Friday Night Fun

We split up on Friday night, some people stayed home to spread crushed rock and some people went for a bike ride. I'd already spent all the quality time I was interested in with crushed rock so I opted for the bike ride. My legs were mush from all the gym classes and the shovelling I'd done the previous day! Murray was in his element, flexing his shovelling muscles so I let him have it :))) Sweetie decided to stick with Daddy and they worked on that while Lovey, Honey & babies and I went down the road in search of Tulip.

When we got there, Tulip was still dawdling over her supper. Once she knew we were at the door, she had that meal down in no time flat! We headed to the farm to have a look at the chickens. Lovey's still having some trouble as her bike is a little high for her. She can touch the ground with her tippy toes but that still leaves her feeling a bit nervous and she freaks out whenever she's getting started. Once she's up in the saddle & pedalling, she's fine and just flies. It's the ten minute freak out ever time she has to begin that's a bit tedious. Patience is a virtue, just not one I possess in great quantities sometimes!

By the time we got home, the driveway was pretty much done (good timing eh?) and we headed in to get them ready for bed.

School's Out For Summer!

Last morning on the bus! We gave the bus driver some chocolate cheesecake muffins and a card & she seemed happy with those!

I picked them up from school that day and we gave the teachers their gifts, some homemade fudge chocolate sauce, a little letter written by each girl and a card from Murray & I with a Chapters card. There was supposed to be a book for their classroom but in my rush that morning, I forgot it. Honey was incensed! "Muuuuuuuuuuuuuum!!!!!! how COULD you???? It was IMPORTANT!!!" She didn't even want to take her gift down to her teacher since it was incomplete. Once her sisters had given theirs, she changed her mind, she couldn't wait. We made another trip in after lunch to deliver the forgotten books.

We were blessed with wonderful teachers for Grade 1. They all worked together and homework was the same for all of the classes. They coordinated as many field trips and events as they could to minimize the number of outings I had to attend. Notes and announcements were usually just sent once so we weren't flooded with unnecessary paperwork and we probably saved at least one tree with that effort alone! These ladies all made Grade 1 a happy & enjoyable year. The girls loved going to school. Sweetie came home one day super excited and told me that her teacher had really liked her writing that day and told her "I could just KISS you!!!!" and then she did and that made Sweetie's day! She was so pleased by that one little gesture and it meant a lot to her.

Two years in a row we've had enthusiastic, caring and encouraging teachers who have guided and inspired our girls. The girls love going to school and enjoy their lessons and can't get enough reading time!

They had an excellent year and brought home report cards we're very proud of. :))) I hope this trend continues!!!

Soccer Night in the Hood

The girls went to soccer last night & were glad to see our neighbours there with their daughter! They hustled and did all the drills but I think the highlight of the night is right there in that last picture, at least for Lovey!

Thursday was a good day at school, it seems they're not really doing work anymore, it's all movies and games and fun stuff! Yesterday they had a pizza lunch and icecream sandwiches for dessert. Must be nice!!!

Ready, Set, GO!

Tuesday was just nuts! I put the kids on the bus for school and then it was go go go the rest of the day! I came in and did some stuff around the house, prepped supper and packed up a picnic lunch for the kids & I. Then I headed to the gym for a class, grabbed a quick shower and raced back home since I forgot our picnic blanket! Zipped in to the school for picnic day and was actually 20 minutes early, much to my surprise!

The girls were excited for the picnic and we headed out to the playground to eat. I thought I'd brought some fun stuff, strawberries, watermelon, Yop drinks and even cheesies! As I looked around, most other families were eating pizza, Happy Meals, KFC or Subway. So much for having the cool snacks!!! The girls didn't seem to mind so I'm going to stick with picnic food at the picnic I think. They were so excited to eat outside with me that they didn't spend too much time on what other people were doing. Different friends dropped by to visit and the girls went off to play for awhile but kept running back for more hugs, and cheesies of course :)))

Once the picnic was over, we packed up and then I went to deliver a client order from a recent newborn session. Isn't she cute???

After I was done socializing there, it was time to pick the girls up to head to the tea party at Old Nanny's. From the tea party we raced home to eat so we could leave for the year end violin recital that Lovey was in.

Supper was over in a flash, Lovey jumped into her fancy dress, Honey got her Tball gear together, Sweetie grabbed her DS and we were off again! I took Murray & Lovey to the recital, dropped them off, and took Honey to Teena's so she could go with them to Tball as the concert wasn't going to be over in time and we didn't want her to miss it (yay for friends willing to pinch hit!)

Lovey did really well at the recital and was pleased to be part of it. She played Mayo Morrins and the May song. As she plays you can see her moving to the music a bit, she just can't keep still. That must be what her teacher means when she tells us that she can "see" the music in Lovey :)))

We beat a hasty retreat after the concert and headed back to the Tball field to catch the end of Honey's "game". She had a great time & Boo thought it was awesome having Honey to travel in the car with!

Off to Chinatown

We had an unexpected visit to Chinatown yesterday! We were invited to Old Nanny's for tea after school yesterday. Not knowing her secret plan, the girls changed into nice dresses and shoes when I picked them up & we headed over.

