the yard looks better already and will be even better when we either get some grass seed or throw some sod down around the patio. Can't wait till next Spring/Summer when it's all purty!

Guess what? I made my very own, all by myself, first ever batch of homemade crabapple jelly and...it worked! After several calls to my Grandma and my Mom, I gave it a whirl. It didn't set the first time but I recooked it and voila...! Last summer, the boys picked 5 ice cream pails of apples to take to my Grandmas and her and my Mom showed me how... I took pics of all the steps cause I was going to make a mini album/recipe book...guess I should and then I won't have to call her so much next year. We weren't able to go visit this summer so I had to try on my own. Funny story about the recipe...growing up, I always thought it was a "family recipe"...ya know the kind that is passed on from generation to generation...ya...not so much...lol! When I called my Grandma a couple of years ago (after we moved here and had a crabapple tree in the yard I was thinking woohoo...now I can have the family recipe)...are you ready for this...she told me it was in the box of Certo!!! Yep, that's right, our family recipe for crabapple jelly is everyone's family recipe...I was devastated and then I laughed. I don't know why I thought it was "ours" all these years, I just did.

So, my friend Carole has issued a blog challenge...she wants us to share one of our first ever scrapbook pages and then one that is more recent. YIKES...I cannot believe I am about to share this but here it goes...


and here are a few recent pages...



So, the rest of the day is going to be filled with some outdoor activity, some scrapbooking, a football game or two and a big family dinner followed by sundaes on Sunday! Enjoy your day everyone.

back 2 school

the boys headed back to class yesterday...well all but Reilly!
Things went pretty smoothly...I even got up early to make them French toast for breakfast. I decided if I was going to be home and kidless, I would be "that" Mom this year. They really enjoyed it and asked if we could have egg mcmuffins the next time. I'm thinking twice a week I'll make them a hot breakfast to start their day...unless things change int he next week and I am working...I'll keep ya posted on that situation!
Here they are, by the front door...something we've been doing on the first day of school since Zack started Kindergarten all those years ago!



and here are the youngest 2 in their desks...

he looks so cute and grown up sitting in that desk. I can't believe he is going to be gone all day every day!


So, I hung out at the school for a bit visiting with some Mom's and then came home to be with Reilly. He says he's happy to not being going to school yet but he was pretty bored with his brothers gone.
I was a little lost too...there are lots of things I could and should have done but I just didn't feel like doing them. I spent most of the day catching up with friends via the phone and hanging out with Reilly. Also had to have the radio on...couldn't handle the quiet! All that complaining in the last post about not being able to wait till they went back and then I'm lonely and miss the noise they make when they aren't here...just proves you should be careful what you wish for hey!!
I am going to try and be more productive today...it's kind of a yucky day here so I think I'll bake and scrapbook. Oh and help Reilly with the homework I picked up for him when I went to talk to his teacher yesterday about his return to school...which we'll get the wordon tomorrow after we see the opthamologist for a check up.
I'll leave you with a few more pages from our California Adventure album...

update...

so Reilly saw the opthamologist on Thursday...he's healing nicely and we go back for another checkup next Thursday. He wants Reilly on bed rest till then...that means he won't be starting school on Tuesday with everyone else but that's ok...we'd rather he heels completely before getting back into action.
Poor guy is officially bored though...has been for a couple of days!
Yesterday, I sat and played go fish with him and then the boys joined in and we played a few rounds of Old Maid. I think some Yahtzee is on the agenda for today and of course we'll all be watching the Roughriders vs. Bluebombers game this afternoon so that'll keep him occupied for a few hours.

Other than that, we are ready for back to school and I am soooooo excited for the boys to go back. This last couple of weeks they've done nothing but fight and argue with each other. I was thinking about the year round school that some places offer and ya know...they are on to something! Seriously, I'd rather have the boys home for longer at Christmas, Easter and a fall break and only one month in the summer...2 months at home is too long...lol!! Perhaps it'll be different next year when Brian takes holidays and we go camping and stuff with them. We're all getting golf clubs too so we can do that as a family (better get me some lessons cause it's not quite the same as mini golf...lol).

I spent the day yesterday scrapbooking (did 4 pages) and making some samples of wedding invitations for a friend getting married in the Dominican next March...will share them after she decides which one she goes with. She had some great ideas for "something different".

Not much else going on...with Reilly's injury we haven't done too much else in the last week. I did clean and purge the laundry/storage room so we can knock out a wall in the family room, making the laundry room smaller and the family room bigger. Won't do too much else till Brian is home for a few months this winter. Working on ideas for the garage still. I really want to make it into a scrap studio but Brian and the kids want a rec room with pinball machine, video game system, mini fridge/microwave etc....a place for the guys to hang out. Somehow, I have a feeling I am going to lose this battle as I am seriously out numbered!!

