Pumpkins!! - July 23

At the beginning of our summer, we had no idea, not even an inclination we might consider moving. None. If moving had ever come up, it was always a "well, maybe one day" type discussion. 
At our current house, we have raised gardens. We don't have enough room for pumpkins but Grandma 21's garden wasn't being used this year for anything ... so we borrowed it. 
We bought pumpkin seeds and a few sprouted plants and set out to build a pumpkin patch. 
With all the rain and very little sun, things seemed to be very slow going ... but after a few nice days, it seems everything exploded to life. Unfortunately, so did the weeds. 
One afternoon, I spent a bit of time weeding the garden. The soil was still quite damp, so the weeds came out easily. And because the weeds were so big, they were easy to find! 

Our pumpkin patch at Grandma's

The pile of weeds I pulled out.

Baby pumpkin

This is how big J thinks our pumpkins will be.

So glad now we will be able to see these pumpkins until the end of the growing season! I'm not sure we'll be able to harvest much before the end of August from our home garden, there just hasn't been enough sun ...yet!

Bike riding - July 23

With all this moving prep and packing, rain, and bugs, we haven't had a chance to get out riding J's bike very much this summer. 
One issue is he hasn't "taken to it" as much as I had hoped. 
I took a friends suggestion and showed him some YouTube videos before we headed out, hoping to get his level of excitement up. 
It seemed to help a little. 
We headed out on a chilly breezy (less mosquitoes) day. E came along to watch and provide encouragement. 
Things went a bit better than the first few times. 
I noticed that a hill might help get some momentum and we were always trying on a skinny sidewalk. We headed to the park and tried again. 

John Janzen Nature Centre - July 21

My sister and I took the kids to the John Janzen Nature Centre. It has a new indoor play area and a little science room. 
They have a pond outside with baskets and nets you can borrow to try and catch bugs and animals. I saw leaches, tadpoles and lots of bugs. 
The boys had a great time, the girls were entertained. 

Purging - July 20

I've been working hard on purging as I pack
a) so I have less to move, and
b) so I can have less to purge when I open boxes. 

This was the amount of food I found expired in my cupboard. 
I was really hoping a bunch of this would be my contribution to the Food Bank donation at upcoming Heritage Days ... unfortunately it all had to be trashed. 
How embarrassing. 
I wish there was an app for that :)

Big day - July 17

We celebrated the birth of our new niece today. Baby girl S. Beautiful and so little. Amazing how fast you forget how small your own kids were.

C and I took the kids to the park around lunch, then to the mall. After supper at my mom's, C and I headed to the hospital to meet S. 

While we were gone, E decided to crawl. Forwards. 

I can't believe we missed it. we were only gone 2 hours, tops. 

One or two "steps" but definitely forwards. 

Such a big day. 

 

Shopping - July 16

Most days lately, when well prepared and with C present, I have loved grocery shopping with my kids. 
We usually go to Superstore or Save On Foods. They have two kid carts and I can keep both kiddos nice and close. 
Watching them squabble like siblings is so cute. 
It used to be just J who was always pestering E ... but now it's lovely to watch E being the pain! I'll see them pulling on each others arms and reaching over to "drive" each others cars. 
Adorable. I'm sure it will get old, but for now, I enjoy watching them be kids. 

My garden - July 15

Finally, a little bit of sun and my flowers and vegetables have started to grow. 

Now that we are moving soon and everything is so delayed, I'm not sure we'll be able to harvest anything before we leave it. 

With that being said, I wonder often what state our new house and garden will be in? 

I know you aren't supposed to leave a dirty home, I know you aren't supposed to take your perennials with you, I know you should continue to weed and mow until you leave .... but will they? 

Such a small thing but with a slightly odd moving timetable, I worry about having time to clean TWO houses if I needed to. 

I sure hope not. 

I digress;

A few garden pictures:

Baby girl E - July 13

I know, all my posts seem to focus around E. It's really because J doesn't sit still long enough for me to get any good pictures. 

While E is still happy and agreeable to having her picture taken, I am taking as many pics as I can. 

She is just so sweet! 

Daddy's home! July 11

 My kids are so excited to see Daddy when he is home from work.  After a long day, so am I. 

They adore him. 

Mosquitoes!!! July 11

Can you believe this??  I can!
I saw this truck's bumper outside the library. 

The mosquitoes this year are horrendous. 
Grosse.

