according.to.kim

Sunday morning sunrise

I took this picture yesterday morning. The squirrels are unusually active this winter because of the incredibly warm weather we've been having. Today's forecast is for a record-setting high of 7C. Crazy! It looks like our normal winter temps will arrive later this week, though.

To you, from all of us

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!

From Kim, Neil, Sophia, Madeline, and Georgia

Colour and composition

To get a few shots for The Art of Composition this week, Sophia and I went for a photo walk around the warehouse district while Madeline attended her dance class on Sunday afternoon. (Meanwhile, Neil took Georgia to a birthday party.) While this shot isn't very colourful (and I don't think it needs to be), I love it mostly because it captures a little piece of Sophia's personality (at 10, she still cannot resist puddles!) and her new winter boots, which I bought specifically for their waterproof quality. I know my child. And I really enjoyed our walk together. :)

On our walk, I took this picture for the colour combination of light blue and red, which I love. (I have a few red and turquoise images pinned on my Colour Combos board on Pinterest.) Sophia happened to throw some snow in the air just as I took this shot, and it seemed more interesting than another one I had taken without the white spots.

We happened upon Pat's Pets and Sophia insisted we go in to get a birthday present for Dash who was turning two the next day (Nov 14). I took this picture of a clown fish and later completed the assignment to pump up the colour in post processing (bottom photo). I think this simple adjustment improved the photo quite a bit, and the combination of orange, white, and deep blue is striking. If the background had been any other colour, it wouldn't work nearly as well.

Black & white

I took this picture enroute to Avonlea last weekend as it was was the only opportunity I had to work on The Art of Composition. I used the visor mirror which created a soft frame on three sides, and I processed the photo with the Pioneer Woman action, B&W Beauty (which provides more contrast than just removing the colour). I'd sure like to spend more time on the assignments for TAOC, but it seems I have little time during daylight hours! These days are already too short and we're still six weeks from the solstace. I knew the timing of this class in the fall would present a challenge.

Neil's sister Shauna came from Edmonton for a short visit this past weekend. On Saturday, we went to Avonlea for an early Christmas dinner with Donna and Lou before they go to Texas for the winter. Grandma Louise, Ron, Carol, Laurel, and Bronwyn were there, too. Ron and Carol showed us some of their photos from a recent trip to China. Later, as 10 pm approached, we decided to stay overnight even though we hadn't planned to. I didn't feel like driving at that point and the girls wanted to stay. It was good to visit a bit more in the morning since we won't see Donna and Lou for several months.

Sunday morning, there was quite a blanket of snow on the ground -- our first snowfall of the season! I only say that with excitement because it's very unusual to have our first snow so late (November 6). (We heard on the news: "There has only been six times in the last 125 years Regina hasn't had snow in September or October." Snowless Regina rare in November) The highways were bad and it was a slow trip back to Regina.

Both Madeline and Sophia played ringette games on Sunday. Madeline was the goalie for her team for the first time. She was very eager to play goal. They didn't win (9-6), but Madeline played quite well! (Especially after one referee coached her on getting the ring out of the crease within 5 seconds.) Sophia had a good game also, though her team lost by 1 point in the last 20 seconds (9-8). It was an exciting game to watch! She played forward and scored two goals -- her third game in row with goals and assists. I think she may be earning a forward position (which is what she wants). We'll see.

I'm so looking forward to having four days off work this weekend! And the best part: three of those days are mostly free of outside commitments. I really NEED this. There are so many things I need to catch up on; my sanity depends on it.

Halloween festivities + Nov 1

October 29: This year's Halloween festivities included a party at Madeline's friend Lauren's farm on Saturday night. (The same farm where the girls and I attended a Halloween party last year.) All three girls were invited, so after a bottle drive for Sophia's ringette team, the home Rider game (Neil attended), Sophia's ringette practice, and Madeline's ringette game (Madeline is playing very well!), we all returned to our house briefly so the girls could put on costumes for the party. (I should mention that Georgia and Dash were in Laurel and Bronwyn's care for the whole afternoon.) Sophia dressed as a fashionable shadow (more on that later), Madeline as a gypsy (a costume from my childhood), and Georgia as a cowgirl (pink hat, plaid shirt, jeans, boots, and a rope). Arriving about 7:30, we had missed most of the party, but we stayed for a couple of hours and had a good time.

