Dots of Life

wellington park

one of my favourite summer acitivities is a good old fashioned picnic at the park.  the kids and i especially love wellington park.  i have been bringing the kids here since ben was just a toddler.  we love the crisp and clear lake ontario water, the rocky shoreline, the beautiful shade of the tall maples and of course the super fun playground.

we also love to bring along friends... the more the merrier!  on this day, anna brought along shey and adi brought jenneka.  it was a very hot day and the water was cool, but refreshing so it didn't take long for the girls to make their way in!

 

 

the girls stayed in the water for over an hour befor they decided to make their way up to the park for lunch... but not before they took the time to collect some "heart shaped rocks" for my collection (like they do every time we visit).

 

it didn't take long to finish off the picnic lunch... bagels and cream cheese, alphagetti, watermelon and bananas.

 

then it was off to the park for some good old fashioned play time!

 
followed by leisurely conversations in the sun...

 
and of course adi had to get in a few yoga moves... as she always does...lol!

before heading home, we were sure to stop for a cold treat.

 

it really was a perfect  summer day!

 

stop...trailer time!

every summer my kids look forward to spending time at my stepmom's trailer.  it is in a little trailer park not to far from here, on the trent river.  the kids love to visit and play on the water trampoline, have bonfires, go tubing, meet new friends, ride on the golf cart and hang out with their mam-ma.

 
 

for the second year in a row, mam-ma invited anna pearl out to the trailer to spend a few days/nights with her step-cousin kyanna who lives in toronto.  they have lots of fun together... so much fun that ben decided to join them for a couple of nights.  and they learned to play "chase the ace"... a card game that kept them busy until late into the night.

 

when i went to pick anna pearl and benny up, i brought along a picnic basket full of egg salad sandwiches, lemonade and fresh blueberries and whipped cream.

 
which gigi especially enjoyed!

 

while adi preferred to relax in the hammock.

 

while i normally miss the kids terribly while they are away, i really enjoyed some quiet time with adi.  and i wasn't chomping at the bit to go and get anna pearl and ben, as i knew that they were having such a great time.  so great, that ben decided to stay for another couple of nights with mam-ma so that he could go golfing with some friends. yep, trailer living is just his style!

 

adi's 7th birthday party

 
due to our crazy busy schedule, we had to delay adi's "friends" birthday party until the beginning of june.  we planned it for a friday night after school... so that her friends could come off of the bus with her... i remember when i was little and it was so fun to ride my friends bus. 

5 of her best friends joined us for a back yard themed birthday party.  when they arrived off the bus we headed to the backyard for an after school snack of fruit kabobs and cheese and crackers.  we gave each of the girls a homemade loot bag, that adi and i had crafted out of hemp bags that we bought from walmart for .50 cents and some fabric scraps and buttons that i had in my craft closet.  the bags had a wooden bird house in them and we used these for our craft.

 

 

we headed out to the picnic table for some birdhouse painting goodness.  the girls really took their time creating their masterpieceses and they were all so pretty in the end... i wish i had taken a picture of them.

 

after the painting was done, anna was eager to move the gang along to the games (I don't know what i would do with out all of anna's help).  first up was the sponge/bucket race.  i had no idea that it would be so much work for them (note to self... next time buy bigger sponges), but work they did...so much so that they all worked up a sweat!  in the end, chloe and jessica were the winners but judging by all of the giggles throughout the race... i think they all had fun!

 

next up on the agenda was pillow sac races.  oh my, this one was filled with belly laughs.  the girls loved these and i think they had about 20 races in total.  but every single time... adi came across the finish line first.  even her brother and sister couldn't beat her.. .i was like she had springs on her feet... so funny to watch... i wish i had grabbed a video of it.

 

these pictures just make me laugh.

 

at this point the kids were tuckered out...

 

and hungry... so the boys fired up the fire pit and we set about roasting weiners for hotdogs...

 

and eating cupcakes!  i had found the idea for owl cupcakes on pinterest and knew that these would be perfect for adi's "birthday cake".  anna pearl and adi actually put the cupcakes together... so fun and easy!  and as quick as they were to put together... they were devoured even quicker!

