Back to the Cottage!

A fun weekend at the cottage! Murray's parents opened the cottage earlier this month (or perhaps last month???) but we didn't get there til this past weekend. We waited for Sweetie's gymnastics class to be over on Saturday and then loaded up and hit the road. As an incentive to get them on board faster, we told them that if we were still home at noon, we'd eat there. If we were already on the road, they'd get McDonald's. Wow can those girls hustle when they want to! We were on the highway in under an hour which is basically a small miracle in this house!

We were the last to arrive but lucked out and still got a bed. Lucky for us, Crazy Uncle Andrew refuses to share a room with his sister and opted for the porch (closed in porch, he's not quite crazy enough to sleep outside...yet.). We got to room with Karen and Murray's got no qualms about nothing so we were set!

Checkers had a great weekend... Uncle Louis, not so much! pester, nip, follow, rinse and repeat. I don't know if the big guy slept a wink the whole time we were there. Checkers did get several time outs, which he used in order to try the same "loving" techniques on Martigan.

The girls were very excited to see Mr Bojangles. Sweetie was so looking forward to it that her stomach felt sickish she said. They're all very good with him and include him in their games and let him boss them around and play whatever he wants to play.

On Saturday evening, Uncle Andrew ran them through his own little Boot Camp and had them doing laps around the yard, crab walks, jumps, wheel barrow racing and screaming contests. All this activity got them ramped up really well and they had a hard time settling down to sleep. Obviously boot camp wasn't long enough! That night they were chattering away and I went up and told them that Mr. Bojangles was going to have to move out of the room if they didn't settle down. No one wanted that! so things quieted down quickly but it was still a late night.

Homework on the go

Recently Honey had a homework assignment that involved visiting downtown and taking a picture of a local business. They were making a map of the city and the kids had to bring in different pictures of the landmarks & businesses downtown.

Also, a friend had recently sent me another project! Some kids on the west coast had started a journal and it had been forwarded on from friend to friend. Jennifer asked if we'd participate and sent the book to us. The kids loved reading all the entries from across the country and seeing descriptions of the weather and other kids' past times. While we were downtown getting Honey's homework done, we got a picture to include in the journal too! It was a fun project and I hope the kids enjoy reading all the entries when they get their book back. It's on its way to them now.

Another Surprise!

I love surprises! Especially when I'm the one doing the surprising :))) Last year our pool was on its last season. The leaks just kept coming and I couldn't keep them all patched. It had been well used and loved for at least 4 seasons and had stretched and was losing water and height! Murray received a little inheritance this year and we thought this would be a good opportunity to upgrade our pool, unbeknownst to the kiddos!



As the weather turned from snow to sunnier days, the girls got to thinking about that pool. They wondered what they'd do without one! They asked if we could get another pool so I mentioned that pools were expensive and we'd have to wait and see. Sweetie asked if we'd consider just even getting a wading pool so they'd have something. I assured her we'd get them something to slash in and that we could definitely manage a wading pool. I did warn them that a new pool would definitely NOT be the size they had last time. They nodded and seemed to understand. They did keep asking occasionally, usually on a hot day, when we would have a new one.
I went to a home show several weeks ago and checked out pool companies and got some info. Then I put down a deposit and picked one out. They came to check the yard while the kids were out and then yesterday, they came back to do the installation. It was a bit tricky keeping the secret all day with guys working in the backyard and boxes of pool materials all over. But I am a master of secret keeping!!! muahahahha!!!

They only had a half day of school so were home well before the guys were finished. I'd warned them all that the girls had no idea and that they weren't to mention anything and if anyone asked, they were just doing some landscaping. The girls came off the bus, instantly curious. "what are they doing Mum???" I said "well, they're fixing up the lawn where the pool was. It got all messy and muddy there." (TRUE!) "now come in and get washed up, it's lunchtime." (TRUE!) "But Mum, aren't we getting a wading pool!?!??" (ooh good question!) "Well, a new pool won't take up the same space the other one did so we still have to do something about all that mud." (TRUE!)

Luckily, they're easily distracted and we had lunch, finished homework and they played and watched tv the rest of the afternoon. Then I was in the backyard taking Checkers to pee when Honey had a question and came to the door to talk to me JUST as they were putting the pool walls up!!! She was turned in the wrong direction so I answered her question, silently willing her NOT to turn around. It was all fine until she started to shut the door and something caught her eye. I could see the guys all freeze in position, wondering what I was going to do now. Honey, miss inquisitive, of course wanted to know what they were doing. I could only reply "ummm, not sure, I guess they're blocking it off or something so they can work in there." and then I asked her something unrelated as I scooted her back inside to finish whatever she was working on.