October 30: Sunday evening, Neil spent a few hours carving pumpkins with some help from the girls. We were lucky to get three big pumpkins for free this year. They were grown by a family friend at Avonlea. Meanwhile, I washed and cut fruit for Madeline's classroom Halloween party, and Sophia (with a little help from me) made cookies for her class: Monster's Toes. The recipe was on the back of the Maynard's candy box. I don't think they're great tasting cookies, but they did look neat and Sophia enjoyed making them and sharing them with her class.

October 31: The girls' school is one of very few that still allow costumes at school, so they had their annual costume parade at 1:00 pm. I'm glad Neil and Georgia were able to go and take some pictures as I wasn't able to go this year. Madeline dressed as a veterinarian. She wore a very old (and much too large) lab coat, her real stethoscope, and carried some stuffed animals that she had bandaged up.

The girls had a great evening of trick or treating. They were out for about 90 minutes and brought home a ridiculous amount of candy, of course. As usual, Neil stayed home to hand out treats (and try to keep Dash calm), while I went out with the girls. Sophia's friend, Meghan, and Madeline's friend, Mattea, joined us. Mattea's dad also supervised with me. The weather was great -- about 4 or 5 C, and best of all, no snow! For trick or treating, Madeline dressed as a skeleton pirate (a great costume I purchased on discount at The Children's Place several years ago). The girls ran from house to house, with the older two and Georgia in the lead (G had no problem keeping up with Sophia and Meghan, even with cowboy boots on!), and Madeline and Mattea trailing by one or two houses.

Madeline only decided to be a pirate about an hour before trick or treating. Mostly, she had wanted to be a zombie ringette player this year, but we weren't in favour of her wearing her ringette equipment for Halloween (and, besides, she IS a ringette player). Georgia had wanted to be a vampire until Saturday when she came up with the cowgirl idea. Sophia, too, had had some costume plan changes. Originally, she wanted to be a glass of water but we didn't do anything about it soon enough. On Tuesday, I asked her to think of a plan B. After some thought and negotiating, she agreed to be Cleopatra using a costume I made years ago. We bought a black wig for her to wear with it. A couple days later, she came up with the idea of a fashionable shadow which I thought was cute and clever. She wore all black clothes, black wig, black cap, and carried a black cat (Webkinz) in a black purse.

November 1: The kids had no school today, and Neil had another four children in his care (Bronwyn, Ainsley, Henry, and Jimmy). After Jimmy went home mid-afternoon, Neil took the remaining kids to the Science Centre to see the Titanic Exhibit. (He can't transport more than 6.) Our girls had already been there but they wanted to see it again. Our family membership for the Science Centre really helps!

This evening, Neil and Madeline took Georgia to her dance class, while I took Sophia to her ringette game. Sophia scored the first goal and had a nice assist for her team, but they lost 10-5 (vs BP White). She was extra happy tonight because I finally broke down and bought her ringette pants on the weekend. She was the only one left on her team wearing hockey pants and socks (which were full of holes), so I couldn't hold out any longer. Immediately after the game, Neil and all three girls went to the Pats game because they received four free tickets today. And I was able to go home alone, which is what made this blog post possible!

The Art of Composition

I'm really enjoying The Art of Composition with Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes! We're now into week 5 (of 12) and it's been worth every cent. I haven't been able to practice nearly as much as I would like, but I've managed a few little photo sessions. Here are a couple of my shots from weeks 3 (below) and 4 (above). I used my 50 mm f/1.8 lens for both of these.

First five Instagram pics

1. We'll have fresh sauce soon.
2. Our gazania are still blooming nicely.
3. Big Green Egg.
4. Looking north from my office building.
5. Happy day for S!

It's a bit awkward to take photos with an iPad, but I love how easy it is to share photos with Instagram. I will share them on Facebook and Twitter mostly. To share them here, I used Instaport to download the photos to my computer.

I just noticed that these five pictures, presented in the order I took them, are almost a rainbow of colour. It was totally unintentional!