 
 
 

when it finally came time for presents... i was so proud of adi for taking the time to read each and every card out loud and taking her time to open and appreciate all of her presents.  she was thrilled to receive games, gift cards, jewelry and a sweet little bikini.

 

matt was on cleanup duty and well... this picture pretty much says it all...

 

with only a little bit of time left, the girls decided to hang out on the swingset and just "be".

 

a couple of girls stayed over for a sleep out in the tent.  when nightfall came, we roasted marshmallows by the bonfire and ben told us some ghost stories, but it was obvious that after a long day of school and birthday celebrations... the girls were tired.

 

adi, jenneka, tori, matilda and i slept out in the tent.  connor and anna pearl decided to sleep in the house once it was time for lights out/itouch off in the tent.  but the younger girls slept through the night without a peep.

in the morning we kept with the fun and simple theme for breakfast and adi couldn't have been happier... fruit loops out of a mini box with one of your best friends... what more could a birthday girl ask for!

 

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!

chef anna pearl

 
i love that my kids love to help out in the kitchen.  cooking, baking, cleaning... they even beg me to do the dishes.  a far cry from when i was little and we HAD to help with the dishes. 

this week anna followed a recipe for homemade meatballs.  they were simple and fun to make.  they were also a big hit with her brother, sister and daddy.  we paired them with some brocolli and homemade cheese sauce.  what a great way to get  your kids to eat their brocolli... have them prepare it themselves.  works every time!

 
thanks for supper anna pearl.

harper is one!

little miss harper ella celebrated her first birthday in the best way possible... a fabulous party filled with family and friends. 

 

 

she was cute as a button, er i mean bug... befitting for her ladybug themed birthday party! 

harper is a very easy going little girl.  she always seems to "go with the flow" and is content as long as mama is not too far away.  her daddy also happens to think that his baby girl is the "bee's knees" and i think it's safe to say that she is definitely daddy's little girl... 

what more could a little girl ask for on her first birthday... except perhaps for a little help from her big brother griffin to  blow out her birthday candle...

and a little cake!  a birthday girl must eat cake!

thank you miss harper for inviting us to be a part of your special day.  we hope all of your birthday wishes come true!

 

milkshake girl

anna and ben were both asked to work at the 4h milkshake booth at the 2010 hastings county plowing match.  ben was feeling a bit under the weather so he couldn't make it.  and anna pearl was nervous to go without her big brother.  but i encouraged her to go and i am glad i did.

when we arrived at the milkshake booth (trailer) there was a line-up of about 15 people.  anna was so nervous, she almost cried... so i just ushered her into the trailer, introduced her to her supervisor and made a quick dash back to the van, so that i didn't cave and bring her home with me.  she worked a 2 hour shift, so i left a little early to go and pick her up.  i thought about her the entire time... hoping that she had settled in and that she was enjoying herself.  and this is what i saw when i arrived...

the lineup was still going...

and then on further inspection... there she was... my milkshake girl...

working it, like i knew she could...

doing a little of this, and a little of that...

she was having so much fun, she didn't want to leave... "mommy, do i have too????"... 
 

but they let her make a free milkshake as payment for all of her hard work...(extra chocolate sauce, light on the milk)...

and she couldn't have been more proud of herself... n'or could i!

special delivery

the kids and i love to bake... and since we have been harvesting zucchini from the garden... we just had to make some zucchini bananna muffins!

and since i am on a freakin diet, we just had to get these muffins out of the house...

so we made a list of some special people whom we would like to share them with and we packaged them up...

and set about to deliver them to some unsuspecting people... 

this was so much fun for the kids and i.  the phone calls and emails of thanks that we received were wonderful and we were especially surprised to receive a lovely bouquet of flowers in return.  we can't wait to do it again soon!

rhubarb madness

i discovered a glorious batch of rhubarb in my next door neighbour's garden. 

which led to many things... like stewed rhubarb, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb cobbler and my very favourite muffins ever...

these were so good, i can't help but share the recipe