Rugby

This year Chase started Rugby. I honestly have no idea how to play this sport! But Chase really likes it. Here are a few action shots. I wish that I could explain to you what he is trying to do, but like I said, I really have no clue.

I took the kids to watch Chases practice, Nixon of course spotted the balls. He held this one the whole practice. It is quite heavy for a little guy, so he face planted more than once!

New House

We are building a new house right now, and my kids love to go over to the house and "work" with dad. On Saturday Matt was leveling dirt in the backyard, so I loaded everyone up and we went to help. But before we could get started, everyone needed a ride in the skid steer bucket. My kids think this is the funnest thing in the world. They especially love going high. Matt pretends to not like it, but we all know that he is proud as punch to play with his toys!

Here is a pic of the front of our house. If you overlook all the garbage, and mud, it is actually pretty nice.

The back of the house. Again don't look at the trash. We're not even living there yet, and we're the most white trash on the block! One of my favorite things about this house is the back yard! You cant tell in this picture, but we have tons of room back there.

This will be the kitchen.

Living room just off the kitchen.

This is part of the basement.

Hopefully this week, the siding will be started, the drywall finished, the ceiling stippled, paint started, and driveway poured. Oh yea, hopefully all that garbage will be cleaned up too!

$8.66

So, an interesting thing happened to me today.

I had to go to the dollar store to get a few crafting supplies for Marlie and Spenc. As I was wondering the store, I noticed a few other people shopping, one was a 45ish man, black leather jacket, shaved head, bit overweight, you get the picture - right? Anyway, I finished my shopping, and brought my purchases up to the till, gave the lady my bank card, and of course the machine wouldn't read my card. The cashier tried swiping it a few times, and then put the card in a plastic bag, and tried swiping it again, but of course it wouldn't work. So I was frantically searching my purse for $8.66, and do I have it? No of course not. I noticed that there were a few people behind me, one of them was "the man". I gave the cashier my MasterCard, but Matt had just bought a bunch flooring for a house on it, so of course it was maxed. I felt a bit silly, so I said, "let these other people go ahead of me, and I'll check my purse again for some cash." The man behind me bought his stuff, and then as he was leaving he turned to me, and gave me ten dollars. I was shocked. And humbled.

I know that we are taught in our church to serve, and look for ways to help others, but I was blown away that this stranger, who I pegged as "rough", would be so kind to me. It made me realize how important it is to look out for others, and be more Christ like. It was a simple thing that he did, but I hope that this experience will make me a better person.

The Corn Maze

This weekend, we were invited to an appreciation day at the Lacombe Corn Maze, for delivering news papers. My kids have been soo excited about it all week! It is a really fun place to go and spend the day. (Luckily it was free for us, cuz it is a lot of $$$.)
This is us in front of the first maze - there are 3 of them! I didn't really think it would take us very long to finish, but it was surprisingly harder than I thought.
You might be asking yourself, "Is Kadie sitting in a wheel chair?" Why, yes she is. Friday night she was at the park, and rolled her ankle "really bad". She was hobbling along, and we were all sick of waiting for her, so Matt found her a wheel chair. I was honestly laughing soo hard when I saw them roll up. But it really did make things go a lot faster.

Here's Marlie proud as punch in the corn.

The invalid.

There was TONS of stuff to do here. Nixon loved going down the big slide. This picture does not do this slide justice. I went on it with Mar, and I got the hugest butterflies going down.

They had this fun carousal made out of tires. Marlie spent a long time swinging here.

Kadie and Chase spent about an hour playing Mini-golf. Unfortunately Kadies wheelchair wasn't able to fit on the course, so she had to hop around.

This was a really fun day. I felt bad that Spencer wasn't able to come, but he was invited to a b-day party for one of his church friends. He has been praying for weeks, about how thankful he is that he was invited to Seth's birthday party, so there was no chance that he would miss it!

If anyone wants to come for a visit this fall, I will definitely take you to the corn maze!

Jobs, And Stuff

Today I gave Marlie and Spencer the job of cleaning up the shoes in the front entry.
Usually they will get this job done in a matter of minutes. But not today. Today they cried, complained, and whined about it. Finally I bribed them with a cookie (or two), and left them to work. After a while, they found me, told me they were done, and I told them they could have their cookie (or two). Later, when I went upstairs, this is what I found...
Why did they stack the shoes like this? Right in front of the door? All on the top rack? I'm really not sure... But at least they did the job... right?

Here's Nixon with his two favorite toys-- a hockey stick, and a gun.

And Marlie just looking cute.

Its Never Too Cold For Smores

In September we usually go outside and have a fire in the backyard. That definitely hasn't happened yet this year. Its freezing outside. So we decided to bring the fun inside. I remember roasting marshmallows over the stove when I was a kid, and thought it was soo fun. So here we are, toasting to perfection.
I don't think the kids could be any happier.

Matts mouth is WATERING right now.

This was a really fun night. I need to be a bit more spontaneous more often.

A Few Random Pic's - By Marlie

Today Marlie got ahold of my camera. Here's some pictures of the things that she thinks are important.



