My little cupcake maker.

Yes, I am still here. I have been so busy with many things-mainly, the fundraising job that I took on for Hunter's skating club. It has eaten up hours and hours of my time and I feel like I am like a dog chasing it's tail. I just keep telling myself that's it only 'til January.

Last week we experienced a lot of what I call "Nova Scotia" rain, because it was not only wet, but cold and damp as well. The kind of damp cold that you can feel in your bones. On one of the wet afternoons, Tyler and I made chocolate cupcakes for Hunter's book club. He loves to help in the kitchen. He is so funny. He has been entertaining me with alot of questions and statements lately like:

"Mom, how does oil make you rich?"

"Mom, I know who the first person to live on this planet was. It was a guy named Adam and his wife!"

"Mom!!! We forgot to SPIKE my hair!!" (on school picture day).

This next conversation took place while Tyler and I were babysitting my friend's little girl Ava, who is 18 months old. We were in the playroom, where there was a little pink dress up table with assorted makeup and hair stuff. Tyler was trying to help me entertain Ava.

Tyler- "Hey, Ava. Do you want to come over and sit in the chair? I will do your hair & put lipstick on you?"

Ava- "No Tyler!"

Tyler-"That's ok...... I don't really know how to do hair anyway!".

Never a dull moment.

have a marvelous day!

So cute. Today I found this note on Hunter's desk. She wrote it as a reminder to herself for school this morning.
It reads, "Don't forget your agenda!! Have a marvelous day!!".
Hunter, I hope you did have a marvelous day!

tis the season for homework.

A new school year brings back the routine of homework.
I remember that I loved homework when I was in elementary school.
Although I don't remember having as much homework as Hunter has sometimes.
She is so great about homework. She always does it without being asked.

Tyler is doing awesome in his new kindergarten class. He is starting to talk about some of the new friends he has in the class.

I have "homework" too. I am co-chairing the fundraising committee for the Northern Lites Synchronized Skating Club. Ron and I had to load 75 cases of chocolate bars on Saturday to take to the Clareview Arena for Registration Day. Of course, I started a "blog" for fundraising info with the mission of reducing the amount of phone calls I get at home regarding fundraising questions while getting information out in a timely and efficient manner. NLfundraising.blogspot.com.

Crikey, mate.

Did we not all think that this man would be eaten by a croc some day? How ironic that he would be fatally wounded by a docile ocean creature.
The kids loved to watch him on tv as the Crocodile Hunter.
Hunter and I watched a special about him on Friday night.
I loved his passion about what he saw as his mission in life. So sad.

first day of school.

Tuesday, September 5, was the first day of school for Hunter. She was really happy with her teacher, Madame Inglis, and with the friends in her class.
Tyler's first day of Kindergarten was Wednesday, September 6. He seemed very happy to go to school, but after I picked him up while driving home, he started with the tears, sobbing,
"I want to go to Grade 1 with my friends!!!". I tried to explain to him that you can't go to Grade 1 until "you are 6". He only sobbed harder. This went on for an hour, although I tried to "reason" with him. Ron was away in Calgary for 2 days. So finally, I just let him cry it out.
Age 5 is the appropriate age to start school in the rest of the country. Only in Alberta is the cutoff for turning 5 March 1. We could push him through to Grade 1, but he would be the youngest in the class. And I don't want school to be a struggle for him. Especially in the upper grades.
Funny thing is, after he finished crying, he hasn't mentioned a word about it since.
He went to school on Thursday & Friday and was totally fine.

homemade is best.....

And this is what I did with the organic cucumbers I got at the Farmer's Market on Saturday.
I found my recipe on my computer. I haven't made them for a few years, but since we are having some very special guests for thanksgiving turkey this year, I thought we needed some homemade pickles.

the trials and tribulations of learning to ride a bike....

On Friday the kids and I decided to go for a bike ride. While I was away in N.S., my wonderful husband bought me a BIKE for my birthday. It was an incredible surprise to me. I had only mentioned in passing a few times that I would like to have a mountain bike so that I could go biking with the kids since we have access to a great trail system here in St. Albert.
The mere mention of a bike ride with mom led Tyler to ask if I could ride a bike, since, apparently, he has never seen me ride a bike before. I said, "Tyler, I could ride a bike since before you were born!". (one of my Dad's favorite lines~felt like him as I was saying it.)
Tyler said, "oh, you have been riding a bike since you were TALL and BLONDE." !!???
I asked with mild amusement, "When was I tall and blonde Tyler?"
"When you married Daddy!"
oh. I gues I am no longer tall or blonde. But alas, I digress. Back to the bike ride.

So I packed a picnic lunch, and off we went. I looked quite groovy wearing a 5 year old's spiderman helmet. (but i didn't look TALL or BLONDE). We took the Red Willow Park trail system, which is a paved hiking/biking trail throughtout St. Albert. We biked to the library, which is about 2 km away, and had a nice lunch at a picnic table in the shade. Then we started for home. It was all very fun until a training wheel fell off of Tyler's bike and we had to walk half way home. It could not be fixed as the rubber of the wheel separated from the wheel itself. To top it all off, my son, who normally wears a sunny disposition, turned into a GRUMPY OLD MAN.
When we got home, Daddy said no more training wheels Tyler! You can ride a bike on your own.