I've already been to the dentist this morning. I can only eat soft cold foods for the rest of the day, which is a bummer because we're going to Fuddruckers for dinner. (I'll have to have a milk shake or something like that.) And no hot coffee all day today! :( I'm thankful I had a full cup before I went to the dentist. You can bet I'll be looking for iced coffee later.

Okay, I must get back to packing now.

Wrapping up August

I've been wanting to write this post for weeks now. At this point, it's now or never! I hate to miss recording some things as I feel like my blog/record book would be incomplete.

The last third of August was so very busy. Honestly, much busier than I would have liked.

At work, I was wrapping up my old job and packing to go to a new office location. On the 24th, I went out for lunch with a large group of coworkers to the Rooftop Grill. It was a farewell lunch for our co-op student which turned into a farewell for me, too (which is totally fine!). They gave me a nice card and a gift card for The Keg. Also, on my last day of work at head office (August 25), Neil packed lunches so he and the girls could have lunch with me in Victoria Park. My mom happened to be in the city that day, so she met us downtown as well. Unfortunately, my last day was so full of meetings, my lunch break was rushed and shorter than usual.

At home, I was spending quite a bit of time preparing BSS Bundle #1 as a free gift for subscribers and for sale.

And there were school preparations. I spent hours updating our family wall calendar for the upcoming school year with all the information I had received and could find. Labeling a gazillion school supplies took a few hours as well. All three girls were very excited about their supplies and insisted on helping. I miss the days when I could label school supplies in front of the TV after they went to bed!

The weekend before school started, I decided I had better decorate a shirt for Georgia's kindergarten paint smock -- after all, I had done the same for both Sophia and Madeline! For all three, I used an old black t-shirt from my closet and some glitter fabric paint. Designs were done on the fly, with the child's input, and they're all different but all have their name front and centre. (This is what the paint looks like when wet; it's more translucent and glittery when dry.)

On the 19th, we went to a farewell barbecue for Neil's cousin, Rhonda, who was moving to Ottawa for a new job, on very short notice. I'm glad we could see her before she left town! The party was at Darren and Ali's. We hadn't seen them for quite awhile (at least I hadn't) and the girls enjoyed playing with their little second cousins, Gabe and Avery.

On the 20th, we went to Yellow Grass to see my Great Grandma Byrns (visiting from Saskatoon), Aunt Chris and Uncle Tim (visiting from Idaho), and family who live in YG. First, we went out to Mom and Dad's farm to see the bison. I wrote a bit about this excursion on my layout about Madeline and the bull. The girls were also thrilled to ride on the Rhino with their grandpa. Sophia even drove it for a little while! (Madeline isn't quite tall enough yet.) On the way back to town with Mom, we enjoyed seeing many different birds in the marshes and flooded farmland along the road.

Back in town, my sister-in-law, Robyn, brought her children, Ethan, Jordyn, and Kacy, over to Mom and Dad's for a visit. (Unfortunately, my brother was working and couldn't be there.) Great Grandma, Chris, and Tim left before supper as they wanted to get back to Saskatoon before dark. The kids hadn't seen their cousins for months. They really enjoyed playing together, and going for walks and to the park. The younger four also painted some pictures. Painting at Grandma's house has become a tradition! We had a nice dinner at Mom and Dad's and went back to Regina in the evening.

On the 21st, we attended a thank-you barbecue for those who helped with the K4J Vacation Bible Camp earlier in the month. All three girls attended the camp (Sophia as a captain), and Neil had helped with props and clean up.

On the 26th, Madeline had her first appointment with an orthodontist because her top teeth are very crowded. He recommended that she get a couple baby teeth (top eye teeth) pulled right away to give the permanent teeth a little more room. She'll definitely need braces in a couple years, too. (She had those teeth pulled after school on September 6. Her mouth was frozen for a long time, but she still participated in her ringette camp that evening.)

On the 27th, we went to Weyburn for a welcome party for my cousin's baby, Lexington. (We had helped them out with their daughter, Bailey, while Lex was born on June 14.) It was nice to see them again, as well as Mom, Grandma Mantay, Aunt Colleen, Robyn, Jordyn, and Kacy. (Ethan was with his dad.)