The guys looked at me and said "pretty good. but what are you going to do when the water truck shows up???" I replied "well don't you have to water new lawns????" They laughed and shook their heads and went back to work. At supper time the water truck came with the first load but the girls were watching tv and didn't see or hear a thing. Murray wondered if they'd even notice a difference or know that this was a "big" pool. I was dumbfounded. Had we just blown the bank on something they wouldn't realize was any better than the previous one? Surely they'd be wowed??? Finally, I couldn't stand the suspense anymore and told Murray to call them for supper and then to say "hey let's go see how they're doing with the backyard." while I set up the video and regular camera out on the deck. Just as they were about to come out, the water guy comes over to ask me questions and distracted me!!! I missed their initial reactions but they were definitely surprised and very excited!!!

We're looking forward to some sunny weather now!

 

We were floored!

One of the highlights around here lately, and loooooooooong overdue, was getting new flooring for the kitchen! Once it was done, we couldn't believe we hadn't done it sooner. It was a bit hectic getting everything moved out of the kitchen and jammed into the living room but so worth the effort! The store hadn't told me to anything other than empty the closets and furniture so the installer wasn't very impressed when he arrived and found the baseboards still in place! I'd thought about removing them but didn't want to ruin them if he had better tools/skills than I did! He made short work of that and was less grumbly once he realized I hadn't been told to have the boards off and the rest of the day went smoothly.

Good bye cracking, dingy dull floors! Hello gorgeous new stuff!

Cousin Time!

I'm playing catch up with some old photos! We visited Murray's parents back in March and spent some time with the family there. The girls got to dig through their great Nana's old jewelry and play dress up, have a sleep over with their favourite cousin, Mr. Bojangles and there might have been a little spoiling by some grandparents but I couldn't say for sure since I spent some time with my bank friends and didn't actually witness any of that. ;)

It was a busy but fun weekend and we did get to see quite a bit of our nephew which was also great. The girls just dote on him and it is so adorable to watch them with him! They have the cutest conversations and let him do whatever he wants and never get bored or impatient with him. Nanny & Grampy set up bunkbeds so they can all sleep in the same room when we visit. Listening to them chat & giggle themselves to sleep is priceless, hilarious and adorable all at the same time! I wish we could have these get togethers more often! Hopefully with summer coming, there'll be more cousin time in our near future!

More music!

More performances for Lovey! She competed in 5 different events and got first place in 4 of them and 2nd place in the other. She had 3 solos, a duet and a trio to prepare. All her pieces were performed within 36 hours! It was a lot of running, a lot of practicing and a lot of sparkle hairspray but she loved it and was so pleased with her marks and comments from the judges.

She looked and sounded fabulous and she enjoys her spotlight moments! She got in trouble from her teacher because in the middle of one of her performances, she posed for the camera while I was grabbing a shot of her playing. She never missed a beat or bow stroke but made sure to look right at me for the shot (I was only going for an action shot and did NOT tell her to do that, I don't mess with serious violin teachers!!!)

She also appreciated everyone who made it in to watch her play. She loves her fans so thank you to all who came!

Choral Competition

 

The girls' school participated in a choral competition last week. They've been going to practices every week for months now. Almost all their friends are in the choir. Honey hadn't joined in the fall and was the only girl left in the classroom at lunchtime. Her teacher felt bad for her and let her go eat with her sisters next door. Once the Christmas concert was over, Honey and Lovey didn't hesitate, they wanted in on this choir business! Since they returned in January they've been working on their pieces. The music teacher emailed them the songs so they could listen & practice the words at home.

Their french immersion classes sang a French song together and the choir (90 kids!) did a separate number that compiled a bunch of songs from the sixties.

The music teacher is a choral competition pro! She always adds simple yet effective touches for wardrobe, actions and music that consistently impress the judges. This year, the judge told them that they'd made him forget to that he was judging and instead found himself just enjoying the performance. Their school won all their categories! They were flushed with pride at their placements and the high marks they received.

Grammie was able to change her work schedule and come watch the shows and Shirley made it too! They were excited to their fans. Unfortunately Murray was away for a work trip and couldn't make it. Please take note of Lovey's last minute pencil skirt! We bought the materials and being the master seamstress I am, I figured I could just use heatbond for the bottom hem and glue gun the back seam and elastic waist band and Velcro closure. WRONG! As soon as she started walking, the back seam slowly started peeling apart. We were 2 seconds away from a traumatic wardrobe malfunction when I called in reinforcements and got Penny on the job. She quickly zipped around with her sewing machine and saved the day. Note to self: glue gun NOT ideal for load bearing seams!!!