When we got there, she whisked them off to a bedroom and they were in there forever doing some sort of wardrobe change! Many difficulties were encountered and someone would call for me to come solve some dilemma and one of the others would holler "NO! don't come in!" and slam the door shut. It was interesting as they worked through the situation, alternating between calling for me and telling me to stay out!

Finally they paraded out wearing the most adorable red silk Chinese outfits!!!! Old Nanny had found these in her travels and saved them for our visit. We've seen her many times at church, she came over to the house for the birthday last week and never said a word about these special gifts! They were so much fun! The girls loved wearing these and Honey even wore hers to bed last night.

We quickly took our places at the table to begin the Chinese tea party she had planned and set up. Unfortunately, Lovey had a mishap with her plasticene picture she'd brought home that day. The little worm from the garden had gotten smushed into the earth section of the picture and some of the brown got mixed in with the pink and it was a HUGE problem. A huge, crying, screaming, moaning, just beside yourself with grief kind of situation. You know how it is! I made the mistake of telling her she'd have to go sit in the car by herself if she couldn't settle down. She grabbed the keys and headed for the door as soon as I finished my sentence. I sat outside with her for awhile, tried to hold her in hopes of getting her to calm down, all to no avail of course (I don't seem to learn do I???) After a few minutes of that futile effort, I took her back inside and told her she could go cry in the spare bedroom, gave her a couple kleenex and told her to come to the tea party when she settled down. I rejoined the others and the party was in full swing!

Old Nanny had found a "rose" tea to serve and it was being guzzled down as fast as it could be poured! There were little snacks and mini chocolate fruit cups topped with whip cream. (not sure those were genuine Asian cuisine though...)

Part way through the first course, a puffy eyed little girl came slinking in and took her place at the table and was soon swigging back that rose tea and having a great time. She just had to do it in her own time not because I said so.

Party Animals :)

This year we tried something different for the kids to celebrate their birthday with their friends. They already have more stuff than they know what to do with. Last year each girl invited 3 friends each. Parents were unsure however, and those that knew they were triplets, sent three gifts and it was such an overload for us and I felt bad about the extra expense for those parents.

Earlier this year, I heard that you could have birthday parties at the local animal shelter and I thought it was a fantastic idea! We talked to the girls about how much stuff they have, how they can't keep track of it, take care of it or sometimes, even remember it! They were all keen on helping out the shelter by asking their friends to bring gifts for the animals instead of for themselves. A few days later they started waffling on the present idea.... until I reminded them that this was just for their friends, their birthday wouldn't be totally present-less! Then they were back on board :)

We sent out invites and requested donations to the shelter from their wish list in lieu of kid type gifts. Parents loved the idea! I guess I'm not the only one that finds the influx of plastic bits to be overwhelming/unnecessary

They got a tour of the facility and learned how they help animals, how they find the animals and how they are cared for etc. They got to go around and see all the cages and where all the animals are kept too.

Here are all the "birthday gifts" from our guests! Some people really got into it, check out that gift basket!!! Most people brought supplies and some people donated money or gift cards so the shelter can buy what they want. We were limited to only 12 kids total, including mine, or I'd have let them invite their whole class to help the shelter even more!

After the tour, it was time for cake!

Yep, THAT was the cake! I like to stick with a theme and this was perfect! I saw this online ages ago & have wanted to make it ever since. This seemed like the perfect occasion and the kids couldn't wait to see their friends! Mumma was skeptical "oh Kelly, NO one is going to want to eat THAT!!!" Pfffft. goes to show what she knows about 7 year olds! It's all about poop, pee and bums at this age! They thought the cake was awesome. I got repeat requests for extra helpings of cat poop!!!

It was a great party but a little cramped as the shelter makes use of all available space in their small location. The kids didn't mind and they had a blast playing with the kittens. At the end, they all got to make a cat toy to give to the kitten of their choice and one extra one to take home if they had a cat of their own.

Maybe next year we can have it at the food bank or soup kitchen!!!! ;)))

New Bikes!

The girls got new bikes for their birthday and Murray put them together earlier this week and we hid them in the garage until the actual day.

They got up and opened presents from Aunt Mandy & Uncle Andrew & Mr. Bojangles, and we gave them each a present and they were happily playing with those new things and we had to tear them away on the pretense of going for a bike ride to visit Tulip & see what she got for her birthday. It took quite awhile to get them to leave their Barbies though!

I went out ahead and hid inside the garage and eventually they came out and opened the door and found 3 new bikes all lined up waiting for them!

The first test drive was a little rocky as these bikes are much taller than they're used to. It will take a bit of time to be comfortable so much higher up I think.

They were especially pleased at the baby seats that attach to the bikes so their dolls/Bunny can ride along with them :)))

Honey's handlebars are shaped differently and for some reason it was really freaking her out so she walked a lot but that gave Murray a chance to try it out!

Lovey can just barely touch on tiptoe and is hesitant about it. We did another practice ride today & it seemed a bit better but her bike fell over and the pedal cracked and half of it fell off! Not a good start! I'll have to call the store tomorrow & see what can be done about that!