On the 28th, we enjoyed having dinner with our friends, the Eleys, at their house. The food was delicious and it was a very nice evening. I'm still thinking about the fresh fruit salad of peaches, nectarines, raspberries, and blueberries, with citrus pound cake on the side. :) Thanks MJ and R! You're great hosts!

And with that, we were off to the start of a new school year, new job, and new activities in our schedule. I think I've covered everything from here on!

A pic to go with my tweet

I just finished saying, "Was going to write a blog post, but instead spent 30 min cleaning, trimming & painting 40 nails in 6 colours (2 little girls). Now 2 tired."

But then I decided I could post something -- not the post I had in mind, but something. So here it is.

Neil took Sophia to her first dance class of the season, so she missed out on the nail polish for now.

Off to read to these two and then snooze for a bit.

My new job is exhausting, but great! :)

10 things on the 10th (September)

Ten photos I took today. For a listing of all September participants, see 10 Things at Shimelle.com.

Crickett Farm Centennial

On Saturday, August 13, we drove to my aunt and uncle's farm near Bickleigh, SK to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary and the farm's 100th anniversary year. They really went all out on the celebration and it was a wonderful time. The weather was fantastic, too!

We arrived at the farm shortly after 2:00 pm. First thing, Neil set up our tent in a shaded area, and we got our beds ready. The girls found their little cousin, Bailey, right away and read stories to her in the tent. Before dinner, Neil and I visited with relatives. My parents were there, my Great Grandma Mantay, all of my mom's sisters, Uncle Roger, my three cousins who grew up on the Crickett farm, their spouses, baby Jack, and my cousin Richy and his family.

Dinner was catered and served in the big white tent. The meal was delicious and the tables were lovely. There was a short program after dinner, MC'd by my cousin Carolyn. My cousin Nancy and her husband dressed up in my aunt and uncle's wedding dress and suit, Sophia and Madeline read a cute poem called I'll Go On Wrinkling, and the Crickett girls sang a song they wrote for their parents about the history of the farm and growing up there. After the program, a local band set up and played from about 8-10 pm. My cousin Jayne sang with them. It was a very fun relaxed evening -- a great time! We managed to get Georgia to bed in our tent around 10:30; Madeline a little later; and Sophia about midnight when we turned in, too. The night was absolutely perfect for tenting. Not once were we too hot or too cold.

The girls got up about 7:30 am and went out exploring. I learned later that they ate cereal in the house with my Aunt Valerie. Neil and I packed up everything and took down the tent. Mid morning, my aunt prepared a breakfast feast of ham, eggs, pancakes, and fruit in the big tent. After breakfast, we enjoyed more visiting with relatives. The girls spent more time with Bailey, often in her family's RV. We also managed to get some family photos (I'm so glad because it was on my to-do list for this summer!). After that, the girls and I, along with Melinda and Bailey, decided to try out the Farmer's Golf that my uncle Cliff set up around the farm. Only Sophia and I continued after the first hole, and we completed four holes before heading back to the yard.

After lots of goodbyes, and tracking my mom, grandma, and aunts down on the Farmer's Golf course, we left the farm about 1:40 to catch the 3:30 pm departure of the Riverhurst Ferry. We made it in good time and had a 15-minute wait. We had never taken the ferry across Lake Diefenbaker before. It was a nice break in the trip. We got out of the truck, walked around on the ferry, and used the washroom, of course. At Regina, we went straight to Laurel's to pick up Dash, and we got home around 6:30 pm. It was a whirlwind trip. Short and sweet. I'm glad we went!

My first guest post!

My first guest post was posted on SimpleScrapper.com today! It's all about taking care of your photos on a regular basis so you're prepared for scrapbooking and more. This is what works for me. Please go check it out!

Be Prepared to Scrapbook at Any Moment

P.S. I must add -- I think this process is for anyone who takes photos, not just scrapbookers!

The great layout rescue!

