October

I can't think of a catchy title for October, like I've tried with all the other months.....trying to think of an "O" word to go with it. Maybe it'll come to me yet. Any ideas?! In the meantime, it'll just be plain ol' October.

Before we get to October, I was going through the pictures on my phone and realized there were a few from September that I never posted. Here they are - the kids did the Terry Fox Run with their school. Pretty proud of them for running/walking 5 km!!

 

So let's see, what was October? Oh yay!! You won't believe it but - camping!!!! :) :) Yup, our last camping trip of the year, our annual Thanksgiving camping trip with our most dearest friends, Jenn and Jay and clan. My sister and her family were there as well, so lots of kids to play with!!

Well, before we left for camping, we bought "new to them" bikes, get this, with GEARS!! So exciting if you are 5.5 and 8!! We wanted to get them before we went camping because where we go, there are amazing biking trails. The kids were so thrilled of their new bikes!!

Getting the ever-so-important badminton court ready....

The weather this year was so warm, we spent the day at the beach on Saturday!!

 

 

Food just tastes so much better outside!!

 

 

 

So many kms were put on these bikes..

 

 

 

Yes, he is crying....he was mad because his sister went first.....big deal, ya know!? Let's just say, this didn't end so well. After yelling at the kids for being selfish ('cause yelling at them isn't selfish at all....😐), I stormed off to the campsite. Lincoln followed, wailing away. Sigh. Just keeping it real here.

Anyway, other than that, it was a fantastic weekend of enjoying October. Jenn and I keep the weekend as "chore-free" as possible, cooking simple meals and using throw away dishes and cutlery. The men doing the few dishes certainly helps to allow us to keep our feet up :)

 

Other October moments.....the weather was just so warm and beautiful that lots of time was still spent outside. Playing "Blue Jays and Boston" was a regular occurrence after school/supper.

Big swing and a miss!!

 

 Although she wants to play, her attention span is, well, let's just say flowers, grass, and itty-bitty bugs capture her attention much more quickly than a fly ball.

Outside with two of his favourite things: food and books. Since school has started, this child is reading everything that he can. I find him often sounding out words, reading the ones he knows really well. I took this picture through the window of my back door - I didn't want to ruin the moment. :)

'member that large sandbox we built for him? Yeah, apparently the gardens are more fun....

As the weather turned cooler, the kids would spend any moment they could downstairs with the Lego. They go down here as soon as they get home and put their stuff away. And will stay down there until supper. I love it so much!! Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE my finished basement?! This mess used to be upstairs!!

 

Lincoln had to get some x-rays done due to suspicions of scolliosis and/or one leg being longer than the other. Thankfully it all came back clear! Praising God for that!!

 

Our church had a small festival to meet the neighbours. The kids had a great time, with cotton candy being the hi-light.

 

All in all, it was a great month! The weather has turned considerably cooler now, with even a bit of snow already. Eek! Oh well - each day done is a day closer to spring!! 😉

Family Pictures

It had been 4.5 years since we had family pictures taken (like, REAL ones....). I think it's the one on this blog by my name. Lincoln is 16 months old and Keziah is 3.5 years old. Now that they are 8 and almost 6, it was time for new ones.

I have been absolutely loving the work of a girl I went to high school with many moons ago, and so I contacted her and we set a date. In about 45 minutes, she clicked that button over 250 times.

She is quite the talented photographer. In all honesty, I was quite hesitant that we would have *any* nice pictures thanks to the antics of all of us:

• a whiny little boy who was still trying to adjust going to school everyday, plus having pictures taken past his bedtime
• an unfocused girl who would notice the details of every little weed, flower, bug, butterfly, stick etc that would catch her attention rather than the camera
• a man that had a hard time getting into "position" at times due to new shoes squishing his feet, and well, going down on your hunches when you are over 40 can be hard to do....I guess. I wouldn't have a clue ;)
• and then me, the mother bear who was busy making sure everyone was smiling and showing love to each other, as well as making sure clothing was staying in place, 'cause I lost way too much sleep on the matchy-matchy outfits (but tried to make sure they weren't toooo matchy-matchy)

Anyway, the following will attest to our photographer, Julie's work. Let me allow the pictures to do the rest of the talking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See?! Amazing work. I am so thrilled with these pictures. Julie is truly gifted in what she does and I am thankful I chose her to take these. Hopefully it won't be another almost 5 years before we do this again. By that time, Keziah will be 13 (ahhhh!!!!) and Lincoln will be almost 11 (waaaaaahhhhh!!!!). One day at a time shall we enjoy God's blessings of being a family of 4.