In my thoughts.....

Please keep my friend in your thoughts. She's going through a really difficult time right now - her heart is breaking and she's feeling very hurt and mixed up. I want her to know that I'm thinking of her and I have a feeling that things are going to work out for her in the way that she wants them to - I think she just needs to give them time.

I hope she knows I'm here for her......and that she deserves to be treated a lot better than this because she's such a sweet, kind and loving person!

Please keep her in your thoughts - she's in mine!

A splashing good time!

We headed back to the pool today to enjoy the 32c temperatures. It was lovely there - so glad we went! We picked up Chris's friend Keenan - tried to take a friend for Susie but she called all the girls in her class and they were ALL away!!!! Such a shame there are so few girls in her class! Even the girls her age that we know out of school are all away - Vals DD and Jenna are both away too!!! So if it's hot enough next week we will go again and call a few back! So many children these days have to spend half the holidays at their Dads house (etc etc) and some are at camp.....

We had a great day though and the afternoon flew by. Before we knew it, 4pm was here and we had to pack up our bags and head home.

The bottom picture shows my 'supervising' position when I wasn't swimming in the pool ;) very relaxing ;)

Registration for pre-k

This morning registration opened for preschool and pre-k classes for the Fall in our Parks and Rec area. Registration was due to open online at 7am. Lloyd went to work nice and early as he often does and so he was going to register Sam at 7am for me. I knew spaces would fill early for the class I wanted. there were only 20 spaces in this class, so I told him to check everything was ok nice and early - so he went online at 6:45am to check the Click-it account was ok.

At 6:45am (15 minutes before registration was due to begin, he checked and there were only 6 - yes SIX spaces left!!!!! OMG!!!! They had already started registration!!!! So he went ahead and registered!!! Thank GOODNESS we did not wait around and wait for 7am to check! OMG people do NOT hang around!!!!!

Now I know we get first refusal for a place for Sam in January and after Easter, but for Fall its a fresh start and I really wanted him in THIS class on THESE days at THIS location!!!

I'm happy he got his place in Pre-k anyway :) Yay!!! :) 2 afternoons a week just for ME :)

Workshops over for the summer....

Today we had our last workshop for the summer at the library - yesterday Susie had 'Grossology' and she also finished the Summer reading game and got to look inside the rocket. She won a prize from the prize box and also a book - she chose one for her brother Laurence - a Doctor Who novel!!! He was thrilled :) Susie has her name up on the wall (see pic above!)

Today Abby had a workshop called 'Alien Adventure' and she got to make a space ship with an alien on it and have a snack and story and lots of fun! She also handed in her completed dragon - with all 24 scales coloured in (one for every book she has read this Summer) so she has her name up on the wall and is entered to win a librarian to come to read to her class in the Fall! (see pic above)

We went for ice creams today too and also went to Michaels to buy Susie a scrapbook album for her layouts she has been making lately.

Pictures aren't great because I took them with my cell phone!

For Cheerios!

This is the card I made for Lloyd a few years ago when he went for the 'snip' :)

Thank you!!

Thank you for all the welcome backs and miss yous! I closed my blog for a while and made it private - so private that I was the only reader! My school reunion was being organized on facebook and I was beginning to feel like a I had no space or privacy at ALL!!!

I don't like Facebook much - as many of you know - I use it because these days you kind of feel like you have to. Anyway, I've reopened my blog but I've made a lot of changes and I now have very FEW readers. I used to have almost 100 readers and now I have less than 30. Mainly family - and a few friends. I just feel like having a little more privacy - a little more space. A few less people knowing my business ;)

The crowds can read my 'junk' on facebook. My blog is for friends and family - and most importantly for me.

I hope that makes sense.

PANDAS update

Abigail had her doctors appointment today. I LOVE my doctor :) He's so great :) He gave Abigail the award for the most interesting patient of the day!!! :) He has referred her to a neurologist at the Stollery hospital (childrens hospital at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton) as well as a psychiatrist at the Glenrose hospital in Edmonton. He isn't going to prescribe any meds until she has been seen by the doctors there. He has also sent her for blood tests for the Strep etc etc

Basically he is really interested in the whole PANDAS idea - he has heard of it but NEVER seen a case. He wants to follow this the whole way through and wants them to hurry it through - he says the waiting lists are normally long but we might get lucky because sometimes the doctors will rush through an 'interesting' case just because they get bored of all the 'ADHD' cases and 'seizures' and might just find this case to be something a little different and he is going to photocopy all the notes I made and send them in and going to write up some letters of the notes he made this morning and send them in too!

I thanked him at the end for taking my concerns seriously because i know the lady on LP whose Son has similar problems has struggled to be taken seriously by doctors yet my Doctor could quite clearly see Abigails symptoms and sat and read the print outs I took and had heard about PANDAS before. I was really happy with how the appointment went!

He said we should hear within about two weeks and then it will just be a case of waiting for an appointment.

A change for the new year....

I felt like a fresh start for the new school year, so yesterday I had my hair all chopped off and I love it :) Lloyd loves it. The kids love it and I'm loving how easy it is :) I was tired of having more bad hair days than good and this is just so much easier :)

I am feeling the need for change all round! And this is just one of many :)

Busy scrapbooking

This is A's scrapbooking page she worked on this evening.....it's bee a rainy day today and she has also been modeling with clay, making window stickers, playing 'Brain Age' and 'Jenga' on my DS and writing stories in her exercise book.

Yesterday she came with me and had her hair cut and we did some shopping in Staples and Dollarama - she bought herself a mini fish tank that comes with plastic fish that really grow - she has to give them warm water daily and they grow over three days - and they really do!!! Kind of neat to watch ;)

Bloom against a dark sky......

Scrapbooking....

Todays pages for you........

Pinata fun!

Chris's video of the fun we had opening the pinata yesterday - listen out for the part where he made it slow motion!!!

Too funny!!!

Chris turns 15!!!!!

Today was Chris's 15th birthday. We've been saying he was 15 for ages now so it was a bit weird to actually say he is officially 15 now! He worked this afternoon, but this morning he opened his gifts (a laptop for high school, a paintball gun set from Laurence a mug that says 'pissed off employee of the month' a Smirnoff Ice bottle and a Pinata shaped like a Movie camera).

This evening we had a fire outside and broke open the pinata (video to follow) which was fun, then Laurie and Chris had a war with the paintball guns through the woods.

We had the cake (a Tiramisu) with sparklers instead of candles just before bed.

Happy 15th Birthday Christopher!!

Amber last night

Amber at the beginning of our walk last night and Amber at the end of our walk last night (after wading into the pond). I think I prefer her at the beginning lol! She's 'blowing coat' right now so she has limps of her under coat popping out through her lovely golden outer coat right now and or lawn is dotted with lumps of white fluff here and there....

Both dogs are a bit of a mess right now really but Amber less so. Rosie is blowing coat too but she swims i the pond almost daily and so her blowing coat gets matted badly from swimming in the yucky pond and ends up just such a mess! Amber paddles but she won't swim so hers is easier keep groomed.

Summer guests

It looks like at least one of our bird boxes has been well used this year...we haven't been able to check them all yet, but this one shows obvious signs of being used :)

Once winter sets in we plan to take them all down and open them up and look inside before replacing them in the Spring :)