I made this layout in the spring (based on Moxie by Diana Chen). Later, I realized it was missing something. A whole lotta something. It was totally missing the story! It had cute photos, design, and products, but what was it about? Yeesh. Clearly, I was much more focused on the fun of crafting than on WHY I was making this layout. I was pleased with how the page looked (and I did have fun making it, which is valuable in itself), but I wasn't happy with the layout. It wasn't finished.

I really needed to add more photos and words to complete this layout, but didn't want to try making another 12x12 scrapbook layout to go with the first one. Thankfully, I had an easy solution: photo-sleeve page to the rescue!

Here are the two pages together in my album. Now I'm very happy with this layout!

I love the photo sleeves from We R Memory Keepers. They're great quality and they allow me to add more photos to a layout quickly and easily. I've had the ones with six horizontal 4x6" sleeves for a couple of years (since Y&T '09 with Ali Edwards), and had been thinking about using them more regularly in my scrapbook albums. A few days after reading this blog post from Melissa Stinson, I ordered a variety of photo-sleeve pages from Scrapbook.com. I like having lots of photos in my albums, but don't necessarily want to give them all the royal treatment (i.e., full-on scrapbook layout). Timewise, that's not a practical approach for me, either.

I'm excited to have these page protectors from We R Memory Keepers on hand and ready to go!

There are even more configurations, but these were my favourite. I also bought a pack of the 3-up pages by American Crafts, and I wish I had ordered some of the full 6x12 pages as well. I had some and have used them up. (Noell Hyman of Paperclipping.com wrote a great blog post about using 6x12 pages to add more journaling to single-page layouts.)

 

Someday, I want to go through my scrapbook albums looking for places where additional photos and/or journaling would complement single-page layouts I made in the past. Actually, I really want to run and do that right now!

***

And now back to my rescued layout... I also used The Story digital overlay from Ali Edwards at DesignerDigitals.com to frame my journaling on the new page. As you can see, I had quite a bit more to say than I included on my original layout:

In the fall of 2010, Madeline decided she wanted to try Taekwondo. We thought it was a great idea! Unfortunately, her first lesson was a rocky start. She was sad that there were no other girls in her class, and she wouldn't join her group despite gentle prompting from the instructor. She watched and listened, though, and practiced the positions from a distance. After that first lesson, she was more content as there was another little girl in Taekwondo, and her regular instructor was a young woman, Ms. Stone, a 10-time national champion. Ms. Stone said that Madeline was an excellent student of Taekwondo. In December, Madeline worried about her first exam, but she did well and earned her yellow stripe. Nevertheless, Madeline decided not to return in January. Since her lessons and exam were always after school while I was at work, I didn’t get any pictures of Madeline in her dobok. In July 2011, I decided to get that photo while her dobok still fit!

The rest of my staycation

I went back to work on Monday after my glorious week off (10 days in total). I loved my vacation time! The weather was fabulous. I loved being at home and doing whatever I felt like doing most of the time. And, of course, I loved crossing a few things off my to-do list. For me, it was a great balance of productivity and play. Here's a recap of some of the things we did after the girls returned from Camp Monahan (aside from regular housework, BSS work, etc.)

Thursday morning, Sophia and I made Dill Pickle Spears. I think they turned out well, but Sophia doesn't care for the taste of the vinegar. She LOVES garlic dill pickles, but these weren't quite right for her (the white wine vinegar, perhaps?). Maybe we'll add more sugar next time or try another recipe; they were very easy to make.

Later on Thursday, all three girls had an annual check-up with our family doctor. They're all doing fine and growing well. (Georgia also began a 24-hour Holter Monitor today so the pediatric cardiologist will have the results at her heart checkup in January.) That evening, we went to Boston Pizza for supper as Neil had a gift card to use (it was a thank you gift for his lunch supervision at school). The girls were excited to eat out as we hadn't eaten out at all in July (making up for some extra eating-out expenses in June).

On Friday afternoon, we all went shopping for school supplies. It was our first time buying supplies for all three. The girls were full of eager anticipation for this event. Before we went out, we "shopped" our house for supplies that could be reused. Georgia is quite happy to use things we already had (for example, she'll use Madeline's scissors and Sophia's backpack from last school year), while Sophia is quite a bit less willing to reuse (which frustrates me!).

