Life in London

Stuff That Has Happened...

2012-02-10T09:31:00.001-05:00

I suppose an update may be in order... surely SOME things have happened since New Years!
Natalie's birthday party, for one...

Duck, Duck, Goose on the beanbag chairs!

Deanna reading them all a story before they go home

Also, a visit from B&B and children...

All the kids at the dinner table

These two look like they're related, don't they?

They're growing up fast, but not THAT fast!! (don't worry, the bottles are empty)

I'm Back!

2012-02-09T12:41:00.001-05:00

Alright, I didn't think anyone read this old blog, but judging by all the "Where's your blog?" questions I'm getting, apparently I was mistaken.
It's back. I can't promise to post often, or regularly, but when I do, PLEASE leave me a comment, so I know someone's paying attention.

Thanks!
Lisa

Happy New Year!!!

2011-12-31T09:26:00.001-05:00

From my family to yours, a very Happy New Year! Enjoy your celebrations tonight, and may God bless us all again richly in 2012!

Here's a cute little video to make you smile today:

Harsevoort Sinterklaas 2011

2011-12-20T17:35:00.001-05:00

We had a great time, as always, but really missed Stu & Sherri and boys this year :(

Deanna and Kylie on the piano

Aunt Marg & Simon

Aunt Marg, Uncle Harpert and Simon HARPERT!!

What's a family gathering without a rousing Dutch Blitz game?

Uncle Brian & Uncle John teaching the little ones about betting...hmmm

Some serious conversation

Micah Is Cute And Huggable

so is B, of course!

Joshua, don't let your mother see you up there! Get down - right after I take your picture

Look up, look WAY up

Stick em up!

Hey Micah, let's see your funny face!

How lovely are these two???

Jeremy organizing a game

Oh Simon, I love your hair

Wow, piano for 3?

Puppy Udpate

2011-12-15T20:45:00.001-05:00

Well, Lincoln has been here for 2 weeks now, and he is settling in nicely. As you can see, he feels quite comfortable here :)
He is still pretty calm, but loves to rough house with Tim or Art. He's pretty gentle with the girls, usually. He likes to bark at squirrels, but otherwise is fairly quiet. He stays in his crate when we are not home, and is always happy to see us!

Last Saturday, we put up the Christmas tree and decorations.

I just love the colour of this poinsettia! It is much more red than it looks in the photo. I've never seen one with variegated leaves like this!

Hope you are all preparing for a very wonderful Christmas too!

Meet Lincoln!

2011-11-30T19:36:00.001-05:00

Meet our new family member! The kids have always wanted a dog, and so this year's Christmas present is - Lincoln!

We adopted him from a dog rescue organization. They estimate he is about a year old. He and his two siblings were found wandering by the side of the road in Ohio. They went to a pound there, and the other two were adopted. Lincoln was scheduled to be euthanized, but happily was rescued before that happened!

He spent a couple weeks at a foster home here in London, got all his shots, was micro-chipped, and now he lives with us!

The kids are so happy - I think he will be a very spoiled puppy for the first little while anyway.

Tim says his childhood is now complete!

He's just the perfect size

Natalie is in love

Tired after today's excitement..

Feel free to come by and meet him anytime!

Hint

2011-11-29T09:15:00.001-05:00

This is where he will sleep

So... We Have an Announcement...

2011-11-27T21:39:00.001-05:00

... stay tuned for details on a cute new addition to our family :)

Don't Worry.... Be Happy....

2011-11-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

Tim asked for new "lounge" pants. His are all too short... hmmmm. Well, I could go shopping, but the store-bought ones are all too short too. Sound familiar, Stu?
Time to dust off the old sewing machine, and a trip to Lens Mill Store. Since Deanna was home sick today, I thought it was a good project for the day.
I saw this fabric and had to get it:

And something a little more masculine:

Family Fotos

2011-11-09T14:06:00.001-05:00

Since our last family pictures were taken in 2008, we thought perhaps it was time for an update...

A talented young lady from our church took these.

It's possible one of them will be on our Christmas card this year.

YES, Tim is smiling. He insists he is smiling. Honest.

In the soybean field. Sorry, Mr. Farmer, for the beans we trampled

Tim's happier now, I guess.

I thought this was a cool shot..

10.10.10. Part 3 - The Grand Finale (Dinner at Grandma's)

2011-10-10T22:00:00.001-04:00

Back to Mom and Dad's for dinner. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! We enjoyed a delicious pork roast cooked on the barbecue rotisserie, and we could even eat outside!

Lots of good serious conversations were happening:

Birthday cupcakes for dessert:

And a bonfire to complete the evening...

The only thing missing was the Alberta family :( But we did enjoy talking to them via Skype on Piet's computer!

Much to be thankful for once again this year!

Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father!

10.10.10. Part 2 - Eramosa Karst Hike

2011-10-10T21:50:00.000-04:00

Today is actually Allison and Amanda's 10th birthday, so it started in the usual birthday tradition of giftwrapped boxes for breakfast...

After lunch, we drove to Hamilton and met some of my family for a hike at the Eramosa Karst, which is around the area where my Dad's family lived when they first moved to Canada. He and his siblings spent much time playing in the Karst, which is now a Conservation area.
Starting out on our walk:

The area is full of limestone rock. A "karst" is a cave that is formed when water wears away the rock.

Tried to get a nice shot of our kids. Sigh.

This is the Karst Window. It's one entrance to the underground cave.

Continuing on to the actual Karst Entrance...

Which was pretty cool!

There are 3 long, narrow entrances. The kids were climbing out the back entry

Tim's going to check it out!

Not a lot of headroom in there...

I went in too! And got back out!

Gorgeous fall colors...

and some pretty young ladies....

Bethany, Deanna, Natalie

Amanda joined them for a silly shot

OH NO!! Bethany fell off the edge! Grandma to the rescue...

(Great) Aunt Marg and Grandpa helping Benjamin

After a lovely hike, we headed back to Mom & Dad's for Thanksgiving Dinner

10.10.10 - Part Numero Une

2011-10-09T23:09:00.001-04:00

This is a BIG year for my twins! They turn 10 on the 10th day of the 10th month! They're a little disappointed that we didn't time their birth better, so they could turn 10 in 2010, but I think they've forgiven us... phew!
So, it'sAllison and Amanda's golden birthday. We started off the festivities with a party Friday night (since their actual birthday is on Thanksgiving Monday...)
It was a typical party. We had cupcakes....

Opened presents....

Did some facepainting, played some Wii....

Even I got my face painted, compliments of Karla...

Followed by dinner, and then off to the Whale Pool for some swimming fun.
Saturday was Pieterman Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of good food, including more birthday cake and gifts for the girls... It's a party all weekend!
Stay tuned for Part Numero Deux.... Thanksgiving at Grandma's.....

Tidbits.

2011-09-08T19:07:00.000-04:00

Deanna's friend curled her hair. It looked lovely!

I can never get it to curl like this! Natasha will be a great hairdresser one day..

Natalie with her monstrous mutant marigolds she grew from seeds. I guess they really meant it when they said "Giant Marigolds" on the dollarama package...

HarseCamp 2011

2011-08-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

Well, once again, HarseCamp is a thing of the past... many months of planning and anticipation gone in a short week. Oh well, now we can start anticipating and planning HarseCamp 2012!!
We returned this year to our all time favorite park, Killbear Provincial Park. We were so glad to be back, it really almost felt like coming home again.. Our site was really nice, and within sight of the beach - fantastic!
This year we had no mosquitoes, only a few yellow jackets, and one day of biting flies on the beach. A few raccoons, no skunks, but BEARS!! Yes, indeed, the black bears were quite active in the park this year, but as long as we put away all our food every night, they didn't bother us. I think the only ones who DIDN'T see a bear were Tim and Piet, who walked to the garbage dump every night searching for them...
Ah well... maybe next year. And now, the photographic evidence (but not of bears, we didn't get any pics of them):

Our campsite - #93

View from the back

Tim found this guy swimming along the beach

Movie night in our trailer!

Sunday Night Potluck Steak Dinner

Amanda, Tyson and Olivia enjoying ice cream at the Killbear Marina

Relaxing with a comic book.. what could be better?

Tubing! Tubing could be better...

Our group on the beach!

More tubing! Caleb, Natalie and Micah

Allison in the Larson

This big rock behind our site was a great imagination builder!

Micah enjoying a wagon ride

Isaiah enjoying some good literature...

Benjamin!

Playing with cousins on the beach all day... fun!

Minute to Win It! challenges..

Last campfire... had to use up all our smores kits.

Let's go back and do all this again, okay? Who's with me???

Dear John....

2011-08-06T22:57:00.001-04:00

...I updated my blog. Just for you.

You're very welcome .

Love,
Your Favorite Sister

Summertime!

2011-06-28T15:56:00.000-04:00

AT LAST!! It is not raining. It is not chilly. It is not overcast. It is HOT! It is SUNNY! It is SUMMER!
And we are ENJOYING it!

Tim enjoying the trampoline

Look at that big smile!

Allison and Amanda have big smiles too!

Garage Sale

2011-06-19T20:34:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, there was a street sale on our crescent. At the last minute, we decided to put some stuff out to try to sell. The twins (and a friend) set up a drinks and rice krispie stand, and had some success...

Natalie decided she would try to make some money too! She got out some paper and markers, and decided to sell pictures. I made her a sign too:

She didn't sell too many. Silly people, don't know a good deal when they see it...Oh well, I didn't sell anything either. But all the clutter that I didn't sell is now in the back of my van to be dropped off at Goodwill tomorrow morning, so at least it's out of my house...

