cobwebs in the evening sun.......

Last night while we were measuring out the front field for a barn, Lloyd noticed hundreds of cobweb strands across the grass glistening in the evening sunlight...........I HAD to grab my camera...unfortunately the pictures just don't do this justice as they were quite stunning but hopefully you can still see them in the pictures! Don't forget you can click on pictures to make them bigger!

Happy Birthday Emerson!!!!

I just want to wish little Emerson a VERY happy First Birthday today!!!! Emerson has spent a lot of time in hospital since she was born and no doubt caused her Mommy and Daddy many sleepless nights of worry! But she is ONE and is now doing great and is just the cutest thing.....

And her Mommy Tasha has started a new business venture creating Keepsake Slideshows online. They are $25 and are just a wonderful way to share special pictures with family and friends around the globe...as well as something to treasure for yourself! ............you can contact Tasha via her blog http://party-of-five-.blogspot.com/

coming up the driveway.......................

Chris just joked that Lloyd was home and I was so excited.....but alas he isn't! So then CHris asks me 'if you could have anyone (but Dad) come up the driveway now, who would it be?'

Actually right now (sorry Mum) it would be the Mortimers delivery van!!!! Yes I should say my parents or sister or a friend, but right now I'm hungry and so thats the first thing I thought about!

When I was little (before I started school) my neighbours would have bread delivered by van from the Mortimers Bakery in my home town. The van would pull up outside of my neighbours house, and my Mum would go outside and get me an iced bun (like a semi sweet bread roll with white icing on...they are long and thin like a big finger!). Sometimes we would have vanilla slices too.....sheets of puff pastry with cream and jam in the middle.........but normally I would have an iced bun at lunchtime when my Dad came home for lunch from work.

Right now I could do with the van arriving and having a fresh (often still warm) iced bun with my coffee :)

Not fair!!!

Sometimes the most HILARIOUS things happen but because of their personal nature I can't blog them.......a couple of days ago the funniest thing happened...really really funny but I can't blog about it!!!! Don't you just hate when that happens???????

Debbie.........

Hi Debbie,

I still read your blog but for some reason I can't leave a comment there!!!!! Anyway, don't think I'm ignoring you!!!!

Enjoying the Fall evening.............

My friend Lori let us borrow her little climber/ slide set for Sam and he just LOVES it!!! Lori runs a wonderful chain of baby stores called Baby and Beyond in Sherwood Park and Edmonton! If you need a baby gift for anyone THAT is the place to go!!!

Friday - and a long weekend!!!

I don't feel like saying 'thank goodness its Friday' today. Its been a good week! :) But still, its nice that its Friday...the start of the weekend and a three day weekend!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving and have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!!

Yesterday the weather was so nice....18c and not a cloud in the sky all day. Around 3pm we went for a walk down to our mail box which is quite a way for Sam to walk....but he loved it, stopping to pick up fallen leaves and wave to the horse etc. After Lloyd got home from work we ended up spending the whole evening outside.....we fed the chickens and collected the eggs, measured out the front field where we want the new barn....we were going to haave a barn 60' long but actually thats a really small barn...so we think we will get bigger. We want a red hip barn with an upstairs. The upstairs will be habitable.....with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette and a studio for photography. Then when people come to stay they can stay in there but when people aren't staying it will be my studio.

The children played on the trampoline and slide for a while (I have pictures of Sam to add which are funny because he got stuck at the bottom of the slide and couldn't pull himself up.....very sweet! Lloyd and I gave the children rides on the quads and then he and I went on them on several of the trails we've created. For such a warm evening it was odd to drive through so many cold spots. Our land has a few cold spots which we don't understand..because they aren't all shaded areas........In one place last night the temperature was so low that our breath was all steamy..........yet a minute later and it was warm again!

After the children were in bed we sat and watched another show about Japan. the HD channel has a show each evening called 'Portraits of Japan'.......the other night it was all about a 1500 year old cherry tree, another night it was about these little triangular wooden houses in the mountains and last nights was about Kobe, a city with special Christmas traditions..............I would love to visit Japan! One day...................

Which reminds me that I haven't seen my friend Hiromi since she got back from Japan!!!! Chris is learning Japanese and studying the country and then on Wednesday Nancy came for a photo shoot and brought us Japanese cookies and coffees from the Japanese student that is living with them!

We still haven't had our moon cakes this week for the Chinese Autumn Festival............I wonder if I can persuade Lloyd to take us to WEM tomorrow to get some! Or downtown..........hhhmmm

So now it's Friday. Sam was snuggled in with me this morning fast asleep and I soooooo didn't want to get out of bed! He was so warm and cuddly. But I had to be in town for 9am so we had to get up and get going! The weather is completely different today too....it's been raining most of the day!

My friend Sam had told me about a playgroup in town that she helps run, so I decided to try it with my Sam and Abigail....they do so much with us that is aimed at homeshoolers and are always busy with us but I don't really have anything each week that is special for them, so I thought it might be fun! It was!!! I met Colleen (Hi Colleen!!!! My newest reader!!! :) and Shawna there too with their little girls!

This group was really good (of course with Samantha involved it WOULD be...no one knows children like Samantha!!) It is free!!! The government pays for it! The centre is just lovely...bright and cheerful and each wall a different colour....leather sofas and a big screen tv and soooo many toys! There was coffee and tea and they even serve a snack at 11am....pancakes and fruit!!!!! There was sponge painting, playdough, jigsaws, colouring, building blocks, books....just endless things to keep little ones busy!

Samantha also showed me the resource centre there for child educators....as a homeschooler I can use it.......you can use the die cutting machines, photocopiers....photocopy from all the books there...and Sam showed this really cool board stuff that you die cut and then put in water and it pops up into shapes for sponge painting! There is laminating and all sorts too...so I think I will pop there at some point next week and get some crafts etc organized....maybe some winter themed things for Abby and some things to keep Sam busy while I am with the others!

While I was there I got my Avon order from Samantha too and the new brochures. And then just before I left, a man came up to me and said 'I hear you have five children to feed, would you like this pumpkin pie?' and he gave me a HUGE Costco pumpkin pie!!! All the staff had been given one, and he didn't want his so Samantha had suggested me!!!! :)

Ok so if this wasn't wonderful enough, I then went out to my car with Shawna and she gave me these amazing ceramic dragons to paint for the children and some books on how to draw and paint children, animals, birds etc etc...........so the boys have the dragons to work on next week.....I am going to find some online to show them what to do and then they can decorate them for their rooms............ Thank you Shawna!!!

Then we got home and stopped at the mailbox and there was ANOTHER parcel from my parents!!!! The children get soooo excited about these parcels! The girls had stripey tights, the boys had underwear, socks for me :) polka dot ones with stripes around the top :) and undies for Lloyd! And an article about the Amish and Lancaster County, Penn.

So now its 2:45pm and Sam is asleep. Abigail just woke up after falling asleep on the sofa (busy morning!) Chris is working on some new psychology tests he is designing...he is using Laurie and Susie as his guniea pigs ;) he has been looking at how different styles of music can effect concentration......from classical to rock and Jazz..................

Abigail is now painting...she wanted to do playdough but we need to get some new pots...or maybe I could make some............

Lloyd called just now...problems at work :( but he shouldn't be late because of them thankfully :) but he's ok.....yay a three day weekend!

Ok...off to add some pictures!!!