We purchased the majority of school supplies at Walmart, Staples, and Costco this year. There were some great deals such as duotangs for 10 cents (we needed 24) and 200-sheet packs of loose leaf for 25 cents. Shoes were purchased at Winners, the Bay, and Payless. Finally, two new t-shirts for each girl from The Children's Place (less than $7/shirt). They all selected a t-shirt that says "Best Sister Ever" with an arrow to their own head. And all three wore it to their first day of K4J Vacation Bible Camp on Monday. :)

After shopping, we picked up the girls' packed bags and drove them to Corinne. Lou met us there and took the girls to Avonlea to spend two nights with their grandparents. We needed a babysitter on Saturday, so this worked very well for us. As always, the girls had a great time out there. They went for a hike in the hills, swimming at Dunnet, and sewed some potholders with their grandma.

On Saturday, Neil went golfing with friends, which is something he hasn't done for years. They golfed at Flowing Springs and had to take a long break while waiting for a severe thunderstorm to roll through. Meanwhile, I was alone for much of the day. So unusual! I listened to scrapbooking podcasts, and worked on July pictures and a series of scrapbook pages I had started in May 2010. (Photos to follow in a separate post.)

I also registered for The Art of Composition this weekend. Pricey, yes, but I see it as an investment in knowledge I'll use for the rest of my life. (I was glad to get a $20 discount as a member of Picture Inspiration, though.) I'm really looking forward to this workshop!

Saturday evening, Neil and I went to the home of our friends, Derek and Lisa, in Pilot Butte. There were about a dozen people there (and no kids, except the host couple's baby). We had a delicious steak supper, and I really enjoyed visiting with Lisa and Karla, whom I hadn't seen for a very long time.

Sunday was painting day. I painted the front door while Neil created and painted a cruise ship to be used in a skit at the K4J VBS this week (Neil is helping with props and stage set-up all week long). They both turned out well! I used the "Exotic Grass" paint that I used to paint one wall of our dining room in 1997. I had wanted to paint this door green for years! So glad I finally did this. What took me so long?

Also on Sunday, Neil picked up the girls at Corinne, and my mom and Buffy (her dog) came over to visit for a little while. The girls and I needed to go to a few stores on the east side, so Mom came with us. Sophia also had captain's training (she's a K4J captain) and a playdate at Meghan's house, before and after our shopping excursion, respectively.

I cannot resist...

The echinacea. Or the bee. The best of many shots tonight...

Photos & tidbits from the week

Our Shasta daisies are lovely, but they were getting a bit unruly so I've trimmed them a little (after this picture).

On Tuesday, we celebrated Laurel's birthday with cake and ice cream out on our patio. It was very hot and humid outside.

The girls are enjoying their swimming lessons at the Lawson. Sophia's in level 5, Madeline in level 4, and Georgia in Sunfish.

Sophia and Bronwyn stayed overnight with their grandparents in Avonlea last night. I think they had plans to go golfing.

Madeline is looking forward to going to a "Luau" birthday party for her friend, Kaitlin, this afternoon.

The mint on our back step is thriving. Perfect for Mojitos! Neil makes them for me occasionally. Mmmm.

Our new double echinacea is just starting to bloom. I look forward to seeing the "double" part when it comes out.

10 things on the 10th (July)

Ten photos I took today. For a listing of all July participants, see 10 Things at Shimelle.com.

P.S. The 4th photo is Georgia. Major haircut yesterday!

Birthdays and toys galore

I adore these petunias with the green edges. So cool. This one is growing in one of Laurel's beautiful planters. I've also seen them in some city-owned pots downtown.

After posting almost daily for a month, it was good to have a little break from blogging but I certainly don't want to miss recording some of the details of our weekend.

We spent Thursday evening at L&B's to celebrate our niece's 11th birthday. Neil had taken the girls over earlier in the afternoon and then he picked me up from work so we could go straight there. Shauna, Cole, and Rian had arrived from Edmonton earlier in the day, and Donna, Lou, Darren, Ali, Gabe, and Avery were there as well. We had a great dinner (bbq'd hamburgers, corn on the cob, etc) and birthday cake from Coldstone Creamery. We didn't get home until about 9:30 and I was exhausted, so I stayed in bed after reading to Madeline and Georgia.