June Jollies

2011-06-13T20:30:00.004-04:00

So far this month:

Daddy removed the old, rotten sandbox. And all the sand that only got mixed with water, dumped in the grass and tracked through my house.

Somebody was NOT happy about it.

We had a big windstorm. It knocked a birds nest and the baby birds right out of this tree! Good thing Tim saw them as he came around the corner with the lawnmower...

Starlings, I think.... I checked on them the next morning, and they were still there, but had disappeared by afternoon. Hmmm.

Deanna went to a birthday party and won a kite! And then she flew it.

And so did Natalie... (see her tongue sticking out?)

...and Allison did too! With some help from Amanda

It wasn't a very good kite. Or windy enough. But they had fun anyway.

Less than 2 weeks left of school!!!! Tim is done exams this Friday... wow!

Finishing Touches

2011-05-18T14:02:00.004-04:00

What a difference $2 worth of trim and a glue gun can make! All the staples are covered up, and the chair now has a nice finished look.

Add $3 for a yard of broadcloth to cover up the bottom, and I'm done!

Upholstery Project

2011-05-17T21:10:00.002-04:00

I had picked up a chair (actually two....) from Kijiji a while ago, thinking to put them in my living room. They both needed upholstering quite badly, but I loved the shape of them.

This is the first one, as I found it:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but this off white fabric was really worn, so I started to take it off. I pulled nails, and staples, and some more nails, and some MORE staples, and eventually, this is what I had:

Yes, indeedy, there were no less than FIVE layers of fabric on this poor sad chair. The original was close to the color I wanted ( a nice deep red) but in pretty bad shape.

It had to come off too. Then I had to replace the burlap straps on the bottom and re-sew the springs. Some new foam, funky fabric, and my Mom's staple gun and.... VOILA!

My tired old chair has new life. And it's comfy too!

I still need to do some finishing touches, but all in all, not a bad first upholstering job, if I do say so myself.
On to Chair #2!

Spring Storm!

2011-05-06T17:53:00.003-04:00

This storm came up so quickly - within 5 minutes it went from cloudy to black skies to this:

Tim thought it would be fun to go out in it. Apparently it hurt

In the space of another 5 minutes, we had this much hail...

Probably about pea sized

We haven't seen this much hail for years...

* Tim thought it would be funny to grab the snow shovel and go across the street to shovel the neighbour's driveway. The neighbour thought he was funny and paid him $5!!! Danger pay, maybe? The neighbours wife was not too amused, and gave him a lecture about being outside in a thunderstorm....

Have You Had a Green Monster?

2011-05-04T08:14:00.002-04:00

It doesn't really look like something that should be good... usually if food is green, I throw it out :)

They are supposed to be full of energy, and very healthy. I thought I'd try them... I'm not a big breakfast person, I often forget to eat in the busy-ness of getting everyone up and off to school in the morning. By mid-morning, I'm ready to crash.

The Green Monsters are quick and easy... and there are lots of variations, depending on what you have on hand...

This one has:

1 handful baby spinach (put this in the blender first, so it can be finely shredded. You don't want a big chunk of spinach in there...)

1/4 pineapple

1 pear (skins on)

1 banana

1 cup or so of milk.

I found this one a bit thick, next time I'll add some orange juice to thin it down a bit. You can also add frozen fruit or ice to make it more like a slushie. The color will vary also, depending on what fruits you add. Yesterday I made one with strawberries, bananas and orange juice with spinach. It was somewhat more brown, but still yum!

Talent Show?

2011-05-03T19:34:00.002-04:00

Look at the amazing human pyramid! Such grace! such talent!

Well, for 1.8 seconds anyway :)

And this one - she's a doctor! Complete with a doctor kit from Dollarama...
Of course she can't see a THING without her glasses...

Here she is taking the rock out of my stomach.... with no anaesthetic!

"But Natalie, won't that hurt?"

"It's only pretend, Mom. Just pretend it doesn't hurt, ok?"

"But don't you have to sew my stomach back together?"

"Mom - I'm the doctor, remember? That means I make the rules"

"Yes, Doctor"

Deanna has a rock in her stomach too.

"I'll just take your temperature to see how you're feeling. Hm. 38. Not bad!"

Just For Fun...

2011-04-25T14:36:00.002-04:00

Because I never have my camera out anymore...

I think Deanna took this one of the twins...

Natalie and Abigail playing dressup.. I love how Natalie is posing in the background :)

Smile, girls!

Not too camera shy, is she?

Hope she doesn't drop that poor baby under her arm

What a Difference a Week Makes!

2011-04-10T17:32:00.007-04:00

This was how we barbecued steaks last week Sunday:

Cold and snowy... blech

This is yesterday, less than a week later!

Enjoying the warm weather

They traced each other with chalk, and are now "dressing" themselves!

Allison blowing bubbles for Natalie to chase after church this afternoon:

Love this action shot:

Ok, Blogger is being dumb and not letting me format.... but this weekend was much more springlike and lovely.... even if my pictures are out of order :)

Art's cousin and family were in town from Carman, that's their little guy Riley that the girls are pushing on the swing. He was quite thrilled to have all those girls to boss around!

This afternoon Allison was blowing bubbles while Natalie chased them over the yard...

Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts... supposed to be a rainy week. Oh well, as they say, April showers bring May flowers!

March Break/Grandpa's Birthday

2011-03-20T19:08:00.005-04:00

Two years ago we went on a hike through Hendrie Valley in Burlington, part of the Royal Botanical Gardens. It's a nice walk on the Boardwalk, and a bird sanctuary. The kids were thrilled to have the chickadees eating right out of their hands.
This year, we thought we'd go again...

all decked out in rubber boots, ready to go

Bethany and Deanna (and Olivia in between, I think) waiting for the birds to find them

Natalie getting discouraged. It's hard to be patient...

Micah calling "Come birdies..."

Perseverence pays off for Amanda!

I Lost a Toth!

2011-03-07T21:51:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Natalie's 2nd baby tooth came out (finally!) She was so excited. She took it downstairs to show it off to Dad, and somehow lost it on the way back upstairs.
Last night the tooth fairy didn't come (oops!) So tonight, Natalie decided to write the tooth fairy a note to put under her pillow tonight.
Here is the note:

She wrote it all by herself. She only asked for help spelling "fairy".
Translation:
I lost a tooth! I lost a tooth! (Exclamation marks mean you use an excited voice...)
But I dropped it. So I can't find it. I'm sorry. Too bad I can't find it.
To: the Tooth Fairy
From: Natalie

The tooth fairy thought it was so cute, she left TWO treats under Natalie's pillow. And a note of her own :)

Once Upon a Time...

2011-02-28T18:35:00.003-05:00

...there were 5 children who lived in London with their Mom and Dad.
One day, their Aunt and Uncle came to visit. They brought along 5 of their own children (2 were missing...).
Much excitement and playing and mess making ensued. After a while, the Mom and Dad and Aunt and Uncle were wishing for a little peace and quiet.
So.. all the cousins were ~~kicked outside~~ convinced to play outside. They wanted to build a snow fort.
Uncle showed them how to use recycling boxes to make building blocks. Uncle later cleaned up all the recycling from his sister's basement... oh wait, no he didn't!

Can you spy.... a Little with a water gun?

Cousins played happily outside for some time.

Adults had quality time inside. Everyone lived happily ever after.

THE END!!!

YES, we have NO Bananas...

2011-02-24T11:48:00.002-05:00

Do you have bananas attracting fruit flies on your counter? Or turning black and slimy in your freezer? Go get them. Go get them right now and make these muffins:

Here's the link to the recipe:
http://www.bestbananabreadrecipes.com/crumb_top_banana_muffin_recipe.html

And here's the actual recipe in case the link doesn't work. I doubled the recipe and made 24, because 12 just won't last long enough in this house.

The Best Crumb Top Banana Muffins

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 c. white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil

Topping:

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 375*. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and oil. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. (I did the banana mix in my KitchenAid mixer , and added the flour mix to it. Worked fine.) Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. In a small bowl, mix together topping ingredients, cutting in butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins (don't be skimpy)

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 good sized muffins. DELICIOUS!!!!!!

TRY to wait until they cool somewhat before taste testing. It will not be easy. They smell yummalicious!

MORE February Festivities!!

2011-02-21T21:30:00.004-05:00

The Birthday event was followed two days later by the Birthday Party Event. This year we planned a Spa party! Mani/pedis, facials, treats, movie, sleepover!!! What more could you want?

Four friends:

"Eww... this stuff feels so gross... it's sooo disgusting... giggle, giggle..."

It was kind of freaky - like peeling a sunburn, I guess!

MOM, DON'T TAKE MY PICTURE!!!!

I was too busy painting nails to take pictures of the mani/pedis. I also didn't get pictures of the SLEEPover, as I'm not sure any sleeping actually happened...

But these are what we made for goody bags:

We stuffed them with lip balm, lip gloss, shower gel, and (of course!) chocolate! It was fun!

February Festivities

2011-02-21T21:21:00.002-05:00

February is kind of a dull, drab, depressing month, isn't it? Good thing we have some events to liven things up! First comes Valentines Day. OK, hokey Hallmark commercialized holiday, but still, a good excuse to brighten up the house with flowers, right? And make a totally decadent dessert:

Valentine's Day is followed two sleeps later by:
DEANNA'S BIRTHDAY!!!
This year she turned 12.

Luckily, she blew out all the candles. She's too young for boyfriends anyway. Dad says she has to be at LEAST 40.

