Dots of Life

3 chicks, a lemonade stand and a cause

adi and her friend mya decided to organize a lemonade stand to raise money for the jdrf walk.  but they didn't want just a plain old lemonade stand... they wanted a lemonade and chocolate chip cookie stand.  so they asked me to pick them up some bristol board and made a date for some poster making.

 
 

once the signs were made, they even prepared a cookie baking itinerary for daddy...

• wednesday, make cookies
• thursday, make cookies
• friday, make cookies

and bake cookies he did, but the problem was that by saturday, they were all gone.  so sunday morning, daddy got up bright and early to bake 3 dozen cookies for his girl and her gals.  daddy also tried to surprise them with an official homemade lemonade stand, but his drill ran out of power half way through the project.  but no worries, maya, chloe and adi were ready to go at noon on sunday... just as planned...

• the signs were up
• balloons were tied
• chairs were organized
• the cash float was ready
• cups, lemonade and cookies were ready to go

and so they waited for their first customer of the day for a glass of cold lemonade and a warm, fresh out of the oven cookie for $1.

 

the girls were beyond excited and they made it very clear that it was their lemonade stand and that they did not need any help.  so, matt and i did our best to give them some independence... but we kept a watchful eye from the front porch.  it was funny listening to them talk as they waited for almost 10 minutes for their first customer... "oh my gosh, i can't believe people are not stopping... how rude"  or watching them as they frantically waved at passersby and ushered them into the stand.  and finally at 12:10 pm melissa, savannah and anna pearl stopped by for 3 lemonades and 3 cookies to go. 

 
 

within minutes there was a little line forming in front of their stand.  neighbourhood kids on bicycles, freinds and strangers driving by and even a special friend or 2 that heard about it on facebook and made their way over to the little lemonade stand in foxboro.

even nanny jen took a short break from her gardening to support the girls in their business/fundraising endeavor...

 
 

and as the money rolled in they couldn't wait to count it... and then count it again and shout with excitement how much they had made.  sometimes the customers were barely away from the stand as they exclaimed their earnings...

 

but by 2 o'clock the cookies were gone, the lemonade containers were dry and 3 very dedicated and hardworking young ladies had raised $115 in support of team macdonald for the juvenile diabetes research foundation. 

way to go girls!  you stuck with it and you worked hard.  and you even had some requests for another one next year.  i guess we have a little bit of time yet to plan!

just some pics and thoughts...

they may be getting older but they will always be my babies.  just some random pics to share of miss anna pearl, benjamin, adi and matilda!  sometimes i have to pinch myself because i feel so lucky to be their mama!

miss anna pearl... heading off to the stirling arena to say our final goodbyes to barry wilson.

 

adi decked out in her stirling blues jersey and her infamous pink cowgirl boots.  and another shot that a friend sent to me, of adi standing in the honour guard of blue and yellow that lined the driveway for barry on his way to the stirling cemetery.  all of the kids were so stoic and brave.  barry is very proud of them, i am sure!

 

 

benjamin, showing his serious side!

 

and mattie mae, tilly, matilda, tills, m&m, tilda... whatever we may call her.... she sure is cute!

 

 

happy 7th birthday to our adi!

may 20th, 2011 was a very special day in this house.  on this day, our baby girl adison brooke macdonald turned SEVEN YEARS OLD.... YES 7!  and no matter how you look at it or spell it out... that is BIG!

 

anna woke us up before the alarm went off, bursting into the room with all of the presents that she had wrapped on behalf of all us.  new clothes, a new blowup dingy and paddles for our visits to oak lake, a justin bieber dvd and a basket for her bike.  all this and it wasn't even 7 am!

after listening to her birthday announcement on the radio...it was off to school.  but only for a bit, as nanny jen surprised her and took her out for lunch and shopping for the afternoon.  but not before, i could bring her in a birthday balloon and sing happy birthday to her in front of her class... a tradition in our family!

as i waited for the older kids to arrive off of the bus from school, adi arrived back home with nanny jen and a brand new bike to go along with her brand new bike basket!  sweet ride!