I was up early on Friday, Canada Day. I worked on email and Bite-sized Scrapbooking stuff until after lunch and then weeded the garden for three hours in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Neil took the girls to a Rider practice (11:00 am) where they got a bunch of things autographed, and then to the park for Canada Day festivities in the afternoon. Laurel, Bronwyn, Shauna, Cole, and Rian also did those things with them. Around 5:30 pm, we picked up Donna from the Pasqua hospital where Grandma Louise is recovering from surgery, and we went to L&B's house for our nephew's 7th birthday celebration. We had Houston Pizza for supper and a delicious "zebra" cake which Shauna made and decorated with white icing and red fondont maple leafs. After supper, Sophia went to a movie with her friend Meghan, while we stayed at L&B's until almost 9 pm. Once again, that was the end of the day for me. I don't know why, but I can't seem to stay up late any more! I guess I'm working harder these days.

On Saturday, I got up at 6:00 am and did a little more BSS work. I really don't mind getting up early on weekends. For awhile on Saturday morning, I appreciated the complete silence of the house. Not even the A/C was running. :) When Madeline got up, she and I (with coffee in hand) enjoyed a stroll around our garden on a gorgeous sunny morning. I loved chatting with Madeline as we looked at the plants and flowers. I love to hear her perspective on things.

Before too long, I went to work cleaning the living room and dining room floors while Neil hauled all of the toys out to the front lawn, placing them on top of old sheets. Once everything was out and the floors cleared, Madeline and I took a little break to pick up bread and treats at Orange Boot Bakery (I was after the Rhubarb & Walnut muffins in particular). At 1:00 pm, Neil took the girls to go swimming with their cousins at the Sandra Schmirler Leisure Centre. Meanwhile, I sorted toys for about six hours straight (with Neil's help for some of those hours). Can you believe that? I didn't think it would take that long -- and was frustrated that it did -- but at least it was a gorgeous day outside. And it is great to have this done but I know there are more toys lurking in our house somewhere. There are a few obvious things missing from sets and games. That drives me nuts!

Neil made an awesome supper (bison tenderloin steak, perfect potatoes/carrots/onions, corn on the cob) and we ate out on the patio for the first time this year. And then I had to take the girls to 7-11 for 5-cent candies because I had promised. Ugggh. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, that they were supposed to help me with the toy sorting -- and they did, but less than I was hoping due to the swimming excursion and playing with their new friend, Zoe, from two doors down. After that, we hauled all of the toys into the house.

Sunday was another gruelling day of working with the toys. This time indoors, we went through every container deciding what toys to give away (all but one miscellaneous box as we ran out of time). The girls did pretty well. We collected another large box full of toys and dress-up clothes, 30 small stuffed animals (unfortunately, very little relative to the remaining stuffies: I cannot get them to part with Webkinz!), and a bag of play dough paraphernalia (we kept the best tools and cookie cutters) to give away. Also on Sunday, Neil and the girls took Dash for a play date, we took Neil to the Rider game, and the girls played with Zoe for 90 minutes before supper. When we finished going through the stuffed animals in the evening, which was quite challenging, I rewarded the girls: for each stuffie they gave away, they received 25 cents toward DQ treats. They ended up with $7.50 total, so we went to the new DQ at 8:00 pm and they each enjoyed a small sundae. We also picked up Neil, just two blocks from our house, on his way home from the football game (he often walks home; it takes about 40 minutes). It was another LONG day -- with an extremely messy kitchen at the end of it.

After all of this toy business, I now have good solid inventory of the things we're hanging onto (for now), and have divided them into these categories: (1) All-season, (2) Summer (Jun-Sep), (3) Fall/Winter (Oct-Jan), and (4) Winter/Spring (Feb-May). This week, we'll be be putting away categories 3 and 4, totally out-of-sight and inaccessible to the kids. My hope is that we'll be able to keep the girls' rooms and our living spaces tidier on an ongoing basis. It's got to help, right?!