What with all the flowers and cakes and birthday presents and such, the other kids got shortchanged, I guess. They were forced to make do with what they could find for toys. Like cardboard boxes....

This was a space ship, originally. I think it's now a computer/autograph book/graffiti wall... they've been playing with it for a week. At least.

I Love Kijiji!

2011-02-10T13:38:00.002-05:00

Deanna's been taking piano lessons for a couple of years now. She started with a piano teacher in our neighbourhood, who then moved to Petawawa! A bit too far too commute, so piano lessons were put on hold for a while. This year, she started again with a student from our church who is studying for a music degree at Western University.
We picked up an electric keyboard off Kijiji when she first started lessons, which was okay for beginner stuff and learning notes... and the little girls loved the autoplay feature. They would put on some music and dance around the house.
However, it is not the same as playing a "real" piano, and it did not have 88 keys like a piano. As Deanna is progressing, she was really outgrowing it.
I'd been watching Kijiji for a while for a good deal on a decent piano. Last week I found it:

Art and some good (strong!) guys picked it up last night. Deanna is very happy:

It sounds lovely, and I'm sure it will be put to good use making beautiful music for a long time!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T13:04:00.005-05:00

Inbetween bouts of stomach flu, which took it's time making way through our family, we did manage to go to Hamilton for Christmas dinner at my parents.

The ice rink Uncle John built in the backyard was the main attraction! Lots of room for everyone to skate...

Tyson's a pretty serious hockey player..

so is Micah..look at him trying to trip Amanda!

Natalie was happy to let Zachary push her around for a while

More conversation (over a friendly game of Wits and Wagers. Or rather... How do You Play This Game Anyway????)

It was a segregated dinner service. This is the cool table:

and this is the Other table.

Another view of the Cool Table:

Such a blessing to have a large, close family at this time of year. Or any time of year, really.

I wish you all God's blessings in 2011!

December Continued... the Condensed Version.

2011-01-04T12:38:00.005-05:00

They do say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll save you all some reading and summarize the rest of December in pictures.

Cousins Jenna and Lauren came to play in the snow before our family Christmas get-together.

Allison, Lauren, Amanda, and Natalie in the background

Natalie and Lauren

Deanna and Jenna

Aw, big brother and little sister - don't get them in the same picture too often!

The next day was our family dinner. There was lots of laughing:

...before we all sat down to dinner together.

Apparently these three didn't get enough sleep the night before. Having 10 kids in my house may have had something to do with that!

My baby girl had a birthday! She turned 6 years old, and is very proud!

It's tough having a birthday right before Christmas, but we still managed to make it special.

We love you Natalie!

Snowmaggedon - the Trilogy

2010-12-08T14:30:00.005-05:00

Snow Day #3 here - no city busses, no mail delivery, no garbage collection, just lots of snow!!
Yesterday afternoon, when it stopped snowing for a bit, the kids went outside to play. This should give you an idea of how much snow we have here:

Natalie trying to get back to the sidewalk:

Today, the sun is shining, and it's pretty nice out. Everyone was getting a bit of cabin fever, so we loaded up the sleds and went to the sledding hill!
Natalie didn't like sledding last year, but this year she LOVES it! Here she is coming back up the hill after her first run down with Allison.

Amanda at the bottom of the hill:

Tim showing off:

The Koopmans met us at the hill. Here's Tim and Jared on the GT's:

And the whole crew headed down the hill! The shadows are Monica and I!

Warming up with some hot chocolate - yum!

Getting tired, almost time to go home:

Amanda and Zoe are tired too!

It's been a nice break, but I think everyone will be glad to get back into routine tomorrow.

Snow Day - the Sequel.

2010-12-07T10:27:00.002-05:00

It is still snowing here! And now they say it is not supposed to stop until Thursday!! We have had about a metre of snow so far, and could get another metre before it's all said and done.
This was the scene out my front door this morning:

Here is our back deck:

Look at the overhang from the roof! Pretty cool...

Tim is digging out my snow tires so they can go on the van. It took us a bit to get the van dug out, but I made it!
Art is heading to Ancaster, where it is warm and the grass is green...

Our front sidewalk:

Tim has been out with the snowblower for about an hour now. I think he still has a couple more driveways to go. An enterprising young man could probably make some extra $$$ today, I'm thinking....

SNOWDAY!!!!

2010-12-06T11:02:00.002-05:00

It started snowing yesterday around morning, and it hasn't stopped yet! Church was fairly empty in the afternoon, and Bible Study was cancelled. The kids went to bed hoping for a snowday today... they got their wish! Maybe tomorrow too...

This is our back deck at around suppertime last night:

This is our back deck this morning:

The kids went out to play in the snow:

The entire city is pretty much shut down - no mail delivery, public/catholic schools closed, I think the busses are still running - for now! We are supposed to get up to 60 cm by the time this is all done on Wednesday. We'll see if there is school tomorrow!

We are having a cozy day at home catching up on some laundry/cleaning. I am making bread and a big pot of stew for supper...

Success!

2010-11-20T15:07:00.002-05:00

Last night, the CCS Ladies Auxiliary cooked and served Stamppot Dinner for 225 people. This is our large annual fundraiser/social event. We don't charge admission, but have a donation box by the door.
We thought we could seat around 200, and intended to cut it off there, but how do you say no to people who want to come out and support our school? So we ended up with about 225, and were really hoping we could squish the extras in somewhere!
There were 4 of us in the kitchen, along with some wonderful teenage helpers, who were great at peeling potatoes and setting up tables and chairs.
We served boerrenkoel, carrot stamppot, sauerkraut stamppot, smoked sausage (yum!) applesauce, fried onions, and cake/ice cream for dessert.
So...
200 lbs of potatoes
60 lbs of sausage
30 lbs of carrots
10 lbs of onions
150 cups of coffee
3 Costco cakes
3 tubs of icecream
1.5 bushels of applesauce

translates into....

approximately $1700 net profit!

Thank you, thank you to those who came out. We enjoyed ourselves, and hope you did too. Even though the dishwasher broke down and we had to do dishes by hand. Even though our feet were sore and our hands chapped. I think we'll do it all again next year. We may have to find a bigger venue though....

The Rest of the Story....

2010-11-06T14:25:00.004-04:00

...in pictures!

The twins had a birthday party:

Here they are busy making a craft...

Which they then got to take home.

While Chad & Erin were busy packing & moving, their kids spent some quality time here playing MarioKart Wii. (Noah's favorite!)

They all had to have a turn.

Grandpa & Nana's dog Missy came for a visit too one Sunday evening. She really likes Tim, but won't go down the stairs to find him. She just cried until he came up to see her.

Apparently his armpits are nice and warm. And ticklish!

Tim raked up a really large pile of leaves...

....and look! We found Natasha and Deanna in it!

October Occasions, 2010 Edition

2010-10-15T12:37:00.004-04:00

Continuing on with our whirlwhind birthday month!

Allison and Amanda turned 9 on the 10th! Here they are waiting to open gifts at breakfast.

Got some good ones! Of course, then we went to church, and not even our own church, and were gone for lunch, so they didn't even get to play with any of their new stuff until later that day!

Birthday cupcakes for dessert.

Here they are modelling their lovely new dresses from Grandma and Grandpa!

On my birthday, I had the privilege of accompanying Grade 3/4 on a Field Trip to Fanshawe Conservation Area. We had a guided Habitat workshop. So fun!

While waiting for our guide, I snapped a class shot:

It's a big group this year: 21 students!

First stop, the pond! They all got a seive and used it to dig into the muddy bottom to see what kind of critters they could find. Rubber boots were mandatory for this trip!

Allison looking to see what's in her muck. We found lots of dragonfly nymphs, and even caught two minnows!

Then into the forest for a lesson on survival of the fittest. They were all bears, and had to gather enough food for themselves. According to the guide, only two would survive. I don't have pictures of this game, as I had to help the "blind" bear gather her food. (She got too close to a beehive and her eyes were swollen shut. )

Last stop, the field. Each pair of students had a butterfly net to swoop through the long grass in search of more critters.

Lots of grasshoppers! Some crickets, a honeybee or two, milkweed beetles, and a butterfly!

It was a fun day!

Before and after

2010-09-24T17:57:00.003-04:00

This is Tim's desk. Grandma's neighbours were throwing it out years ago, and she picked it up for Tim. It has done him well for a number of years, but it's getting a bit small for high school homework!
Deanna has a larger desk in her room, that is really too big for the space. I finally convinced her that they should switch desks by promising to refinish Tim's desk for her...

After 3 hours of sanding, one coat of primer and 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Satin Impervo paint and some new hardware, this is Deanna's "new" desk:

It turned out so well, very pretty and feminine. She wanted me to paint it purple. I refused. We compromised by letting her pick the hardware, and I have promised to look for some purple vinyl decals to dress it up

She loved the crystal knobs. Of course, they were rather pricey! So, she got two for the top drawers, and picked some more economical, but still pretty floral ceramic knobs for the other four drawers.

Now that her current desk is emptied and de-stickered (is that a word?) we will switch desks around tonight.

But first we'll have to wake up Sleeping Beauty:

There was an overnight retreat for school last night. They tried to pull an all-nighter, and made it til 3 a.m. before being threatened by the principal with a phone call to their parents to come pick them up. Tim came home this afternoon, showered, and went for a nap....

**EDIT***

So to give you an idea, here are before and after shots of her room:

BEFORE: That green desk was nice and big, but really took up a lot of space in there

AFTER: Lots more space, and still enough room to do homework

She wants a bulletin board/whiteboard yet, but for now, she has a Redwall poster to look at

And a bud vase of flowers from her own garden!