First of all a self-portrait.

The running tap.

Sleeping Beauty Frisbee.

And last but definitely not least, Strawberry Shortcake. The favorite toy of the moment.

Birth Control

Today my friend Kim called and asked if I would mind watching her twins while she went to the chiropractor. I've always wanted twins (who doesn't). So I thought this would give me a chance to "try them out". Let me tell you it wasn't pretty.
This is me with 2 screaming 5 month olds, a jealous 1 year old, and a crying 3 yr old. I promise this was the best form of birth control ever.

Labour Day Weekend

We spent this Labour Day in HillSpring, one of my favorite places in the world! As usual, we had a lot of fun together with my family on the farm.

Here's Tracie being a good mom/aunt and reading the little kids a bedtime story.

One of the reasons I wanted to go down there was to make chokecherry syrup. I love that stuff, but don't really love making it. My mom helped me pick the berries, and then I made the syrup. I cant wait to eat it!

My mom has a great garden this year, and its a good thing too, I'm sure that we used up more of her produce than she wanted. She had lots of help with the picking.

Spencer, is very proud of his beans. If only he was as excited when it came time to eat them. Notice the wooden spoon in the cupboard. My mom was getting very frustrated with Nixon getting into the cupboards/water cooler.

Here's Matt teaching chase to use the shop equipment. This may or may not be a Christmas present in the making...

Matt saddled up Scotty, and the kids all went for a ride. Marlie loved it!

Great Gma and Gpa came out for a visit. I absolutely love my grandma, and I'm so sad that I cant see her more often. Kash was really excited to see her.

Of course my mom had new kittens. (There are always new kittens on the farm.) The kids spent a long time trying to catch them, and finally were successful!

The kids were looking for something to do on Saturday, so they decided to have a sword fight. We weren't sure about it, but they had a blast! Here's Chase and Briggs. Sword fighting is one of their favorite things to do, actually any kind of fighting is their favorite thing to do!

Here they all are with their swords, ready for a good fight.

Then we thought it would be fun to go to the "Waterfall". The waterfall is where we use to go with our cousins (the waterwolves). I think it is more fun to go there now than it was when I was a kid. Our kids had a blast there. Here's Marlie and Summer looking cute as ever.

Gma looks a little crazy here.

It was a chilly day, but that didn't stop these boys from getting wet, and as soon as one kid gets wet they all do.

Even Nixon loved the water.

All in all it was a really fun weekend. I'm so happy that we have such a beautiful place to go and visit. I love watching my kids play with their cousins, and love that they all have so much fun together.

Conversations

Spencer- Hey mom I cleaned the toilet for you.
Me- Ummmm, how did you clean the toilet? What did you use?
Spencer- I used that big toilet brush to clean the inside, and my toothbrush to clean the outside.
Me- Don't do that again. It is really gross.
Spencer- Why?

Good-Bye Summer

This morning i looked out the window and this is what i saw. Not the back of my neighbours yards, or the light post. THE TREE. Look at the leaves. Some of them are turning orange. You know what that means. Summers almost over.


Today I take the kids to school to drop off their supplies and meet their teachers. Then Tuesday is their first official day of school! I defiantly have mixed feelings about this. Usually when my kids are all home, I go a bit crazy. Because really, with my 5 kids crammed into our house it is pure chaos. But this summer has been really fun. We have been gone so much and having so much fun together that it has just flown by. So today I'm going to write my list of things pros and cons of school starting.

Reasons I'm excited to have school start:

1. Routines!! call me crazy but I love them! I love getting up, getting the kids off to school, and being productive during the morning. Mornings are when I work best.

2. Having school start means that fall is coming. I love fall. I love the color changes, and the cool days! Fall is my favorite season.

3. Putting the shorts away and pulling out the jeans. Don't get me wrong, i love shorts, but when i pull out my "warm" clothes, I feel like i have a whole new wardrobe!

4. Lessons start again. I have mixed feelings on lessons. I hate the driving to and from, but I love having my kids learn and try new things. This year Kadie is doing voice and piano, and Chase is going to try Karate.

5. Spencer starts pre-school. He has been SOO excited to start school! He probably asks me 5 times a day when his school starts. So at least to have him start, he will stop pestering me with "when do I get to go to school mom?"

Reasons I don't want school to start:

1. No more sleeping in. I know i just said that I love getting a good start to the day, but who doesn't love sleeping in, and being lazy?

2. No more hot days. I don't like it when its too hot, but i love having a tan, and playing in the water, and jumping on the tramp...

3. No more fun days like this:
(Matt, Chase, Briggs, Steve, and Mike)

4. No more Calaway Park trips

5. No more swimming at the cabin.

6. No more family walks to the library. (And yes Kadie is reading her last book while we walk.)

7. No more having Kadie and Chase home to play with the other kids. Marlie, Spenc, and Nixon absolutely love Kadie and Chase, so i think they will be a bit lost when they are gone all day.

I really have mixed feelings about this. I'm excited for school to start, but I'm definitely going to miss the summer!