First movie - July 10

J has been obsessed with the movie Cars lately. He had no idea there was a Cars 2 coming out, but we've been watching Cars once or sometimes twice a day now for probably 3 weeks. 
I don't understand the fascination but it still works as a nice downtime for J as he is long done naps. 
Auntie C, Uncle K and cousin E were going to Cars 2 as E's first movie too and were were invited to join in. Our little E wasn't feeling well and so Daddy stayed home to look after her and I took J to the movies alone - not alone, with my sister and brother in law and nephew! 
We had't intended to see it in 3D but it was only available in 3D here in the Park, so thats what we saw. 
I explained to J what we were going to do and he said "no thanks, I'll just watch Cars at home on my tv." Oops. I was hoping J would understand as I explained we were "going to see a Cars movie on a tv as big as our house." That got his attention. 
I was a bit worried about the 3D glasses and rightly so. He kept them on long enough for me to take his picture and that was it :) 
We arrived nice and early and got great seats but unfortunately for me, I think I used a lot of my "still child" time waiting for it to start. J filled up on popcorn and sat so nice and still but was a bit bored by the time the commercials, previews (there were way more than normal!) and short Toy Story cartoon were done. 
He sat on my lap most of the movie, fidgeted almost the whole time and I completely lost him for about 30 minutes in the middle where I was literally holding him onto my lap to stop him from walking away. 
He's still only 2. I think, looking back, he did great for a 2 year old. Because really, as often as we watch Cars at home, he maybe actually watches about 30%, the rest of the time he is usually colouring, or spelling, or playing with E. 
We had a great time. I hope he remembers this... it'll probably be another full year before I try again. 

Cheese! 

Seinfeld - July 9

We had the opportunity to get tickets to see Seinfeld again at the Jubilee this year. 
It was hilarious. I was crying at one point I was laughing so hard. Knowing me, not a exactly hard to do, but still, very very funny. 
C and I had a nice date night out. The show didn't start until 10pm so we headed to The Keg on Whyte for a late dinner... us and EVERYONE else seeing Seinfeld. 
A bit rushed in the end but still a nice retreat. 
We had GREAT seats. Thanks to C's work friend, we got in on the pre-sale and got fantastic seats. Thanks A! 

He had so many jokes that were relevant this time. 8 years after seeing him last time, we are now married, working and with kids. Amazing how much more funny it is when you are living it. 

Kim

Comparison - July 7

It's hard not to compare your kids. To others, or to each other.
With our kids almost exactly 2 years apart, I find it easy to go back and look at pictures, remembering exactly when thing happened and knowing (easily) whether E is ahead or behind his timeline. 
I try not to compare. They are different. Although raised in the same household, they have been raised in 100% different situations. J had a nice quiet house to develop, E is picking things up in a mad house somedays. 
There are a few things E has picked up this week that have happened almost exactly the same time for both J & E. 
Why do kids love buttons??!!

J - July 24 2009

E- July 6 2011

Growing up - July 6

I know I say this every time, but E is getting so big. 
I just love watching these two kids starting to behave like real siblings. Sitting back and just watching them interact with each other is a rare treat. 

Just watching her splash with herself.

I love this dress! 

Oops, she saw me spying on her. 

Both playing happily in the water, soaked!

Evening fun - July 5

My sister's hubby was away helping at church camp and C had hockey, so I invited L and her family over for a quick and easy supper. 

We spent our evening out on the deck enjoying the sun and warm weather. The boys spent their evening running in our new "worm sprinkler" in their undies.

Such a nice way to spend the evening with family. 

So big! - July 3

E seems to be getting so big, so fast. 
Truly, it feels like she is growing in leaps and bounds, just so suddenly. She was 17 lbs at 8 months and now (according to my mom's scale) 20 lbs at 9 months!! 
She's mobile now too. She can roll both ways without any hesitation and can crawl backwards and get back up into a sitting position. This means she can get anywhere, just in a round about way. 
Also, just today, she started clapping. And shaking her head "no!" and in correct context. 
This also means the house is going to have to be baby proofed. again. With a toddler, this will NOT be easy.
If I sound like I'm whining, it's because I am. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. But what choice do I have. No matter how much I wish her a baby, she keeps growing. 

Clapping.

Trying to crawl.

After that water bottle!

They make my heart melt! E looks like she is hugging J, but she actually wants a boost to stand. 

Blurry... but she did this all on her own.

Family Reunion - July 2

C and I hadn't been to a family reunion in a couple of years now. I think our last reunion was when I was pregnant with J, so the summer of 2008. 
It wasn't that we didn't want to go, it was just difficult to see a little baby enjoying a full day out in the hot sun and then at 20 months, it still seemed risky to expose a little one to so much heat. 
This year C's immediate family was in charge and so we braved the Canada Day heat and headed to just outside Wainwright in a small area called Gild Edge (I think). 
Most of C's aunts, uncles and cousins and cousins families made the trip. 
We usually get to see the family once a year and it's always a blast. Because this was a five family reunion, there was a good handful of extra people, aside from C's immediate family, who came too.
J met "the girls." A girl I've seen before but don't know the exact relationship, and her friend. They are between 11-13 I'd guess and love little kids. They were so excited to hear a baby (E) was coming, although they spent most of the day entertaining and playing with the little boys. I wish they lived closer, I'd have them babysit in a heartbeat!!

We did all the normal family reunion stuff. The difference this year from the last time I went was there was enough little (and big) kids to have real races!  3 legged, sack races, straight up running races, toss the wet sponge ... lots of kids games. 

There is always a big horseshoe tournament which takes most of the day to complete. C and I both made it to the semi-finals, on different teams but got knocked out which was okay because it was time to be heading home. 

We had a great time - despite the heat, poplar fuzz and mosquitoes!!

The girls

This keg didn't last long! 

Impromptu water fight!

Baby E trying to keep cool.

Little boy races.

Little girl races.

Little kid sack races.

Lots of water! 

3 legged races.