A few pics of all the summer fun we've been having......

We have been busy with non-stop company for three weeks! 

Birthday party for Maria

Beach time with the cousins

Tall Ships with Heather!

Snuggling with Grandma

Its been fun, but I'm tired now! This week I have to get ready for our road trip to Ontario for my little sister's wedding. The kids and I are making this journey on our own, which seems completely insane to me and I don't know how we are going to do it. I've only ever driven four hours by myself, and that was with another adult in the car to placate the children. Now I'm supposed to drive 15 hours BY MYSELF.....with no one to give the kids their snacks, books, etc. And I don't even have a dvd player. The girls are pretty good travelers, and probably the worst thing they do is get soooo silly and loud and it drives my absolutely nuts...and William is just always good so let's hope for the best?! Prayers would be greatly appreciated!

6 years!

Today is the our 6th anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! But, its been the best 6 years of my life!! Thank you Shane for being my rock. You are always there for me, and I know I can always depend on you. You are my best friend, and I am so grateful that I get to spend every day with you. Here's to many more blissful years of marriage!

Lazy Summer Days

For the past two weeks we've been trekking to the lake every day for swimming lessons! It's about a half hour walk...on the way there it is all down hill, so on the way back I get quite the workout, with Will in my carrier and the girls in the stroller. 

Felicity has been dying to take swimming lessons, and was so excited when she turned three that she could finally do it!! So I signed her up. Both girls ended up being the only kids in their classes, so it was like private lessons...not sure if this was better or worse for Felicity. For the first week she refused to set foot in the water with the teacher. Wouldn't do a thing. No matter what I did. No bribery works on this girl. So ridiculously stubborn. Finally, by week 2 I went in the water with her, leaving Willy sleeping on the beach ( at a safe distance from me, of course) and that did it! Success!!!!

She loved it. 

Little Willy catching some shut-eye.

Can I tell you how much I love summer?! 

Five Years Too Old

My little girl turned 5 on Saturday. For some reason this seems SO old to me. I'm not sure I'm ready to be the mom of a 5 year old! 

Maria sure was excited though! And we had the best day. It stared out with a new dress to put on, birthday waffles and smoothies,

then she opened a few presents, including her very own guitar.

She received so many phone calls from her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.

In the afternoon we went to a wildlife park where we saw lots of animals! Maria's favourite was the cute little baby bunny. 

Then we came home and had chili for supper (per Maria's request) and cake! 

Gosh I love this kid! She was sooo happy all day...I absolutely love the delight that she takes in every little thing. She is the sweetest five year old - the best helper to me, and the best big sister. I love her imagination which entertains the two girls all day long, and her creativity that shines through in her love of all things crafty.  Although she looks more like her daddy, she has more of her mama's personality, which creates a special bond between us because I feel like I always know what she's thinking and can predict her every move. This also means I feel her pain when she's having a hard time. 

 Although it makes me so sad that she's not so little anymore, I am of course so excited to see her grow and learn so many new things this year! I pray that I will be given the graces to be a good mother to her, and to face all the new challenges that lay ahead. I love you Maria!

Things I'm loving.....

Today I woke up in an exceptionally good mood. Do you ever just feel content with your life as it is now, and at the same time excited about what is to come?
 These are the things I'm loving right now:

 1. This little monkey. He is growing sooooo fast!! And I can't believe how much I love him ( haha although I have two other kids whom I love equally, of course)...He is such a good baby, is on a great pattern where he goes to sleep at 9 and wakes around 5....meaning I almost get a full night's sleep...and is so smiley and sweet! He LOVES his big sisters, and they love him, which makes it easy for me to get things done since they are eager to entertain him! I am excited to see his personality developing, and to see him start to do new things, but also sad that his newborn stage is soon ending:(

2. The girls playing quietly in our basement playroom. We JUST cleared all the boxes out of it and set up all the toys..and they are loving it and so am I! Its so nice to have the mess of toys out of the living room! And its nice to enjoy a little peace and quiet while they play down there.

3. A clean, freshly unpacked house, with everything in its rightful place. We had company yesterday so it was motivation to finish the unpacking and cleaning of the house. It was a lot of work, but I have to say it was great to have a reason to force Shane to clear all the boxes out and help me put up pictures......I'll enjoy this for however long it lasts, before things start getting shoved in random places....

4. Our backyard that the girls will play in later today. It may be small with neighbours and their dogs very close by, but I am so grateful for the outdoor space for the kids to play in while I relax on our deck... I even planted a little garden..my first attempt, so we'll see how that goes..not very optimistic about my gardening abilities.....

5. Selling things on kijiji. Love making the money and clearing out things we don't need/use/like. Win, win!

6. Being able to run again! Well I hate this in the mornings when I have to force myself to get up before my kids, which I never thought I would ever ever ever see myself doing, and while I am trying to run up the massive hill by our house that just goes on and on forever, but I am loving the results! (which are a feeling of great accomplishment and being within 3 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight - hooray!)

7.Looking forward to a busy, but exciting summer, including: swimming lessons, Maria's birthday, a two week visit from a dear friend, and my little sister's wedding!

8. Looking forward to Shane writing his bar exam so he can enjoy this summer with us! Just three weeks more of the great life of full time work AND studying...

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the amazing father of my children. On our wedding day I thought my heart was bursting with love for you - how could I ever love you more? Little did I know how much that love could grow. Seeing you become a father for the first time, rock our babies to sleep, tend to them in the middle of the night, comfort them when they are hurt or frightened, play with them, teach them, and love them has shown me what an incredible man you are.

We love you Daddy!

Fun Things.......

I haven't posted in awhile! It's been super busy around here....we packed all of our things into the uhaul..drove 5 hours...and arrived to a shockingly disgustingly dirty house....that looked way way worse than we remembered. After we got over the initial shock, and decided against keeping our things in the truck and finding somewhere else to live, we cleaned like crazy, and painted the entire house..which did a lot for it! Finally it is starting to look halfway decent...except for the boxes everywhere! Still sooo much unpacking to do! Speaking of which, I should be getting back to that.......
 More exciting things to come later!