Dots of Life

offside

when she is really happy... she smiles sideways...

...and it makes my heart smile!

happy 9th anniversary

can you believe that matt and i both forgot that it was our anniversary, until the night before our 9th anniversary!?   this was the case.  so, with little time to plan, we went with an impromptu celebration....peanut butter and chocolate persuasion ice cream for dessert! 

happy anniversary to my best friend.  after 9 years, i still love the fact that i get to hang out with you every day.  you make me laugh, make me feel safe and most of all... you are a great husband and father.  i also love you cuz...

• you do laundry, wash the floors and the toilets
• you make amazing cookies
• you let me sleep in... alot
• you always kiss me goodbye before you leave in the morning
• you make our kids your #1 priority... always
• you are kind and funny and have a gentle spirit
• you secretly like to ride my bicycle (and think the basket is nifty)
• you have mellowed on country music and will finally admit that you like it
• you don't mind that i am also in love with another man... eddie vedder

xoxoxoxo

garden glory

although autumn remains my favourite time of year... spring is a quickly rising to a close second.  as always, the kids and i are spending most of our time outside.  we finally got our vegetable garden planted.  it's just a small one this year... carrots, cucumbers, peas, pumpkins and raspberries.  if all goes well this growing season, then we hope to add some more variety to next years garden.  the kids were so helpful... measuring, digging, planting, covering and watering.  lets hope their enthusiasm keeps up for the entire growing season.

the girls are also loving the flower gardens again this year.  they can't wait to water the flowers each night and i have to remind them to leave the weeding to me.... they have been known to pull out a flower or two by accident.

and ben spends alot of time outside too... but usually is accompanied by a buddy or five!!!  the boys love to just hang out together and ride their bikes through the village.  the plans start at 7 am and the boys aren't usually inside until night fall.  they end up spending alot of time at our house... playing catch and eating freezies!  oh, and matt and i just rebuilt the fire pit so we are hoping that the boys get alot of use out of it this summer. next up... getting the badminton net up for them... new rackets and birdies are waiting.

as i said, i am loving spring and all of the outside time it brings.  i am also loving the kids and their respecitve ages....  a little more independent, a little more responsible  and a whole lot of fun!

soccer mania

anna pearls love for soccer continues.  she eats, breathes and sleeps, soccer!  you can imagine how excited she was for her first game.  after a big mix up with the belleville youth soccer club (they do not have a rep team for her age division this year), anna is excited to be playing in thurlow again. and even more excited by the fact that she is playing on her cousin riley's team, and that their team is "count dracula's", which is sponsored by her nan and dede!

unfortunately for her team, they got walloped in thier first game of the season.  it didn't seem to dampen anna's enthusiasm though and she couldn't wait to get out again for her second game.  this time, her team claimed a victory, with the help of a goal from the "anna-mal", which she headed into the net.

adison and ben seem to be enjoying the soccer time too.  ben isliking the freezies and the tootsie rolls that he gets to enjoy at the games, which are always supplied to the team and their families by by nan and dede, and adi is enjoying some play time with some little friends, who are also their to cheer on their siblings.

we are looking forward to a fun and successful soccer season.  go anna-mal!

feeling inspired

some weekend project ideas...perhaps???!!!

happy #5 adi b...

our little foofie is five and fabulous.  she has had 3 birthday parties so far... one at the macDonald's, one at my mom's and one at our home on her actual birthday (may 20th).  the one she is really looking forward to though is her birthday party with her besties.... miss chloe and miss tori.  next friday i am taking the three girls to see the highly anticipated movie "UP"... then we will attempt a sleepover.  i had told adi that she could pick 5 friends to come to her party... but she only wanted  her BFF's as she refers to them....lol!

adi got some really great gifts; movie passes, clothes, money, pedicure, manicure, a weekend at aunt z-lans, a boombox, sleeping bag, a snow cone maker with diabetic syrup and a trip to wonderland for the family.  she is spoiled and she deserves every bit that she gets.  yup... 5 and fabulous.... that pretty much sums her up!

introducing....

the newest member of our family.... wildman bree... ben's beloved show cow.  ben had been itching with anticipation at the thought of meeting his "calf'" (he informed me that it drives him crazy when people refer to her as a "cow"... she is a "calf").  she is named after her parents; wildman is her dad's lineage name and her middle name starts with a "b" in homage to her mothers lineage.

ben and i travelled to the sillsway farm so that he and devin could halter their calfs for the first time.  from this point on, ben will be visiting the farm at least once a week to break bree in and get her ready to show at at least 3 local fairs this summer.  this is part of 4H and it is something that ben is still very excited about.  his poppa is proud i am sure :)

long weekend fun

long weekends seem to go by way to fast.  we packed alot into those three days though... a family movie, fishing, breakfast at oak lake, a birthday/barbecue at my moms for adison, planting flowers around the house, tractor rides/races, shopping and chinese food, and a bonfire/fireworks/barbecue evening at the rodezno's.  needless to say we spent alot of time outside and we had alot of fun.  so glad that i had tuesday off to recuperate!

maryjane+shoes+art=heart

i love mary jane shoes... always have.  they remind me of being a little girl.  i love them with socks, i love them for dress up, i love them with jeans... no matter how many times matt tells me how much he dislikes them (like he has been doing since we were dating), i just can't stop myself from indulging in some maryjane goodness. i also love bright, vintage inspired shoes (again, matt has teased me for a long time about some of my choices).  so, when i happened upon this artist on etsy and i fell in love....

i am thinking that they would look fabulous in our "currently under renovation" master bedroom, but i am also thinking that matt would disagree... and tease me and well, a girl can only take so much...lol!

oh, yes, and i found this super cute pendant as well.... and for $5.00, how can a girl resist!

new neighbours

it looks as though we will have some new neighbours pretty soon.  4 to be exact.  mama robin has been tending to her nest as faithfully as we have been checking on it.  the kids are quite excited for the upcoming arrival of the baby birds.  

each year we have a robins nest on the front porch, but it is usually situated high upon the teeth of our antique hay rake.  this year, mama robin made use of the antique cupboard, which is located right outside our front door.  i am glad she feels so at home on our front porch. (if you look really close you will see mama robin sitting atop her nest).

 our front porch is absolutely one of my favourite places to hang out and spend time with the kids, eat supper, talk to neighbours...and patiently await the arrival of our newest neighbours...tweet, tweet!