 

for dinner daddy made one of our faves... chicken amatriciana and we ate outside on the front porch.  then it was off to cheer sissy on at a soccer game.  instead of cake we treated the kids to blizzards at dairy queen. 

we had already celebrated adi's birthday with the macdonalds on mothers day and she was spoiled as usual with lots of gift cards and money. she has yet to decide what she is going to buy, but she is having fun deciding.

we have planned her "friends" birthday party for a couple of weeks from her birthday... when we know the weather will be warmer.  she has decided on an outdoor/campfire theme and we are hoping for clear skies so that we can spend most of the evening outside.  6 of her besties will be coming home off of the bus, cooking supper over the campfire and doing some fun outdoor crafts/games. 

 

happy 7th birthay foofie.  we love you so much!

track and field

as a kid, track and field was always one of my favourite school days of the year.  not because i was overly sporty, but more because it was a day that i could hang out with my friends, socialize and eat popsicles.  the only event that i was ever any good at was shot put... i was always sure to make a trip to asg and then on to county.

my daughter on the other hand was looking forward to her first track and field day for different reasons... anna pearl not only wanted to do her best... she wanted to win!  congrats anna on placing 1st in 200 meters, 1st in shotput, 3rd in long jump and third in 400 meters.  i am looking forward to cheering you on at the asg (and county).

 

more smores please!

spending time outdoors with friends and family is one of my favourite combinations.  thanks to some great friends and awesome family, we have had a few occasions so far this spring to get outside, sit around a campfire and share some great company and food!

tia (aka: wendella) kicked off the campfire season with a potluck/bonfire at effie's house.  the little kids had fun riding their bikes through the big mud puddles and catching frogs. and the big kids had fun riding big boy toys. 

 

i even decided to take the girls on a couple of rides on todd and joels new toy... FUN! 

we are looking forward to a busy and fun campfire season! 

 

 

stars of the stage

adi and her friend jennaka decided to sign up for a duet at the stirling music festival.  the song they chose to perform was "baby" by justin bieber and they spent the better part of the week leading up to the performance on our back deck after school.... singing and practicing their dance moves.

their rehearsals were TOP SECRET and we were not allowed to watch... so i only got to sneak one picture of them during "rehearsals".

 

when the day of the performance finally arrived, adi was eager to put on her pink cowgirl boots and get on the stage.  i was very surprised by how many performers and audience members there were when we arrived at the lions club.  it was packed... easily over 100 people altogether.  so even though i was a little nervous and apprehensive for adi and jennaka... they didn't seem nervous at all.

 

as the mc called them to the stage, i was thinking, this is it... they are gonna be to nervous or they will forget the words or they will just freeze.  but much to my amazement and delight... they did AWESOME.  they sang loud and strong.  they knew all the words.  they were confident and smiley and they even looked like they were enjoying themselves.  jennaka's mom and i were so proud of our girls.  they really were the stars of the stage!

i snapped this pic of adi when she was exiting the stage after her performance... not a very clear shot, but it is very clear that she was tickled as pink as her cowgirl boots!

 

there was an intermission during the festival and the lions club put on a fabulous luncheon for the kids.  they also entertained us with some old country and bluegrass tunes.  i thought i'd died and gone to heaven.  the band was great and the kids even loved it....although jennaka leaned over to me after their 4th song had started and asked "why do they keep playing the same song over and over?"  i guess all bluegrass kinda sounds the same...lol!

 

after the show had concluded the kids were presented with prizes and plaques and adi and jennaka were chosen out of 25 performers to present flowers to the organizers of the festival... a very nice honour.

 

but they were most pleased to receive their plaques.  great job ladies.  you really were the stars of the stage!

 

and they are already planning their performance for next years show!

beckham, anna p. and me

matt and i surprised anna with tickets to see david beckham and the la galaxie play toronto fc on april 13.  it was a very cold and wet spring evening, but anna and i packed warm clothes and sleeping blankets and set out to toronto.  our friend loralee let anna pearl borrow all of her toronto fc wear and anna was dressed to the nines and ready to go.

