The last weekend of September

Tomorrow is October and you can definitely feel the change of weather coming. Luckily we had some warmth for our last September weekend. Saturday we had a walk in the ravine and dinner cooked over the fire. Darren and I sat out in the evening which is one of my favourite summer things to do.
Today the weather was gorgeous and I was able to escape home and go for a walk with Bear. The sun was warm against the colourful leaves. Very peaceful in the woods and a sense of calm. It was a nice way to say farewell to summer.

(Cliff's picture)

Tattoo

"I did it!" I finally decided on my tattoo and went and got it done. It was painful but not as bad as I expected. I am very happy that Darren came with me. Just having him near helps to keep me calm and focused. Dave, the artist did a fabulous job and it turned out great! "I love it!".

The flower that I chose grew wild at the back of our yard near a maple tree in a pile of mulch, with not much soil and very dry conditions. I moved it into the regular garden bed and was so thankful when it survived the move. The flowers start in June and keep on going till the frost. To me it represents beauty, strength and newlife.

Nathan's 3rd birthday

I am a little late on posting about Nate's 3rd birthday but better late than never.

We celebrated on the Sunday before his birthday with family. He was thrilled! Nate got lot's of trains and every time he unwrapped a new one he would disappear upstairs to introduce the new train to the track. He missed most of the meal because he was upstairs focused on the trains. Dream come true for a little man!

He did return back downstairs to blow out the candles on the cake.

On Nate's actual birthday we opened presents before his morning preschool class. More trains! We send birthday cupcakes to school and he celebrated with his class. Lot's of fun!

Wasaga Beach

Yikes..time to post! It has been a while.

We just returned from a family vacation in Horseshoe Valley near Wasaga beach. Long drive but tolerable thanks to Roberta lending us her portable DVD player. The week went fast and we had a great time. Lot's of fun with the kids and very relaxing. No computers or phones to take our focus away from time with each other.

Highlights of the trip:

-Teaching Jade to play crib.

-Swimming with the kids.

-The long beautiful beach.

-Best raspberry pie ever!

-Relaxing evenings with the hubby...wine and HUGE jacuzzi tub.

LIFE is good!

Big congrads to David and Oksana on the news...it is a boy!

Tea party

Jade is turning 10 years old on the 9th of September. Very hard to believe! On labour day we had a tea party birthday with 8 of her friends. Most of the kids were from her old school Queenswood and a few from the neighbourhood. Emma was fabulous and helped out SOOOO much, I definitely could not have done it without her help.

The tea party menu was written as follows and at the table for each of the kids:

Special Tea Menu for Miss Jade Traversy

Very cherry fruity fruit salad

Your choice of:
Chai Tea
Very berry tea
Lemon ice tea
Lemonade
Bottled ice water

A selection of tea sandwiches on FRESH bread (no crusts!)
-Candace’s special egg salad
-Ham and cheese
-turkey and mayo

Bakery scones with whip cream and strawberry or peach/passion fruit preserve.

Cream puffs and chocolate éclairs

Candace’s home baked chocolate chip cookies

“Top of the Hill” bakery cake will be served later during the festivities.

We also played games and had a pinata. Jade had a very happy day! Just what she needed before starting her new school.