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend and Happy back to school for those of you with kids...I know I'm going to enjoy it...maybe too much...lol!

accidents happen

just wanted to let those of you who may not know that we had a bit of a scare yesterday with Reilly.
An innocent crab apple fight ended up with him getting one right in the eye causing his eye to fill with blood. I sped him to the hospital here in town and the doctor took one look at it and made arrangements to see a specialist in the city. He further decided we need to go there by ambulance.
On route to the hospital here, everything looked green to him out of his hurt eye. At the hospital, he said everything looked white. The doctor took one look at him and said we needed to go see this other doctor who would know if he needed surgery etc. Reilly started crying when we were alone and he told me he was afraid of surgery and being blind. It took everything I am made of not to cry too. While we were waiting for the doctor to get us in with the specialist, he could see a bluish white of his Dad's shirt. I held up a colored doctors glove and he could kinda make out the color of that too...he had no idea what it was but the color was at least there. On the way to the city, he was able to make out more colors and could even read the letters off of the big trucks...I was feeling pretty hopeful but we still had to see what the tests would show.
We bypassed emergency and went straight to the specialist where they ran several tests and after about an hour, we got the fabulous news that he will make a full recovery as long as he follows doctors orders for the next week. We have to be careful that there is no re-bleed as that could cause complications. He is to sleep sitting up at no less than a 30' incline, only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and has drops he has to take. We go back to the specialist on Thursday for a follow up...hopefully the news is even better. His eye looks soooo much better...most of the blood has drained out of his eye and he can see as good as he could before so that's excellent.
I'll keep ya'll posted.
If anyone has any ideas on things I can do to keep an 11 year old still for 7 days, please share. The doctor said he could use the computer, watch tv and play video games as much as he wants for the week...that's a pretty good prescription for a boy his age I'd say! His spirits are good and he's not been too demanding...yet!

I am very grateful to the Doctor here who realized Reilly needed something they couldn't offer him and for the ambulance driver and attendants who got us there quickly and safely and for being soooo good with Reilly in the back.

game day and gadgets

tomorrow, all 6 of us will be heading off to the football stadium to watch the Edmonton Eskimos take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders and we are soooo excited!!
We love our football at this house and to have the chance to watch these 2 teams play live and in person is going to be a blast! Especially since Brian is the only Eskimo fan! Well, we all are actually EXCEPT when they play the Roughriders! So, again this year, the 5 of us will be wearing our Rider Pride and Brian will be in his Esks shirt. My Aunt and Cousin as well as another Uncle and Cousin will be joining us...we all went together last year and had a blast hootin and hollerin! Oh and our neighbors are coming too! Check back for the pics...the boys have picked out some crazy things to wear to the game!!

You know you are domesticated when you get excited over things that make your life as a Mom and housewife easier...girls... I have to tell you...I am in love with my new Swiffer sweeper vac. It's a rechargable vacuum with swiffer duster cloth. It has a reusable filter and it's safe for laminate, hardwood, ceramic tile, linoleum...basically any floor surface other than carpet. Seriously, no Mom should be without this! I couldn't believe how much it picked up from my floor...chunks of food from under the table, scraps of paper from my scrapbooking mess...it's awesome! Go out and get yourself one!!

here are some of the Disney layouts I have done.






and this one just because...it's a song that is very special to us and I wanted to make sure I documented it for the boys...not that I think any of them will forget.
It's the story of how the song, "I'm Already There" by Lonestar came to be known as "The Daddy Song" Most of you know that Brian is on the road a lot with his work...even more so since we started our own company last year. The lyrics to this song, pretty much describe our life to a T and after the first time the boys heard it (7 years ago) they gave it a new name...to this day, whenever they hear this song, they say, "hey, it's the Daddy song"...if you are not familiar with it, here is a link to the video on youtube I'm Already There



and with that, I'm outta here.

two tags...one post

So I've been tagged by Carole

The Nitty Gritty details:

It’s a random tag and here are the rules!
1. Link to the person who ‘tagged’ you!
2. Post the rules on your blog!
3. List 6 random facts about yourself!
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post!
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by commenting on their blog!
6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog!

here they are:
1. I don't wear pink!
2. I went to a Micheal Jackson concert in Vancouver when I was in grade 5!
3. I carried the torch at the '88 Olympics with a friend of the family
4. I am very passionate about what I believe in and am not afraid to stand up for it.
5. I will crank the music up really loud and sing along if I am alone in the van.
6. I love the smell of fresh cut grass.

now to tag 6 people...hmmm I tag: Stacy, Sherri, Mona, Deborah, Nicole and Teri-Lynn


Also, Joce, was so sweet and gave me this award


The rules of this award:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award. Quite simple really it is a way of saying thank you to those who take time out for wonderful comments to boost your day.
It's hard to choose only 5!!

I would love to pass this award on to:
Heike, Mona, Sherri, Julie and Stacy


We've been pretty busy lately but those details will follow in the next post!

I'm outta here!