New Duds...

Last week I found instructions for a simple peasant skirt online. Since all 4 girls needed new fall outfits, I thought I'd give them a try. Here's the results:



I'm quite happy with how they turned out, and the girls couldn't wait to wear them today! Deanna picked out the fabrics for hers and Natalie's skirts. I was a little worried about that pink (it's really bright!) but the purple tones it down nicely!
I really like the black and white for the twins. And I can still make Deanna a matching purse....

Church Picnic

Last Saturday was our annual Church Picnic in Dorchester. It was a beautiful day, nice and warm, but breezy enough to keep the flies and bees away...

Many of the kids spent a lot of time at the splash pad, but my camera never made it that far...

Wyatt and Josh, the winners of the Scavenger Hunt, modelling their prizes!

Boys in serious discussion...

Ted and Lynda plotting the wheelbarrow races..

Kids on the playground.

Tim and Jared kept themselves busy giving the smaller kids wheelbarrow rides. They had them all lined up on the playground waiting their turn, it was really cute. They did this for about an hour, until their arm muscles gave out!

The picnic pavilion

Noah looking for someone to play catch with him...

A Fun Little Project

Last night I hauled out my sewing machine and whipped up these purses for the twins:



They just need a big sparkly button on the front to close them. And I might embroider their names on them.

Thanks for the template link, Suzanne! They were really fun to make, and didn't take long at all. Of course, I didn't bother with an interior pocket, so that helped. I got the material in the remnant bin at Len's Mill Store. For 1.4 yards of the cordurouy, I paid $1.87, and the purple sparkly was just under a yard of material for about $1. Not bad, eh?
I think I might make myself one! I definitely have enough material left! Deanna wants one too...
Oh, and mum's the word, these are for their birthday presents, so I have to hide them for a few weeks.

The nerve of kids today!

Art was working from home this morning, so he just left at about 2:30 this afternoon. His car had been in the driveway since we got back from the church picnic Saturday night.
When he opened the trunk to put something in it, he noticed his sample case was open in the back. This is odd, as he rarely uses it.
We checked the front, and sure enough the glove compartment and console were open. You know how you get that sinking feeling? "uh-oh" we thought "so much for the GPS". Luckily he had taken his wallet inside. He has a very bad habit of leaving it in the car, but has been better lately. His house keys usually live in the car too, but they were also in the house.
He looked in the glove box, and guess what? There, tucked in the back in its black cloth case, was the GPS UNIT!!! HA HA HA!! the only thing worth stealing in the whole car, and they missed it!!!!!
It is very unusual for Art to forget to lock his car, but on this occasion it must have been unlocked, as all the windows are intact. I guess they didn't think much of his musical taste either, as his CD's are all there too.
The car was parked at the front of the driveway, under the motion sensor light, right beside the house! I can't believe they had the nerve to go through it. The van was parked behind it, so they would have had to come right up the driveway to even see the car! Fortunately the van was locked, so they didn't get into it. Nothing in it, anyway....

GRRR! Just makes you mad - total disrespect of other peoples property! Or maybe I'm just getting old...

And now....the rest of the story.....

One day, on a day much like yesterday, a brave and fearless teacher took his Grade 7/8 class on a field trip. They travelled to Komoka to hike through the woods and shlep through the river, in search of animal habitats, creepy crawlies, and other cool stuff. The brave and fearless teacher is not afraid of many things, but gets a little nervous about his students' mothers reactions to muddy children arriving home from school. For his own protection from this danger, he warned his students to bring clean clothes if they anticipated getting muddy.

Let's meet our main character. We'll call him Tim.....
Tim knows that he is a mud magnet. If there is a slight chance of getting dirty, he will come home covered from head to toe. So he brought clean clothes along on the field trip. The quiet, wellbehaved class travelled via school bus to the woods. The bus driver, not relishing sitting in a parking lot all day with nothing to do, left in search of coffee. She would return in time to pick up the class and return them to school.

