One week....

Well..we are down to one week before Kindergarten. I realize that I have written multiple posts about this but in all fairness it is a big deal. We have started picking up lunch supplies and laminating lunchbox notes and starting to get on an early bedtime schedule. So many firsts to come for us and our little man. I came across this poem on facebook yesterday and...full confession..I have not read it without crying since:

A Mother's 1st day of school prayer:

I wonder what you're doing now,
and if everyone is treating you kind.
I hope there is a special person,
A nice friend that you can find

I wonder if the teacher knows,
just how special you are to me,
And if the brightness of your hear
Is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking about me,
And if you need a hug
I already miss the sound of your voice
and how you give my leg a tug

I wonder if you could possibly understand
How hard it is for me to let you grow
On this day know that my heart breaks
For this is the first step in letting you go

"Sob"...this sums up the emotions I am juggling and makes my heart ache. How do we learn to let our hearts walk around outside without our hands strongly grasping theirs? I know that we are not the first and will not be the last but wow this is hard. I already miss him and he hasn't even begun. I am so thankful I had so long with my boy and hope that we have given him a great foundation to begin this next journey in his life.

Okay I am going to wipe the tears away and stop sobbing (until next week as I am not going to pretend there will not be tears). Today we went to the airshow and the kids had a great time! We are enjoying vacation and hope to head to the Aquarium as well as the Exhibition this week. That's all for now folks...I will add more vacation shots over the next few days :)

Vacation!

Well today was my last day of work for two glorious weeks. I love my job however it is always nice to have a break! We have a week of day trips planned for the kids and then the second week will be Kaiden's first day of school. We have spent the last few weeks picking up new clothes, school supplies, and today Kaiden went for an appointment at the optometrist. He did excellent and has perfect vision! I am feeling so many different emotions about the upcoming first day of school. I am excited for him and for the many fun days to come with school; however I am sad that my time at home with him has come to an end. I will miss him but cannot wait to watch him soar. He has made us so proud in so many ways and I know he will continue to do so. We have several special things planned for his first day and can't wait to hear all about it. Here is a photo of our little man with his new sunglasses:

Fall rambling..

I apologize in advance for the ramblings that are about to follow. It is midnight but I felt the urge to write and when it strikes...it's best to go with it. Now don't get me wrong...I love summer and all that comes along with it..BUT....I am itching for FALL! I LOVE anything and everything to do with the upcoming season. I don't know whether it is because I am a fall baby or if it is just the sights, sounds and feelings that accompany the changing leaves but I love fall in giant doses. I have been happily "Pin"ing away all sorts of lovely fall crafts, outfits and photo ideas. I am more than ready to dive right in!
As I have stated many times..I love Pinterest and spend far too much time sifting through pages and pages of "pins"; however I am also someone who tries out quite a bit of them. I keep a board of "pins we have tried" and it is quickly growing (I swear Catherine I really do them!) I can't wait to add some more fall ones we have tried! Anyway I have already tentatively booked our fall photos and am admitting that I have several halloween costumes in mind so the crisp weather and beautiful leaves can come anytime (sorry!).
Tonight we spent a fair amount of time (and $ eep!) on Kaiden's school supplies and clothes for his highly anticipated first day of Kindergarten. It was adorable because he was so twitchy with excitement he ran from item to item exclaiming "Mom!!, we need scissors and glue and markers!" He picked out a bookbag (batman of course) and wore it all around the store and immediately when we got home. I had initially felt that the "school supply" list was quite long for starting school but after standing in the mist of the "seasonal supplies" isle with moms and children and many many different items and brands I realized it could be worse and there was just as many things that he didn't need which was nice. Anyway I took a photo of him with his new backpack and have to share because it is so sweet; here is my very excited big boy:

Crazy for crafting!

I love to make things hence my obsession with pinterest. I decided I wanted to make Erica and Mark something personal for their wedding gift. I saw a pin a few months ago and just new I would try it for a special wedding. I bought clear Christmas bulbs at Michaels and cut Erica and Mark's wedding invitations into long strips. I then curled the strips using a pencil and stuffed them into the bulbs. I tied ribbon around the top of the ornament to serve as a hook. Here is a photo of the finished product:



I picked up a picture frame to give them as I think it is always a great thing for a newly wed couple as they will have lots of pics to fill it! I decided to add something to it so printed out some letters to spell out EST (established) and 08/04/2012 which was their wedding date. I left the top of the frame empty so they can fill it with wedding photos. Here is the final product:

This week Kaiden and I decided we would take the chore chart one stop further and make it a bit more user friendly. We are going to make a trip to the dollar store to get a better board to house the chores but for now our fridge will do the trick. We used clip art for the images and printed each one out. We then used a laminating kit to laminate each chore. We had leftover velcro stips from making a cape so used that to make them easy to move around the "to do" and "done" pages. For each chore Kaiden completes he will receive a nickel. If he compeletes all of his chores each day he will receive 3.50 each week towards whatever he might want to buy. We will also make a trip out to allow him to choose a new piggy bank to keep track of his savings. We are hoping he will learn a bit more about managing his change and addition and responsibility. He is so excited and has been very enthusiastic about completing his chores! Here is a photo of our temporary chore chart:

Catching up!

We have had a busy two weeks! We had a wonderful trip to the island and I was honoured to read at my dear friend Erica's beautiful wedding. She looked stunning and the decor was so incredible! It was a "old Hollywood" theme and as you know..I love me a good theme! Even the guests got into the spirit dressing up to fit in! My mom wore a flapper dress and old accessories that looked great! The couple had a candy bar which was a big hit with the kids and a photo booth complete with accessories to dress up and take your picture! Here are some shots of us in the photo booth:

Here are my beautiful children:

Avarie loves to give hugs and kisses, especially to Kaiden.

The morning after the wedding we were up bright and early (thanks to Av;) and headed out to the beach and sandspit. The kids had so much fun as did we! To see photos from our weekend click here

PEI bound!

So pumped to be off for the next 6 days and to head to PEI for my girl Erica B's wedding. Kaiden is so excited that he has been counting down since day 9. We are packing up and enjoying a family trip and a beautiful wedding!

We have had an incredible summer and I have been enjoying so much with my little family. It is amazing to watch my kids starting to play together and enjoying each other's company. Avarie LOVES to give kisses right now and although big brother is sometimes a bit too cool for it, she tends to win out and smothers him in kisses. She has been repeating EVERYTHING and it is so cute to hear Kaiden's excitement when she learns a new word; "mom, she said buddy, she really did!" She has been calling Kaiden "buddy" since hearing us call him that ha ha.

So it is worth mentioning that last night I was introduced to Cold Stone for the first time. My SIL has been trying to convince me to try it and although I wanted to, just never seemed to get there. Well last night during an impromtu Winners trip, Michelle took me and.....OMG! I cannot believe I hadn't tasted it before..eep I might be in trouble! I tried Extra-ORANGE-inary and it was soo good! I will have to take the kids there for a treat for sure!

It is late and I have a full day of packing tomorrow so I am off to bed but to sum up..here are some recent photos of my adorable munchkins