Gerber daisy, roses and some lavendar for colour. Smells good too!

Doors Open Weekend

2010-09-20T10:45:00.005-04:00

Last week, Art flew out to Calgary for some customer events and sales meetings. He flies home again today, (Monday).
I was looking for something different to do with the kids on Saturday, and found that Doors Open London was this weekend!
This event means that various (50!) sites around London open their doors to the public, and it's all free. Some places you don't usually get to see the inside of otherwise.
We picked a few favorites, and a few new places to go..
First stop, the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum. This one is usually free (or by donation) but the kids love it...

Whoops! Tim got caught..

Lots of cool stuff to see.

Next up, One London Place.

This is the tallest building downtown, an office building. We went up the high speed elevator to the 23rd floor, where we could visit an empty suite to enjoy the view.

We could even see our church! I've marked it on the photo.

Then, up to the 25th floor to tour the mechanical room.. The entire building is cooled using ice!

That was pretty cool...

Since we were downtown, we toured a couple of churches briefly. They were beautiful, but the kids were quickly bored.

No boredom at this stop: The Model Railroad Club! A football sized model train setup...

Natalie was thrilled to see Thomas there!

Lots of buildings and bridges... I think all of the buildings are replicas of sites that were/are in London.

We could have spent hours here.

Next... the Childrens Museum! Of course, we have been here before, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit for free!

It was Polish Day, so we could watch some traditional dances, and sample some Polish pastry and perogies!

Sliding down from the big tree

Doing some (magnetic) fishing

Riding a snowmobile in the Arctic

..and playing in the sand at the bottom of the ocean!

It was a fun day. We'll have to remember to go again next year!

For the birds...

2010-09-10T19:51:00.002-04:00

..or the bird lovers anyway. Today was a very special day around here :). Deanna has been collecting mail for our retired across-the-street neighbours, as they take off for the trailer up north every summer. For this task, she gets paid the princely sum of $3/week. She's been saving her money all summer hoping to buy a bird with it. The neighbours come home periodically for doctor appointments, and come over to pick up their mail. Each time, Mr. Short would ask Deanna if she wanted to be paid up to date. She always refused, fearing she'd spend the money instead of saving. Last week, she decided she'd like her money. So, with $43 burning a hole in her wallet, she started pet bird research.
With a little help from Mom and Dad, she is now the proud owner of this beautiful blue budgie:

She wanted a male, as they are easiest to train, and tend to talk more. The cage we found on Kijiji, complete with food dishes/toys. The bird came from Petsmart. That way it has a warranty.

He's a gorgeous deep blue, almost purple (her fav color!)

He has not yet been named. She's waiting to see what his personality is like first.

We found him a nice home in the living room, as they are social birds and like to be where the action is. I've heard birds can be messy, but Deanna promises she will clean up after it without fail. We shall see... he is cute though.

Beach Day!

2010-08-28T21:41:00.004-04:00

This has been such a wonderfully hot and sunny summer, hasn't it? So when my SIL asks if we want to spend the afternoon at Pinery with them, I can hardly say no, can I? Especially with only one week of vacation remaining before back to school....

Sadly, Art could not join us, but we had a great time anyway.... Lake Huron is so beautiful!

So shallow for so far out... the kids couldn't wait to hit the water!

It was nice and warm too!

Natalie had enough of the boogie board, I guess...

Time out for a snack! These three polished off that whole bag of Sunchips, I think.

This pretty much sums it up

Tim spent his time trying to recreate Stonehenge with driftwood.

Ah.... relaxing!

Natalie convinced Auntie Erin to play catch with her.

This appeared to be quite the conversation.

It was a wonderful afternoon.... we're hoping for a family beach day next week sometime yet.

Pics that didn't make it in my last post...

2010-08-24T08:22:00.003-04:00

Going through the Kirkfield locks - really cool!

And of course we had to jump off the boat for a swim..

Playing at the canoe dock

running up and down the stairs. Just remember to STOP at the bottom!

Grrr!

2010-08-23T22:49:00.001-04:00

Okay, Blogger totally messed up my Balsam post, they've changed the picture upload thingy, and apparently I haven't got it figured out yet...
There were double and triples of some photos, so I tried to delete them, and ended up also losing half the pictures I wanted up there...
Blah.

Balsam Lake 2010

2010-08-23T22:40:00.002-04:00

Yay, we're here at Balsam Lake!

Same set up as last year :)

Good ole Campsite #490

We went on a bird-watching hike, and saw a few different birds. Deanna was happy.

And we went on the boat...

..and at the beach!

Had Campfires with Cousins

And even played dress-up!

Back in the boat...

...for some tubing! Watch Tim Tube...

Even Natalie tried the tube - thumbs up!

We did word search puzzles together...

...and played card games together...

Reuben kept in touch with Mom & Dad, and assured them that he was behaving :)

..and Uncle Brian read great bedtime stories!

..and a good time was had by all!

Point Farms Camping Trip July 2010 (Part II of II)

2010-07-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

More pictures:

Movie night!

Tyson, so cute!

Tim was jumping with Tyson on the bridge behind our site.

Caught him mid-jump!

I'd forgotten how beautiful...

...a Lake Huron sunset....

...can be!

"What flavour is your Jelly Belly?"

the last night it rained. A lot. This is us trying to enjoy a campfire in the rain. We tried, really we did...

THIS is what we woke up to this morning. If you've ever packed up wet camping stuff, you know how we felt.

Tim stayed mostly dry(ish) in his new Day-Glo tent!

And now we are home and dry, the trailer is mostly unpacked, laundry is almost done, and we're looking forward to camping at Balsam Lake in two weeks! We had a good time despite the weather, and we were treated to one of these tonight to welcome us home:

Point Farms Camping Trip July 2010 (Part I of II)

2010-07-23T21:42:00.001-04:00

We joined my brother John, his wife Kim, and Olivia, Aaron and Tyson for a week at Point Farms Provincial Park near Goderich.

John & Kim's campsite - right accross the road from...

Our campsite! Nice and big...

Tim biking off to the lake lookout

Where the view of Lake Huron was beautiful! Natalie enjoyed it too

And what would a camping trip be without lots of time at the BEACH! Tuesday was, unfortunately, our only nice beach day. But look how gorgeous it was:

Tim got buried in the sand..

These three got along famously all week

To be continued... too many pictures for one post!

And excuse the choppy appearance, Blogger is different again, and I haven't figured out the new system yet...

Tim's Grade 8 Graduation

2010-06-26T08:14:00.003-04:00

All dressed up and ready to go!

Sitting down to a delicious dinner

Four handsome gentlemen - Josh, Cody, Jed and Tim

Joined by 6 lovely ladies - Chantelle, Naomi, Emiy, Erin, Deidre and Janiek

Art and I with Tim

The grads coming in..

Tim getting his diploma - he's now officialy graduated!

The whole class

Tim and Deidre were the valedictorians, and they did a great job!

It was a very nice evening, followed by a pool party/sleepover for the grads. Praise God for His blessings!

Deck Building/Family Building

2010-06-19T22:09:00.004-04:00

So today we gathered at the "new" homestead to help Dad build a deck. It was advertised as a Deck-building, Family building day. Us ladies left the men to the deck and focussed on the family building part. Complete with a trip to the park/splash pad, playing in the backyard, barbecuing, and some Baileys to finish it all off...

Guess who they're supporting in the World Cup?

The new deck going up... Tim had his first lesson in construction today, he manned a drill and screwed all the deckboards down.

This is where Mom and Dad's barbecue/patio set will be. It's the opposite side from John & Kim's part of the house, so nice and private. For John and Kim, I mean... :)

Tim showing Jeremy how it's done.

Freezies on the trampoline!

More freezies!

Deanna and Kylie matched nicely today

Cooling off in the kiddie pool

...and the big kiddie pool! I missed John's cannonball...

Class trips!

2010-06-07T20:47:00.003-04:00

Today Tim and Natalie both went on Class Trips! Tim's is a little longer - they are off to Ottawa for the week! Lots of excitement at school this morning.... Grade 7&8 has been looking forward to and fundraising for this trip for two years!

Packing up the vans...

Can we fit all this stuff in here?

Don't forget the candy - do you think this is enough? This was but one of several duffel bags full of goodies - I hope they brought some clothes as well!

And they're off....

Bye guys - have a fun week!

After they were away, I went along with Natalie's kindergarten class to Storybook Gardens for the day. What a picture perfect day it was - the weather was nice and warm, but not hot or humid. Nice for walking, but still warm enough for the splash pad...
The obligatory group shot by Humpty Dumpty:

This is the whole Kindergarten class, both teachers, and Erin's 2 younger boys.

Looking at the animals at Old MacDonald's Farm:

Feeding the donkey:

Inside the Old Woman's Shoe...

And having a "picnic"....

Then my camera batteries died, sorry... would have had some really cute splash pad shots, but you'll just have to imagine all these cuties having a hoot in the water!

What have we been up to?

2010-05-20T10:49:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks around here, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Here 's a pictorial history of what's been keeping us busy:

Grade 3-6 Science Center Trip:

This was a fascinating exhibit, as you can see

Down the escalator

Grade 3/4 workshop. They are deducing what kind of animal their skull is from.

Now that they know what it is, what does it eat?

Scaring each other in the dark cave.

Natalie trying on the baseball helmets. Grade 7/8 played in a tournament last Saturday. They didn't win any games, but played well as a team, an had fun. And that's what counts.

Had a visit with my newest nephew, baby Benjamin.