Tim had no desire to lug his back pack along through the woods, so he endeavoured to hide it in the woods. After all, it is a pretty desirable backpack....
His teacher, itching to jump in the muddy river and find critters, advised him to leave it by the edge of the woods. After all, there is nobody around, who is going to take your backpack??? Thus reassured, Tim headed merrily down the path with the rest of his group.....

Enter the OPP officer.... who, on his daily patrol, often checks this parking lot since there has been a rash of burglaries and break-ins in the area. But what's this??? A back pack sitting here, all alone? Nobody around... no vehicles in the parking lot....
He opens the backpack to investigate , and finds clean clothes and an identification label. Much of the scrawl is illegible, but fortunately he can make out the name and phone number. Poor kid, must have left his back pack here yesterday, he thinks. I'll just take it with me and drop it off at his house on my way back to the station.
But first, he called to let Tim know his errant backpack had been found....

Which brings us to the previous post....

End of story:
He actually didn't get a chance to drop it off, so Art and Tim headed to the OPP station after supper to retrieve the backpack. It was returned complete with an OPP property tag - which was taken along to catechism last night to show to his buddies....

True Story!

At about 1:30 this afternoon.....

Ring Ring Ring

Art: "Hello?"
Caller: " Is Timothy there?"
Art" "Timothy who?"
Caller" "Timothy Pieterman"
Art: "What is this regarding?"
Caller: "This is Detective Sergeant *** ***** of the OPP"...

....Part Two to follow....

Rainy Day Blues...

Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Before these children drive me nuts
From being stuck indoors all day!

Pictures to go with the previous blog...

Just can't leave it without pictures!


Here are Deanna's new glasses:

The side view is to show the "gem" that was the big selling point for her! Plus they are her fav color - purple!


And this is her science project from last year, sunflowers grown from seeds! They started them in class last spring, and this week it finally bloomed! She was very proud!

Update - with no pictures, sorry!

Well, it has been another busy week here. Tuesday was the first day of school for the 4 oldest. Tim started Grade 7, Deanna Grade 4 and Allison and Amanda Grade 2! Tim was a little nervous, he has a male teacher for the first time ever! Mr. Meinen is also the principal, and very into fitness, so he does workouts and jogging with his class! This is NOT Tim's favourite activity, but he is enjoying Grade 7 nonetheless!

Deanna has the same teacher as last year, but is a little nervous about the "hard" work in Grade 4. You know, like fractions and multiplication..... She will be fine! She got new glasses this week, so she is excited to be able to read the board at school and the liturgy board at church!
Deanna also started piano lessons this week. I had been looking for a teacher that was close by and reasonably priced, and finally found one! She is just up the street, so Deanna can walk for her lessons, which is perfect! I think she will do well with them, she has been trying to teach herself for some time already.

Natalie is finding it very different to be at home with Mom this year. Over the summer she got very used to always having someone around to play with (or boss around!) Particularly Allison would always be willing to play "princess" or "dress-up" or "house" with her. So she is very happy to see the girls after school!

Since I bought a used bike trailer this summer, we have been biking to and from school this year. It is about a 2 km ride, which means I get in 8 km/day going back and forth! Pulling the trailer is a good workout too. Amanda learned to ride a 2-wheeler at camping, so we just had to get Allison on a bike. She hasn't got the confidence yet for a 2-wheeler, but she's been doing very well on her training wheels. In a couple of weeks I'll try the 2-wheeler again, as it will be a lot less work for her! She has to pedal twice as fast as everyone else, and still can't keep up! So she is good and puffed by the time we get home. There are 2 other families also biking this year, so the bike rack that has been empty for the last few years (other than Tim sometimes) is now overflowing!

Also this week, Art's grandmother passed away. She had stopped eating and drinking on Aug 25, so the family has been waiting by her bedside since then. However, her heart was strong, and the doctor had warned them that it could be a few days. I don't think he counted on it being as long as 10 days, though! While it will be difficult for Grandpa and her children, we are comforted in the knowledge that she is now free of pain and disease, and that we will meet again! There is funeral visitation today, and the funeral tomorrow morning in Chatham.

Tonight is also my brother Stu's Convocation from Theological College in Hamilton. After countless (!) years of school, he is finally done! Congratulations, Stu, and I'll see you tonight!