 

we arrived in toronto a little early and got to do some shopping at the eaton centre.  anna bought some mocossins and a bench coat with her birthday money and then we headed down to the soccer field.  the stadium was so full of energy and excitement.  we got to our seats in plenty of time to watch the warm up.  let me tell you, it was worth every penny that we spent on the tickets just to see david beckham stretch and warm up only metres away from us.

 

we made fast friends with a couple sitting next to us.  they were from scotland and had planned their visit to canada around when david beckham would be playing in toronto.  it just goes to show you how much they love their soccer overseas!

l.a. and toronto played to 0-0 tie.  it was a great game though and the crowd was electric.  we had so much fun, we didn't even realize how cold and wet we were until the game was over.  i can honestly say that i have never had so much fun at a sporting event in my life... ever.  i hope we get the chance to go back again with the entire family.  thanks for the date night anna p.... and mr. beckham!

 

welcome to the family matilda mae!

it wasn't long after losing abracadabra that we knew we  needed a puppy/dog around the house.  it just didn't feel right.  the house was too quiet, too clean and we really missed the love and  companionship that only a dog can bring to the family.

many years ago, when traveling one day, matt and i came across a beautiful dog.  we were so intrigued as to what kind it was, that we got out of our van to ask the owners.  it was a goldendoodle.  a cross between a golden retriever (like our abba) and a standard poodle.  many times since then, we have come across goldendoodles and we continued to be enamoured by them.  we decided that when it came time to get our next dog, we would get a goldendoodle.

so we set out on an internet search and came across a breeder that was expecting a litter of goldendoodles any day.  we immediately put our names on the list and waited for the call to come and meet our new puppy.

the litter was born on march 10 and we were able to visit the litter and pick out our pup on april 1st.  we let the kids take the afternoon off of school and we set off for bancroft.  anna pearl was especially excited as we were letting her pick out the puppy.  she knew that ben got to pick out abby and adison got to have her own bunny, so she was adamant that it was definitely her turn to pick out the new puppy!

matt and i were kind of hoping for a boy puppy, just for a change. and ben was really excited about having another "boy" in the house too!  when we arrived at the breeders, and saw the litter of 11 puppies it was cute overload.  they were all so tiny and cute cuddly... we thought it was going to be very difficult to pick just one out.

but anna knew "her" puppy right away.  she eyed up the litter and asked the breeder if she could hold one particular puppy!  this puppy was amber coloured and she reminded us so much of abby!  we then encouraged anna to hold a few more puppies, but she kept coming back to "her" puppy.  within 10 minutes of arriving to see the litter we officially had a new member to our family... a girl!

 

 

we had 5 more weeks to wait for our "girl" to come home.  it was a long 5 weeks.  and it also meant that we had 5 weeks to pick out and agree on a name.  there were lots of suggestions, lots of conversations and lots of debate. 

ben liked crosby or oakley.  adi liked daisy or hazel.  anna liked pippa or millie.  matt was quite indifferent and i just wanted something old fashioned.  in the end we decided on matilda mae macdonald, aka: tilly!

on may 1st, nanny jen and i pulled the kids out of school early again and set out to bancroft to bring our sweet tilly home.  the kids were almost bursting with excitement and nanny jen was pretty excited too!  the kids were quick to retrieve matilda as soon as we arrived at the kennel.  we couldn't believe how much she had grown in just 5 weeks.  her brothers and sisters were all so adorable.  tilly was the first pup of the litter to go to her new home and it was obvious that her litter mates were a bit nervous when we removed her from the pen.  as we drove off i couldn't help but snap a couple of pics as they watched us drive away.  it was heartbreaking actually... i wish we could have brought them all home with us! but i also knew that each and every one of them would soon be off to join their new human families.

 
 

when we arrived home, aunt mimi and gigi came over to meet matilda and the kids smothered her with lots of hugs and cuddles!

ben and matilda played on the floor for well over an hour, getting to know eachother, bonding.  i had left the room for a few minutes to prepare  lunches for the next day and when i returned i found them both sound asleep on the floor.  at first i thought ben was just kidding around, but when matt came to check in, we realized that he really was fast asleep, with the new lady in his life!  so cute!

 

welcome to the family matilda mae!  we love you already.  and we know that your big sister abracadabra would love you lots too!