The colour of light

I really didn't think the sun was going to come out yesterday. The rain started Thursday evening and continued for most of Friday, but strong winds sent the rain clouds away, so I was able to catch some flare late in the afternoon (5:45 pm).

Heavy rainfall caused more flooding in our yard than we've ever seen and our basement to leak in several places. For the most part, our day revolved around those things. It was not a fun day. (And I had other plans, of course!) I was off work (vacation day) and the kids had no school, so we were home all day -- which is certainly a good thing when dealing with basement flooding. It's also a good thing we have a large Shop Vac to use in the basement and a pony pump for water in the yard. Unfortunately, the pump stopped working when it was too late to get parts. Neil is getting parts this morning so we can continue pumping out the yard.

This is the street in front of our house before Neil unblocked the drain on the other side of the street. The next two views are the problem areas in our yard. The last photo shows a spot where we've never had water collect like this before. And that window well (next to the green bucket) is where the biggest leak in our basement is occurring. Fixing this won't be easy.

Thankfully, it stopped raining in the late afternoon. After she finished work, Laurel took Bronwyn and Madeline to Avonlea (met Lou at Corinne) to stay overnight with their grand-parents. Neil took Sophia to Meghan's birthday party at 5:30 pm. Georgia and I took Neil to the Rider preseason game at 6:00 pm. Before going home, she and I attempted to get treats at DQ only to discover my wallet wasn't in my purse. Grrr. (It was at home beside the computer.) We went home for awhile, then back to DQ (the new one in Harbour Landing). I enjoyed spending some one-on-one time with Georgia. She cracks me up! That was definitely the best part of the day. We were home again for about an hour before going to pick up Sophia at the Lawson swimming pool at 9:00 pm. And there went my evening. Too tired by that time to do anything else.

Track, school, and my staycation

Sophia has continued to do well in track, and she loves it! She's participated in three quad meets and one track meet at her school. These photos are from the third quad meet in which Sophia got 1st place in triple jump. After her school meet (where she won five 2nds, one 6th, and one 8th), she received a silver medal for the Midget Girls category. We're not sure yet if she will be going to the city track meet or not.

The kids haven't had very much school lately! For the Victoria Day weekend, they had no school on Friday or Monday. While I worked until noon on Friday, Neil took six kids to the Science Centre: our three girls, our niece, the boy Neil babysits, and Madeline's friend, Lauren, who was here for a sleepover Thursday night. (Sophia also had a friend, Desirae, over for a sleepover on Saturday night.) Having a family membership for the Science Centre is awesome! They allowed all seven to go in under our membership.

The kids were in school yesterday (Tuesday), and now are off for two days due to the teachers' job action. It's not an all-out strike yet, but I hope they come to an agreement very soon! We're wondering if there will even be a city track meet at this point. Also, the school community council had a big spring carnival/fundraiser planned for tomorrow night, and it had to be postponed. I feel bad for those who have put in the hours to plan this event, so I hope it still happens (but NOT next week -- we have Mosaic).

So, the kids are only in school two days this week, and this is my vacation week! Part of me wishes they were in school for all four days as planned (I have tons of housework to do!), but on the other hand, it's nice not doing the morning rush to get them going to school. Plus, if I had been at work, I would have been jealous that my whole family had these free days without me. Georgia still has preschool, though, and right now she's at the Dino Bouncer place on a field trip. On Friday, we'll attend her preschool graduation!

Regarding my week off -- my staycation -- I am LOVING it! This is the first time in over 16 years, other than being ill or on mat leave, that I've had a whole week off and stayed home the whole time. I'm getting so much done! Not quite as much as I had hoped (my plans were too ambitious, perhaps!), but still a ton, and I'm glad. I'm relieved. So much was long overdue.

Also, I'm finally feeling better. That cold I had, that started on Friday the 13th, turned into a sinus infection and I was totally miserable all of last week. If I had not been taking this week off, I would have stayed in bed a couple of days. But I couldn't; there were too many things I had to do before my vacation. (For my sinuses, I used a neti pot a few times. I think it helped a great deal and may have shortened the infection.)

Time to get back to my spring cleaning! This is just about the half-way point of my nine days off and I intend to accomplish a great deal over the next few days. :)