Proud big brother Caleb.

And since it's getting to be summery, we have to have pretty toes. These belong to Deanna and Natalie.

Upcoming events include:

Grandparents Day

London Church 50th Anniversary celebrations

CCS Yard Sale

Track & Field

Tim goes to Ottawa

Graduation...

by then we'll be good and ready for camping!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T09:08:00.003-04:00

I hope all you Mom's had a lovely day yesterday, even if the weather was not ideal. Snow in May???

Deanna and a friend had been plotting most of the week, they were determined to make tea for us moms. So we had the B family over for dinner last night. Deanna and Olivia helped with dinner (they wanted to cook the entire meal, but.... they're not quite ready for that yet). They peeled all the potatoes, and mashed them when they were cooked.

After church, they served tea and chocolates to the adults.

The piece de resistance was the special dessert they had planned (they got the idea from a tea party book Deanna got from Grandma):

Ice Cream tea! Ice cream in cups and saucers, with chocolate sauce and sprinkles for "cream" and "sugar". The teeny teapot holds butterscotch sauce. It was nice to be "treated" by these two...

Here they are scooping out ice cream for the rest of the kids after serving us our special "tea".

Or eating all the sprinkles....

Warning -

2010-04-23T11:33:00.002-04:00

...what I'm about to share may be dangerous to some readers....

Last week Deanna and I tried a new brownie recipe from my Hershey's cookbook. These were seriously the best brownies ever! Chocolatey, chewy, very addictive - they didn't last very long!
I thought I'd share the recipe:

Quick & Easy Fudgey Brownies

4 bars (4 oz) Unsweetened Baking Chocolate broken into pieces (I used semi-sweet, as that's what I had on hand)
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (Optional - I didn't use them. They would be good with nuts, though)
Quick & Easy Chocolate Frosting (recipe to follow)

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. In large microwave safe bowl, place chocolate and butter. Microwave at High 1.5 - 2 minutes or until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. (NOTE: I never melt chocolate in the microwave, I just put the bowl over a pan of boiling water on the stove. It's just as quick, and less danger of the chocolate seizing. Right, Sherri?)
Add sugar, mix until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour and nuts, stir until well blended. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out almost clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Frost with Quick and Easy Chocolate frosting, if desired. (Trust me, you desire...)

Quick & Easy Chocolate Frosting.

3 bars unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup miniature marshmallows (I only had colored ones, so I used those. Tasted fine...)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened.
1/3 cup milk
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate, stirring constantly. Add marshmallows, stir frequently until melted. (Mixture will be very thick and will pull away from sides of pan). Spoon mixture into small mixer bowl; beat in butter. Add milk gradually, beating until smooth. Add icing sugar and vanilla; beat to desired consistency. Makes about 2 1/4 cups frosting.

YUM! YUM! YUM!!
Now invite someone over for coffee..... before you eat them all yourself.

Birdbrain!

2010-04-10T10:16:00.002-04:00

Do you see that robin sitting in the hedge outside my dining room window? He thinks he belongs inside. He has been trying for a week to get into the house.

He started with the patio door, but has apparently given up on that route.
You can almost see his gears turning - why can I not get through that opening?

He tries...

...and tries....

He certainly is persistent.

Not very smart, but persistent.

He might have better luck if he just rang the doorbell.

Spring!

2010-04-05T11:57:00.002-04:00

It has been a glorious weekend! I really hope spring is here to stay.
The kids have been outside for the majority of the time - they even have sunburns!
Natalie picked up some new skills this weekend too:

She can pump herself on the swings now!

Today we went to buy her a new (used) bike. Imagine her delight when we found a My Little Pony bike on Kijiji! Including a My Little Pony helmet! I think she was a little disappointed that she couldn't immediately race around the block with the other girls, but considering this is her first bike, she's doing alright.

Balance takes concentration, even with training wheels!

She took her Care Bear for a ride too.

Off she goes, slow but steady! Give her a week and she'll be a pro!

Finishing Details...

2010-03-30T19:48:00.002-04:00

I finally found cabinets, lights and a mirror that I liked! Okay, so the lights don't actually work (yet), but they sure look nice!

Close up of the cabinet. I found these at Walmart, of all places!

And THEN, I found the matching over the toilet cabinet for $20 on Kijiji!!!

View from the other side. Of the bathroom, not the looking glass...

I'm very happy with how it turned out. Tim is very happy to have his own space. Wait till I tell him he has to clean it :)

Two-Cans!

2010-03-16T15:49:00.003-04:00

Yes, we are once again a two-can family! We missed that second bathroom - I am thankful that the stomach flu missed our household, that would not have been fun with only one toilet!
Ta-da! Our "new" bathroom:

Needs some finishing touches, like a mirror, vanity lights, suspended ceiling, fan, towel bar, toilet paper holder, decor, etc.... but hey, it works!

Tim had the inaugural shower this morning, and was quite happy to move his toothbrush and shampoo downstairs. I need to make a trip to Ikea to find some funky lights and a funky mirror. Hmm... there was a nice round one just sitting in John & Kim's bathroom... that might work?

The girls are really enjoying the new family room. We are keeping an eye out for a nice (cheap) sectional -would work really well down here. So if you have one you're not using...

Allison and Amanda's "New" Room

2010-03-08T13:39:00.002-05:00

Today I got Tim's clothes into his new closet (thanks Art for putting up the shelves first thing this morning), Deanna's clothes into her new closet, and got to work on the twin's room.
They are very happy to have their own space! Amanda has claimed the top bunk, and Allison is happy to have the bigger bed all to herself. I hope they will sleep better this way..

Makes a difference having two girls' clothes in here, instead of three!

Moved the dresser by the window, and put up a bulletin board.

Their decals:
They don't seem to want to stay on as well as the Home Depot ones.
But they did come with rhinestones!

This is now the "play" area, with all the Barbies, Polly Pockets, etc...

Now all the bedrooms are moved around and spring cleaned. Phew!

Deanna Moves in With Natalie

2010-03-06T19:23:00.002-05:00

Natalie was so excited to have Deanna move in to her room. They wanted me to paint their room purple. NOT going to happen! So we compromised and bought some vinyl decals for the walls.

It didn't take long for this room to go from all boy to pretty girlie! Those decals are so cute, and easy to apply. For $30 I changed the whole look of the room in about 10 minutes!

These flowers under the window are Natalie's, so she can see them from her bed:

Admiring the garden:

And these are Deanna's:

The polka dots just connect the two, and they sure look cute.

I do have purple tab tops to go up in here eventually, just to finish it off.

Moving Day!

2010-03-06T11:28:00.005-05:00

Ok, somehow Blogger is different again and I dont know how to move pictures around yet. They just keep changing shape..

Anyway, we moved Tim into his new room this morning. He's pretty happy with it. Still needs shelves in his closet, which will hopefully happen this afternoon, so his clothes aren't there yet, but it's looking pretty good!

We put a bookshelf beside the closet for his books/games/stuff..

Enjoying not having to climb a ladder to get into his bed!

Lots of room for his desk too.

His light needs to go up and we need to get some blinds or something for the window, but it will work for now..

Renovation Update...

2010-03-03T19:29:00.002-05:00

For all you readers without Facebook access..

Family room with new windows, trim and paint!

Tim's room. The door on the right is his closet.

Tim's window

Carpet going in!!!

Wow, what a difference...

Happy Birthday Deanna!

2010-02-18T20:58:00.003-05:00

In the middle of this never ending renovation, life goes on... Deanna celebrated her 11th birthday this Tuesday.
Opening her gifts at breakfast:

She wanted a jewellery box, so I found this one at VV and repainted it. Turned out quite cute - and it has BIRDS on it!!

I put some new earrings in it, and a gift card to a spa for her and I to have manicures! I've never had one either :)

So when your birthday is on Shrove Tuesday, what do you have for supper?

Skinny pancakes, of course!

And a yummy Costco chocolate mousse cake for dessert. A little too much sweets at one meal...

good thing we don't do that every day!

Here is my hard working husband posing in front of our lovely new windows, in our newly painted family room. Well, one coat of paint is on, anyway....

This weekend is trim, and hopefully finish painting early next week. The end is in sight!!!

Drywall!

2010-02-05T20:24:00.004-05:00

Now my rooms look like rooms again.
This is taken from the stairs coming down. The new windows are here, but not yet installed.

The doorway on the left is the bathroom, on the right goes into Tim's room (and no, that is not Tim's beer bottle). The fan is to dry the mud so they can do another coat in the morning.

Taken from the back corner of Tim's room. That is his closet on the right.

The bathroom. The throne will be on the far left, leaving lots of room for a vanity/sink.

Surprise - we put in a shower! We figured we might as well bite the bullet and get it all done now. Tim is happy. Until I told him he'd have to clean it!

No more stucco! All nice and smooth and clean. You can see the cutouts for the potlights here.

Progress... I'm hopeful...

The Renovation that Kept on Growing...

2010-01-27T22:27:00.002-05:00

.. as renovations are wont to do. When Art removed the little hallway leading to the bedroom and bathroom, he discovered the original doorways. There were two openings, one to the bathroom and one to the bedroom that our predecessor just nicely covered up with ugly panelling. WHY????? do people do such silly, silly things??? So now we have removed all the panelling and lovely fake bulkheads and such in the bathroom, and we have one big open space that we can design how we want it. For the price of a few more sheets of drywall, it only makes sense to do it all now.

The opening is going to be the door to Tim's room, right beside it is the doorway to the bathroom. You can see the cutout in there. There was a little built in curio shelf or something there. We also now have a totally open concept bathroom. Even to the laundry room! Or Tim will have a bedroom with a toilet...

