Catching up...

We're trying to get back into the swing of things again.  At the beginning of the summer I wondered how we would fill it, what with not doing an addition this year and all.  In many ways it felt busier than last, and we seemed to get less accomplished.  Life is just full and busy, and add to that two gardens, re-siding the house, part-time (home)school, two sessions of swimming lessons, visitors now and then, older kids coming and going and working at different places - well, that just fills the time to overflowing.

So we hit the books again.  Routine is good, and with the longer mornings (no more sleeping in around here!) we actually feel that we accomplish something every day. 

As we've done that last few years, the older girls are each given a few time slots each week to teach the littles.  This year I've put together a binder of craft and activities for the letters of the alphabet, so that what they are doing together will line up nicely with what I'm teaching them.  These Bugs were made while they were learning the letter B...

We're still working away at getting the siding up, a day here, a half-day there.  Slooooooow but sure.  This side wall is now finished, as is the entire back of the house.  Now, just the front and west side to go!

I'm convinced that the best toys are not bought (at least, not bought as toys)...

...although today's visit to the Lego outlet store challenges that thought!  There were buckets of Lego available to play with.  Kids could build their own race cars, then race them on the track they had there.  They boys had a blast, and we had fun just watching them as they raced their car, ran back to the buckets to modify the design, and then to the track again to test it out.  I didn't take my camera along, but I think that's a memory that will stick even without the support of pictures. :)

At St. Jacob's market we were impressed with all the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables, and the  many unique and fun things that can be found there.  We enjoyed samples here and there of what the vendors had to offer (better than Costco!), sat and watched some cows being auctioned off and had absolutely no idea what the auctioneer was saying.  So funny.  A quick stop at the petting farm made for a fun finish to our visit.  We were there for just over two hours and only got a taste of what was there.  I've never had a real interest in markets, but this one is worth a return visit, I think.

Yesterday we enjoyed the airshow put on by the Snowbirds.  Wow!  They are amazing!

Until next time,

What today looks like...

Crocheting while the bread dough is being kneaded,

 a visit from a butterfly,

 a story read,

 a picture painted,

beans picked,

 and ended,

 and some more garden produce.

What's up around here...

So today we found out that instead of having an eye infection like we thought, Brent has allergies to 'something' out there.  That reminded me to look into another allergy we've known he's had but haven't really done anything about yet: dust mites.  A little research on that topic has made us all feel a little sick.  It's a nasty business, and up until now I've really been quite fond of my pillow.  Not sure I can ever feel the same way about it after this.

But on to nicer things.

Unlike most places, our area has been getting an abundance of rain this summer.  The crops in the fields look amazing, and my garden is doing really well. 

Take a look at the beautiful Fibonacci spriral formed by the sunflower seeds. A perfect pattern put there by the Creator. :)

I've decided that I should grow zinnias every year.  They don't ask for much, bloom like crazy and don't mind being picked and brought indoors.

This summer's project is to put new siding on the house.  Gerald's been pretty busy, so Leah and I have been working on it.  It's a crazy job -  like knitting in that if you make a mistake at the bottom, you have to take out everything you've done after it, fix the mistake and then do the work over again.  I've had it happen a few times that the siding wasn't pulled up tight enough and came unlocked.  One wall we've had to do two and a half times.  It's a frustrating thing.  Besides that, you have to be very particular in your measurements and angles, and I'm a give-or-take-an-inch kind of person.  

Break Time ~ the wall on the right was the first we completed.  The other wall was done by Gerald last winter.  

My right-hand woman. :)

But we have three walls done, so that's something.  We started on the side of the house where we rarely need to go - so any imperfections will be less noticable.  There are a few places that could have been done differently, but it's all pretty level and I'm quite sure it will all stay in place now, so I'm happy.   Next I hope to start the wall by the back door where the original back wall meets the addition.  We walk past there everytime we go in and out, so I better get it right, hopefully the first time.

This picture (above) made me cry when I downloaded it the other night.  Notice the darker line about a third of the way from the top on the left side?  That's from siding that wasn't pulled tight enough to stayed locked together.  I didn't know about it until I saw it on the picture.  We redid that wall yesterday.  I've learned to check for that on every row before going on to the next. 

A few weeks ago I did was searching for some preschool activities and came upon this video about Lambert the Sheepish Lion.  If your kids like Bill Peet books they'll love this, and you'll probably hear them singing the catchy little song - and I bet you'll be singing it, too!

Gone fishing...

They boys had been talking about going fishing for a while.  It's not something we'd ever done with them before.  So during national fishing week, when you can fish without a licence, we gave it a try.

Gavin and Thomas each got their own kid-size fishing rods recently, and for the rest, we dusted off some very old ones we had kicking around and got them untangled and ready.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, Thomas decided that the best and only place to try was out at the end of the pier with all the seasoned fishermen.  So he plunked himself down between them like he belonged with the best of them. :)

There he sat with his very own 3 foot rod, full of confidence.  I love how he's resting his rod on his toes.  This next shot is probably going to be one of my all-time favourites. :)

The funny thing was, he was the first one of anyone on the pier to catch anything.  The guy beside him said, "Hey little buddy, you just caught yerself a nice little sunfish.  And right down beside the pier, too!"

 A few of the other kids managed to catch some sunfish, too, but as it turned out, Thomas' was the biggest. :)

So after getting a taste of fishing and liking it, we decided to head out very early that Saturday morning for some more.  It was a fine morning, and we got to see the sunrise over the lake.

 But we didn't catch anything - didn't even get a nibble!

Maybe we'll do better next year?

Summer fun...

It's been quite the summer so far!  So different from last year. Last year it was work, work, work on the house.  There's been work this year, too, but not so much that we haven't had time for a little fun.  We've been chipping away at our summer wish list.  No, Cars 2 has not come true (let's be thankful!) nor have we ridden any elephants (awww), but we did take a tour of HMCS Haida, a World War II destroyer that is docked and set up as a museum.  The boys thought the guns and torpedos were so cool.

We also checked out the Lear jet that Gerald's brother-in-law, Clarence, flies (some people get paid to do cool things...)

Future pilots??

Afterward we went to the river...

And did a bit of canoeing.  This was Nadia's first time in a canoe.  She loved it!

Clarence had offered to take us out in his boat to do some water skiing, knee boarding and tubing. 

Gavin felt pretty comfy up front, and was thinking he could get used to this kind of life...

Although Gerald's nephew, Doren, made this look easy, some of us had a pretty hard time getting up on the knee board.  Allison managed it, though...

Tubing produced a lot less bruises...

But even at a gentle speed, Nadia was not impressed!

Gerald got up on skis no problem...

And so did I! So fun!!  Here's me, going down.  (I do it well, don't I? :)

Thanks, Clarence and Jeanette, for a very fun day!!