We have to enclose that dryer vent somehow, and eventually I think we will rotate the toilet. There will be room for a shower across from where the toilet is now.

The tile floor is the existing bathroom. It will become a little narrower to accomodate Tim's closet and a shower (eventually), but will be much more usable. And more visually appealing :)

Then the girls won't be afraid to use it. Right now they call it the "spider" bathroom.

Progress .... ?

2010-01-27T11:19:00.004-05:00

Well, as with any renovation, things progress slower than you think they will. And of course there are the lovely surprises you find when you open things up.

Whoever "finished" (and I use the term loosely) our basement was obviously a professional with much attention paid to detail. Ahem. Or perhaps not.

Evidence:

Stellar framing job! Going into Tim's room

Quality light installation:

(Can you see the chain it's hanging from?)

This is the bathroom ceiling.

More wonderful woodwork? Between Tim's room and the bathroom. We removed that wall, and will put his closet there, leaving room for a shower beside it. Well, in the bathroom, but still beside the closet. You know what I mean....

It just left Art speechless:

(Bathroom ceiling. This was a bulkhead to enclose the ductwork.)

However, there is some evidence of progress. In the rec room, there are nice new straight walls framed up:

It will be nice when it's done. I just keep telling myself that.

And I had to take the Princess's picture too. With her puppy.

Before... and Demo Day

2010-01-23T19:06:00.006-05:00

Wallpaper stripped off interior walls - check.

Window frame removed so garbage can go out and drywall can come in without being tracked through the entire house - check.

Lovely faux trim installed with one nail on each end ripped off - check.

Tim's room - before. Sadly, the Norman Rockwell puzzle has been taken to the dump. I know you all wanted it...

This is now my laundry/family room. The DVD player and Wii are hooked up, so at least the kids can use those. Apparently it's scary down there though. That's okay, a couple weeks without tv or Wii won't hurt anyone.

The carpet was removed from the stairs a few years ago, when one of the kids upchucked all the way down the stairs, and we decided that it wasn't worth trying to clean it up. Oh wait, Daddy decided that, since I wasn't home at the time...:)

Remove closet from Tim's room so it can be relocated - check.

You can see where it was before, really inconvenient when you walk in to the room. This way gives him a lot more space.

Take time out to attend Euchre Tournament - check!!!

And the lovely stucco ceiling is gone too.

It has begun...

2010-01-23T19:02:00.002-05:00

at long last, our 3rd level family room and bedroom is being overhauled. The bedroom had been used as Art's office, but as Tim gets older, he needs more space and privacy, so it will now be his room. Art has a new office on the fourth level, and the plan was to just paint the panelling in the bedroom/family room.
HOWEVER, once we had a closer look, and discovered there was no insulation down there, and the carpet is well past its prime, we decided to bite the bullet and do it right. New drywall, insulation, windows. We have had carpet sitting in the storage area for a while now, waiting to be installed, and now is the time!
Rats, I forgot to insert photos first, so rather than spend hours moving everything around, I'll do a new post with pictures. BEFORE pictures, anyway...

Aww....

2010-01-21T12:05:00.003-05:00

If you're a Mom, I know you've had those days when you wonder why you bother? It seems every time you turn around, there is another mess to clean up, another load of laundry to do, another meal to cook, another pile of dishes, more homework to help with, etc etc. It seems never ending.
And then one day, your 5 year old leaves an envelope on your dresser. And this is what is inside:

For those who don't read 5 year old, it says : I LOF (love) MOM. And she wrote it all by herself. Brought a tear to my eye, let me tell you. And made all the laundry, cooking, cleaning etc worth while again.

This was the scene the other day in our family room. They were chatting away while Amanda played on Webkinz and Natalie played with her hair. I love when they get along like this...

Speaking of the family room, stay tuned for renovation pictures and news! Tomorrow is demo day! Finally getting rid of that carpet.... yay!

In Which My Baby Turns 5 Years Old....

2009-12-21T18:30:00.004-05:00

In the past, we have combined Natalie's birthday with our Sinterklaas celebration, just sneaking an extra gift or two under the tree in Birthday wrapping paper. However, now that she is such a big girl, and all of 5 years old, and in school and everything, we felt it was time to give her a proper birthday celebration...
Here she is this morning, waiting to open her gifts at breakfast (yes, that is Christmas wrap, never mind...)

A unicorn hobby horse! And if you push the button on her ear (her new name is Sparkles) she plays Under the Rainbow and makes clippity cloppity noises. Over and over. And over. Repeat.

All she wanted for her birthday was a new princess dress up dress. If only they were always so easy to please..

Had to try on the new crown with purple jewels!

Going for a ride on Sparkles. They have been pretty much inseparable all day.

In her new finery....

She wanted a pink cake with pink icing. Pink cake was difficult (we settled for rainbow bits), pink icing we could do. Deanna helped decorate, and did a wonderful job! I did the base coat and the lettering, Deanna did the rest...

Candles!

Blowing out the candles...

5 years ago, on the day after Natalie was born (aka my actual due date), London had such a major snowstorm that the city was pretty much shut down. Had I gone into labour that day, we would have likely had to call an ambulance to get to the hospital. Or Daddy would have had to have a crash course :) She was very cooperative to come a day early, so we could spend the storm all snug and warm at home. She's been a fairly cooperative baby ever since. She is growing up too quickly, now in kindergarten two days/week. But she is still my baby, and loves her snuggle time with Mom. Better enjoy it while I can....

Don't you think....

2009-12-10T19:36:00.005-05:00

...that this is the cutest Kindergarten class ever?

I may be a titch biased. But I think they're pretty adorable.

They are:

Back Row: Mrs. Janine Janssens (Aide), Emma Lenting (Michelle Blokker's daughter), Josiah Hiemstra, Abigail Bredenhof, Mrs. Erin Pieterman

Front Row: Ethan Pieterman (honorary Thursday student, when his mom teaches), Esther Vermeulen, Natalie Pieterman.

Missing are Mrs. Wendy Vanderheide and Mrs. Shelleen Blokker who are in charge of these monkeys on Tuesdays.

Backyard Visitors

2009-12-07T11:26:00.002-05:00

Every winter, we hang a birdfeeder in the back yard. It is so fascinating to watch through the window as our feathered friends empty it in about 2 days! Of course, we have the usual variety of birds... house sparrows, chickadees, dark eyed juncoes, and a few pairs of cardinals. This year, however, word seems to have spread about our backyard buffet, and we've noticed some newcomers!

A few weeks ago, we spotted a red-breasted nuthatch. What a neat bird! It's been back quite regularly.

This morning there was one of these pecking around in the trees back there too.

They all regularly get chased by these pesky critters. I finally found a feeder that they can't get into!

More November Notables...

2009-11-29T19:03:00.003-05:00

When Stu and Sherri came to visit last Saturday, Natalie and Callum discovered that it was lots of fun to jump on the bed we had set up downstairs.

See?

This Friday was a PD Day. To keep the kids occupied, we set up the tree. Then I gave them the box of ornaments. They did a pretty good job!

The end result last night:

Doesn't it look cozy?

Barbara:

I finally remembered that gift card you stuck in my pocket on my birthday! This is what I got with it:

Natalie got a new Sunday dress:

Back view (terrible flash, sorry...)

November Notables

2009-11-28T20:24:00.004-05:00

Well, here we are at the end of November, and I have not posted anything yet! The month has once again flown by... and I can't remember what happened! Good thing I have pictures to refresh my memory... here goes:

On November 12th, the CCS Ladies Auxiliary (of which I am a member) hosted our annual Stampot Dinner Fundraiser. This is an always popular event, we cook and serve a good old Dutch meal of Stampot (kale, carrot or sauerkraut), farmers sausage, applesauce (homemade this year!), buns, pickles, gravy, and cake and ice cream for dessert! Admission is by donation, this year we had a record profit of about $1500!!! 4 of us ladies cooked dinner for 200, served it and cleaned up after. A very long and busy day, we were sure tired by the time we got home, but boy, did we have fun! And with that profit, it was all worth it!

Last year we sold off the leftovers for $5/bag. This year, someone suggested we auction them. For a lark, we roped one of the men into being auctioneer. Would you believe we made $200 on leftovers?!? One gentleman spent almost $75 on 2 Ziploc bags (large size) of boerrenkoel met wurst! There was some fierce competition, and lots of laughing... and the money will be put to good use in the school.

Zoe doing some coloring after helping us set up the tables (she put the crayons on)

Hard at work!

Check out the potato mashers - we took out all our frustrations on those poor potatoes!

We had to take time out to look at this gorgeous sunset!

************

Would you believe this is November 14?? Last year we were buried in snow, this year the kids are playing outside in shirtsleeves. You'll notice Natalies' princess headband.

Swings...

************
Also, Allison had her eyes checked (finally - she's been on a waiting list since August!) and surprise, surprise, she needs glasses! With our family history, I was almost expecting it, but she hadn't shown any signs of being nearsighted.

Here she is in her funky pink/turquoise frames.

Makes it a bit easier to tell them apart, hey? Now if only people could remember which twin has glasses. Sigh. (I did take Amanda in last week, but she is fine - for now)

I asked her about a week later if the glasses were helping her see better. She said that if she didn't wear them, things far away look foggy. But not when she puts her glasses on. So I guess she did need them after all...

************

Natalie's friend Mckenna's Mom had a baby earlier this month, so we took Mckenna for a day. They had lots of fun together!

We made cookies....

And they WERE playing playdough. But apparently it was more fun to wear the buckets on their heads and pretend to be astronauts.....

************

In other news, our new minister and his family (the Bredenhof's) arrived in London! The installation service was last Sunday (Nov 22) and the welcome evening was last night. This morning there was a pancake breakfast at the school. I did not have my camera at any of these events, sorry.... but they were enjoyable none the less!

We are so blessed to have had such a short period of vacancy here in London! We hope the Bredenhof's soon feel at home here! Their oldest daughter is in Natalie's kindergarten class. When we stopped in the day after they moved to bring them some dinner, they were INSTANT best friends! It was really cute.... so now Natalie is not the only kindergarten student in our congregation.

That's all for now...

October Octet of Occasions (Part Deux)

2009-10-26T10:35:00.006-04:00

5. Twins birthday continued...

..with a party on Sunday between services. We did a craft, opened gifts and had spaghetti for lunch! Since Allison wanted pizza casserole for her birthday supper and Amanda wanted spaghetti, this was a compromise - we had pizza casserole with Mike and Kathryn on their birthday, and spaghetti for lunch at the party.

Blowing out candles on the birthday cupcakes

They all ended up playing Barbies on the girls bed.

Natalie painting her rock. I picked up this cute kit at Dollarama, came with paint, googly eyes, felt,rocks etc to make "critters". Except there wasn't really enough time for the paint to dry properly.

6. Thanksgiving Day

As always, we celebrated this holiday with the Pieterman side of the family. This year we had it at CCS. This went very well, there was lots of room, and everyone had a good time.

Coffee klatching before dinner.

The girls put on lots of "shows" for us on the stage.

They found some cool props too!

The staff room was turned into the "games room".

Nana brought a pinata since we also celebrated 8 birthdays!

7. My Birthday

The kids wouldn't let me pass this one by. And yes, it was the Big One this year. Oh well. I don't feel any different, and my family still loves me. They must, they sure spoiled me this year...

Art surprised me with the Family ring I've always wanted. He made me cry!

The kids also got me a nice dress watch.

At our Book Club meeting (on my birthday), I was given an assortment of "40" collections, including marbles (since I've lost mine) tea bags, cheerios, sugar cubes (so I stay sweet after 40) and nuts. Thanks ladies!

8. Pioneer Day in Grade 3/4!

After much anticipation, this day has finally arrived! I've been hearing about it since our trip to the Pioneer Village at the beginning of October! Last week the flu hit our school pretty hard, especially in the Grade 3/4 classroom, so this event was postponed to today. I think everyone was back at school again and feeling healthy, so I hope they have a great day! They had to bring a pioneer lunch (my girls have homemade bread with butter and jam, a hard-boiled egg, homemade cookies and an apple.) and they will play pioneer games and have pioneer lessons!

Last week while the twins were home with the flu, I made them each a pioneer skirt, apron and bonnet. They picked out the fabrics. Don't they look cute?

There were lots of straw hats and bonnets in their classroom today - fun!

Their teacher had warned them that she would be very strict today, and she wouldn't smile at all! I think she was having a very hard time with this....

And thus ends my October Octet of Occasions! I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did! Stay tuned for November Notables!

October Octet of Occasions (Part 1)

2009-10-15T16:35:00.008-04:00

1. Visit to the Fanshawe Pioneer Village with Grade 3/4
...on the coldest, windiest, wettest day of the year. We did the guided tour, where we got to...
make a roof shingle

visit the Free Press and print a page to take home

try to churn some butter

and visit the schoolroom.

Then we had lunch in the (warm!) cafe, took a quick look at the animals, and headed back to school for hot chocolate! BRRRR!! The students would have stayed all afternoon, I think, but us chaperones were too cold.
2. Surprise 40th birthday party for a friend...

The cake

The surprise (she wouldn't come in!)

The cake and the birthday girl.
3. Allison and Amanda turn 8!
Goodbye booster seats - yay!
Who still thinks they look identical? In this picture, I really don't see it.

Waiting to open gifts...whoohoo!

New pj's from Grandma and Grandpa!
]
4. Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathryn and baby Kylie come for a visit....
Somehow I have lots of pictures of this little cutie, but not so many of Mike and Kathryn. Hmm...

...to be continued....

Happy Birthday Tim!

2009-10-01T18:52:00.004-04:00

And a milestone birthday it is at that! We are now officially parents of a teenager.... wow.

He was a bit disappointed when he woke up yesterday morning and .... didn't feel any different. No wiser, no more distinguished. Just Tim. I remember feeling the same disappointment on my 13th birthday. Somehow it seemed there should be some way to instantly tell... hey, that kid is 13 now.

He had a good day anyway. It's been a very busy week around here, so I didn't even get a chance to do birthday shopping til the afternoon of his actual birthday. I knew what I was getting him, just didn't get to the stores. I did supply teach in Tim's class on his birthday, so at least I got to spend lots of time with him. And we brought cupcakes.

Here he is with his favourite gift. Now if he could only play it....

He also got a pocketknife and a new Monopoly game. It's pretty neat.

Supply teaching for 2 days = no time to bake = Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Good thing we don't buy those every day! Very yummy, but not cheap!

Wow, those candles throw off a lot of light! Quick, blow them out before the ice cream melts!!

New look...

2009-09-08T20:03:00.004-04:00

Two posts in one day??? What is this world coming to....

Deanna got her new glasses today, so I thought I'd post some pics of her new look. Especially for Bethany...

Here she is:

Looking WAY too grown up!

Side view, they are turquoise on the inside, I don't know if you can see that.

And she can SEE better too! She should be able to read the liturgy board at church

again, which would be a good thing...

Goodbye Summer, Hello School...

2009-09-08T14:17:00.003-04:00

Hey, Blogger pictures are working again!! I can click and drag them.... Yay!

Anyway, once again it was time to send everyone back to school this morning. We had a good summer, and there were not too many days of boredom, but I think they were all ready to go back!

Especially Natalie, who has been counting down the days for weeks already.... She is SO EXCITED for KINDERGARTEN!!!!!

Here she is this morning, all ready to go with her new shoes and backpack. At 8:00 she wanted to know why we weren't leaving yet...
This year, Covenant has their largest student population ever, at 68 students!!! 26 of those are new, including Grade 1 and Kindergarten. So there are lots of new friendships to be made in every class! We have certainly been blessed, it was very evident this morning as our chapel could barely accomodate all the supporters that came out for the Opening Assembly. Mr. Meinen put the new Powerpoint projector to good use again for this Assembly. This is the Theme text for the year:

Other highlights from this morning:

Grades 1-4 lined up to go inside.

Grade 5/6 ready to get to work! Deanna is by the window in the pink shirt.

Grade 7/8. Tim got to pick his own seat. Mr. Meinen gives him a week before he ends up in the front row... :)

Grade 3/4. Allison is standing with a light pink shirt, Amanda by the window in dark pink.

Singing the Welcome song in kindergarten. It is so cute to see this small class - there are only 4 in total... including an adorable little Down's Syndrome girl, Esther. She was unfortunately ill today, so missed the first day of kindergarten..

HarseCamp 2009!

2009-08-26T19:16:00.007-04:00

Was held at Balsam Lake Provincial Park this year, due to the difficulty of finding enough sites at Killbear Provincial Park. We had 5 sites in total, with various comings and goings through the week. The only ones missing altogether were Mike and Kathryn, but they had a pretty good excuse. Babies go on their own timetables, they don't understand camping reservations....
The summer has been so cold and rainy and un-summerlike, we were a bit concerned, but apparently we picked the right week! It was hot and sunny pretty much the whole week, with just a bit of rain on Monday evening. We spent most of every afternoon at the beach...aaaahhhhh! Just what the doctor ordered...
As always, the pictures tell the story:

Our campsite.

Mom and Dad's campsite right next door! Harpert and Marg were next to them, and then Brian and Barbara. John and Kim were across the road. Assorted kids could be found at various campsites throughout the day. Depending where the food was better.... like Froot Loops in pancakes... or other such silliness.

"Our" spot on the beach

Fun in the water

Tim and Jeremy on the attack! Those water cannons were VERY popular toys....

Mom and Dad having coffee at the canoe dock

Action shot!

Allison relaxing with a Fundip and an Archie comic book. Does it get any better than that?

Cousin bonding time! Deanna, Olivia and Bethany floated around all afternoon in those tubes.

More cousins, more bonding.

The Larson!

Natalie taking good care of Tyson.

And then she had to pee... what's a girl to do?

A pair of porpoises!

Harpert and Marg leaving early.... such a sad day. Goodbye Larson. Goodbye Opa Wim. Goodbye GREAT Uncle Harpert and GREAT Aunt Marg.

*sigh* is it time to book for next year yet?

Ontario Place 2009

2009-07-29T11:45:00.005-04:00

Yesterday the kids and I headed out to Ontario Place with Alicia, Reuben and Jonah. We had been planning to do this for a while, but our lovely rainy summer kept interfering with our plans. We finally decided to just go and take the weather as it came, and what do you know, we had a great day! It sprinkled a few times, and we thought we might get soaked, but then the sun would come out again...

The last time we went to OP was 4 years ago, Natalie didn't even come with us, as she was just a baby. It was fun then, and the older kids still remembered and talked about it. So I cashed in some Airmiles for tickets, thinking we would go when Art was up North last week. Too bad he couldn't come with us, but it was still fun. It's great for the kids to spend time with their cousins, Reuben was especially glad to hang out with Tim for the day...

On to the pictures.....

I took lots of them. I'll try to not post too many (sorry, Barbara) but we both have such photogenic kids :-)

Excited to be here, and ready to start playing!

Alicia and Deanna watching the action.

Natalie pretending to be trapped.

Feeding the geese her lunch.

Waiting in line for bumper boats

How do I steer this thing???

Silly faces.

Natalie was surprisingly good at this!

Reuben and Tim hanging out.

We met Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby.

Natalie loved the splash pad

Giant slide...

Free Fall! Natalie was really mad that she couldn't go on this one.

Reuben on an ATV.

We ended up staying at the park til closing at 8:00. It was a late night, and a long day, but definitely worth it! The girls are already asking if we can do it again next year... anyone else want to come along?

HUMUNGOUS Update....PHOTO OVERLOAD WARNING...

2009-07-20T15:45:00.006-04:00

Yah, so...it has again been a while since I have updated this blog thingy. June/July in a nutshell, here goes...

June 27

Celebrating Grandma's birthday at Burlington Beach. I got exactly 0 pictures of Grandma. Oops. But lots of pictures of her cute grandchildren...

Visiting my cousin and her girls at Pinery Provincial Park. (early July? I think.)

Deanna's fancy Campfire! hairdo. Hopefully it kept the critters out! Tim went the week before (D1). I didn't braid his hair :)

And some lovely ladies at ballet school this morning.

Blogger Question: Is it just me, or is it extremely finicky to put pictures in your posts anymore? I used to be able to grab a picture and drag it to wherever I wanted it, but now I just have to keep moving it down a few lines at a time. It takes forever and makes me not want to add pictures to my posts anymore :(. Any advice?

Summertime!

2009-06-24T20:24:00.004-04:00

Well, school's out for another year. Last Friday was the final day of school, and graduation in the evening. It was a great day!

Saturday was wet and rainy (ugh) for a not very nice kick-off to summer vacation. We took the opportunity to sign up for the Summer Reading Program at the library. We've already made two trips there....

This week, however, is nice and scorching hot! We had to turn on the AC for the first time this year. The problem with that is that the kids would rather be inside where it's nice and cool, than playing outdoors in the fresh air. Solution? The splash pad! Deanna and Tim both had sleepovers at friends houses last night, so I only had the three little girls home. So we picked up the twins' friend Zoe, and headed out to the park. I brought my lawn chair and a book, and a good time was had by all!

Yesterday, I accidentally left the hose on in the front of the house. Natalie and Allison took full advantage of this by having a water fight:

I hope they are as easily entertained all summer. ..

Goodbye, Farewell, Until We Meet Again....

2009-06-09T12:55:00.003-04:00

This week the Pot family leaves London to take up a new calling in West Albany, Australia. Our congregation here at London will certainly miss them. We will miss the wonderful preaching we have received, we will miss the games nights, we will miss Monica's smiling face, and we will miss all 5 Pot children. As was said at the farewell evening, there will be lots of Pot-holes left behind. Since our children are all around the same age, from Tim & Byron in Grade 7 all the way down to Natalie and Alyssa, who would have started kindergarten together next fall, our house will have many Pot-holes.

This past weekend was Rev. Pot's farewell service. It was a rather emotional afternoon. Not too many dry eyes were found. It's not like they are just moving down the 401 to another congregations, but all the way to the other side of the world! In all likelyhood, we will never see them again - this is difficult.

Tim, Cody, Jared and Byron came here for lunch for one last Sunday get-together. Hard to believe that is the last time Byron will be here.... they had pizza for lunch, and played lots of Wii. Tim had rented some fun four-player games...I'm sure they will have lots of good memories. These boys have been good friends for the past 5 years, and as they get older, they develop much closer ties. I hope they will keep in touch, for a while anyway.

I had to get this on camera:

This game kept them in stitches, and Natalie enjoyed watching too!

I tried to get at least one nice picture before the mayhem started...

Come on, boys, just be serious for one minute!

I guess that was too much too ask

Oh well, boys will be boys....

We wish the Pot's a safe journey, an enjoyable and restful break in Holland, and God's blessings on their new life in Australia.

Garden Pictures

2009-05-19T12:23:00.004-04:00

Every year I promise myself to take a photo record of what is in the garden. I have planted a bunch of perennials every year so far, and they keep disappearing. I have a feeling I am pulling them out in the spring thinking they are weeds. Oh well.... this is what the gardens look like now

Isn't this the most beautiful flower you've ever seen? Deanna and I saw this basket yesterday. I wasn't going to buy any hanging baskets this year, but I couldn't resist this gorgeous fuschia. I hope it lasts the summer....

Deanna's mini irises are almost done already. The large irises haven't bloomed yet, they are very late this year, it seems.

Deanna's garden:

The front garden. The peony is huge this year - time to split it!

This weeping pea shrub was our anniversary gift this year. I love it! It adds some height to the garden. The watering can sprung a leak last year, so we recycled it as a planter this year. And the coral bells (purple plant) is my new perennial for the year. I also added a bleeding heart in the back corner.

Victoria Day Weekend

2009-05-19T09:18:00.003-04:00

Wow, I haven't updated on here for a while. I haven't even had my camera out lately. Just busy, I guess!

The first long weekend of the summer season is now behind us. It was a good one. Friday we headed out to Jarvis for fireworks and bonfire at Brian and Barbara's. A little chilly, but lots of fun. We swapped Deanna for Zachary overnight, as Brian was taking the kids to Ruthven Park to participate in some bird banding. Those of you who know Deanna will know that this is right up her alley! She loves birds... they spent 3 hours there, but were rewarded with seeing one of the rarest birds in Ontario, a Prothonotary Warbler.

Apparently there are only 5 pairs of these in Ontario. The pictures on their blog were taken by Bethany - good job, Beth!

Saturday was the Elementary Schools Baseball Tournament. London's team played very well, even though they lost most of their games. It was a rather dreary, rainy day, at least until the tournament was over. Then the sun came out! Oh well, since B&B came back to our place (we had to swap kids back again) it was nice that the kids could play outside.

Sunday was a much appreciated day of rest before spending most of yesterday outdoors again. Deanna and I got the gardens cleaned out and annuals planted. I'll try to get some pictures up later. After getting the three little girls off to bed on time (very sleepy after playing outside all day!) Tim, Deanna and I played a game of Settlers of Catan. This was the first time Deanna had played, and lucky girl, she won! Or was winning, when I realized it was almost 10 o'clock and they needed to get to bed!

All in all, an enjoyable weekend. Hope yours was too.

It's a Beautiful Day!

2009-04-25T12:59:00.004-04:00

So.....

2009-04-24T13:31:00.002-04:00

Yes, we're still here. I guess there's nothing exciting going on in our lives right now worth blogging about. I haven't even had the camera out....
Today is just beautiful - 20* C - I can see the leaf buds coming out on the trees, just beautiful! The gardens at the school are full of surprises too! Lots of tulips, hyacinths, and forsythia in bloom right now. In need of a good pruning, but still lovely.
I hope you're all enjoying this spring weather as well.

Redeemer Science Fair!

2009-04-09T13:01:00.005-04:00

Last night another Mom and I took our CCS participants to Ancaster for the Redeemer College University Science Fair. Tim, Cody and Byron were all very excited to go, especially since they were all having a sleepover at Cody's grandparents!

We arrived shortly after 5, found our tables, set up the boys' boards, and had a look at the other projects. Some really neat stuff there, including at least 2 hovercrafts and one trebuchet. Our boys entries fit right in, Tim's on Memory Games, Cody's comparing types of insulation, and Byron built his own lava lamp.

We hit Wendy's for supper, and then headed back for the Antics With Atoms Opening Presentation. Barbara, Bethany and Jeremy met us there too. What a great program! Thoroughly enjoyed by adults and kids alike. Tim and Bethany both got asked to come up and help with a demonstration. Bethany was hoping to get Tim wet, but the window screen held all the water in the jar! We also saw exploding cornstarch, colour changing liquid, smoke rings and a sunset!

Today the boys had Interviews (part of the judging process), then Science Olympics and other activities. Even if they don't get an award, a worthwhile and enjoyable day!

And now, off to see the Grade 1/2 Easter Assembly, and then preparing for extra guests this weekend. The Easter Roots Conference is being hosted by London YPS, so we have 4 extra girls sleeping here! Looks to be a busy but fun weekend.

Have a Blessed Easter everyone!

A Hike at the Royal Botanical Gardens

2009-03-29T10:37:00.005-04:00

Yesterday the Harsevoort clan gathered to celebrate my Dad's birthday, and also my nephew's which is today. Happy Birthday Zachary!!

We had planned to go bowling, but it was such a beautiful day, we thought it would be a shame to spend it indoors and instead we met at the RBG in Burlington for a hike.

The birds are so tame there they will eat right out of your hand! This was a big thrill for my girls, especially Deanna!

Deanna the birdfeeder!

Notice Grandpa holding her arm steady...she was thrilled that she got a bird to land on her!

Tim was pretty good at attracting the chicks. Chickadees, that is...

Here is Tyson, my youngest nephew (so far!)

Dad looking for birds.

Jonah - just love those curls!

Cool Callum!

Tim and Jeremy climbing a fallen tree.

The little ones...

Poor Natalie came down with the flu the night before, so she stayed home with Art. She didn't even care, which is an indication of how lousy she was feeling. Today she cannot even keep liquids down.

It was a great hike, followed by a yummy pizza supper and good fellowship at Mom and Dad's. For all those times as a child that I wished I was an only child, I am certainly glad now that I was not. It's so great to get together with our whole big noisy group.....

....5 months til camping!!!!