May 30, 2012

Claire dug out her winter hat this morning and wore it for a good part of the morning.  You can't tell, but she has treasures inside her hat, sitting on her head.  I'm not sure how that can be comfortable... Here she is "checking her email" before her "little nap".

May 29, 2012

My Mum is back from her trip and thankfully was able to come to Claire's soccer game so that I could go to the parent's JK meeting at her new school.  Rather than driving back home, she stayed the night which gave me the opportunity to get up early this morning and go for a bike ride.  It was nice to be out so early, the air was cooler and there was hardly any wind.  However, there must have been alot of pollen in the air, because at one point I could hardly see out of one eye because it was watering so bad.  Note to self.  Take one of these before heading out into the countryside.

May 28, 2012

While grocery shopping today at the Superstore, we wandered through the kids clothing section.  I really need to stay clear of that section because everything is just too cute.  The girls were in need of some sun hats and we managed to find the perfect ones.  Here's Ava modeling her's and her new sunglasses!  Seriously, can she get any cuter!

May 27, 2012

Claire has been complaining that her running shoes are too small, so off we went in search of new shoes.  When we had her feet measured, it turned out the shoes she had been wearing were 2 sizes to small.  Way to go Mom...  I have to mention that Claire also has really narrow feet, which makes it hard to find shoes that fit properly.  So now she is the proud new owner of her first pair of Nike running shoes.  She loves them and can't wait to do "Opa's race" (the Father's Day Prostate Cancer Run in London) with them on.

May 26, 2012

My Mum is away on a cruise in Norway, so thankfully our cousins Chris and Barb offered to take the girls for a couple of days while both of us are at work.  What a treat for Claire, she couldn't wait to have a sleepover at Zack and Tora's.  Here's Tora while she was riding her bike in front of her house when Mike and I came to pick the girls up.  What a sweetheart!!

May 25, 2012

Claire received a kit to make this magic wand for her birthday.  Today I promised her that we would put it together and decorate it.  Here's the final product!

May 24, 2012

Another hot day for us and we are taking advantage of it and heading to the beach.  The water is still really cold.  Claire did manage to get in up to her chest, but mostly enjoyed running up and down the water's edge, splashing as she went.

May 23, 2012

My Mum's cell phone died and I dug out my old one for her to use.  Ava picked it up and put it to her ear.  When I asked her who she was talking to, she replied, Opa.  Her response tugged at my heart a little.  My sweet little girl, if only it was that easy.  I would have "heaven" #1 on speedial!

May 22, 2012

It's EMS week. 

Here is a Public Relations Video for the Ontario Paramedic Association Showing The Good Ontario Paramedics Do On A Daily Basis.....  It's worth a watch!

 

And one of me in action!



May 21, 2012

Yet another beautiful day.  We took advantage of it and headed down to the beach!

We even met some friends down there.  This is Paige, Christine's neice, helping Claire into the icy cold Lake Huron water.

May 20, 2012

We were invited over to our friends, Jeff and Ang's house today.  It's 30 degrees out today and they have a pool!!  The water temp was 81 degrees!  And I forgot my camera at home!  We had a great afternoon of swimming and a BBQ!  I love these "puddle jumpers" Claire swam the entire afternoon on her own with these on.  And Ava is getting the hang of it too.  So here they sit, now in our garage waiting for the next day of fun in the water.  What a great day!!



May 19, 2012

It's the start of the long weekend and Mike is working today and tomorrow.  The weather is absolutely beautiful and the girls, Maverick and I decided to spend the morning at the park.  We had a great time and here they are taking a break under a tree, with Maverick always watching over them.  Love it!

And here is our little climber Ava, determined to get up there on her own.  I believe her words were "my, do it"!

Weeeeeeee!  Look at me!!



Now all this playing has got me tired out!



May 18, 2012

Claire received this fancy Barbie waterslide for her birthday and here they are trying it out on the patio.  I did get Claire dressed today, however, she loves her snowflake pj's and insisted on wearing them this afternoon. 

May 17, 2012

And this is the kind of day it's been.  Unfortunately, you can't save them all.  And the part of my job that I dislike the most, is having to tell a son that we were unable to restart his father's heart, that there was nothing more we could do and I was so sorry for his loss.  This is so hard for me, especially now, and I prayed that he would not see the tears welling up in my own eyes as I spoke to him.

May 16 2012

One day shift down, one more to go.  It often feels like I come home, make my lunch for the next day, go to bed and do it all over again.

May 15, 2012

We had this flagstone patio put in a few years ago and initally we didn't want anything growing in between the stones.  Well, it's hard to keep up with the weeds and the ugly moss that keeps appearing, so we decided to put "pretty" moss in between the cracks and then hopefully we won't have to worry anymore.  Here is Mike planting the new moss in all the cracks and doing a fine job!  :)

May 14, 2012

Today was Claire's first day of soccer and she was super excited that Daddy was going to be her coach!  Practice went great and so did the first half of the game, until she was involved in a scramble for the ball and she was pushed to the ground.  It was game over from there.  I am hoping next week goes a little better.

May 13, 2012

Happy 4th Birthday Claire!!!

A quieter day today and we were able to spend half of it with our whole family, including Uncle Wes and Oma!

And we can't forget that it was also Mother's Day!  I woke up to flowers and pancakes being made for me!

May 12, 2012

Today we had a houseful of little princesses and princes for Claire's 4th birthday party.  She had been telling us for months, that she wanted a princess party and a princess cake.  Here she is blowing out her candles on her cupcake cake in the shape of a crown with Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Cinderella lite up in the middle.

This was the invitation her friends received.

And the day would not be complete without a bouncy castle! Big thanks to our wonderful neighbours who let us borrow theirs for the day!

I made crowns for each guest to wear.

And the aftermath...whew, what a day!

May 11, 2012

I was going through my old emails today and came across one that my Dad had sent last spring.  He sent it to me at a time when his treatments were kind of up in the air.  He subscribed to a forum of all men with advanced prostate cancer, and was forwarding a post he had sent, asking for help as to what kind of treatment to push for next.  It was so nice to see words that he had written me out of the blue today.  Especially last two, "love Dad".

May 10, 2012

My cousins, Mark and Denise now live in the first house that I lived in.  My Mum and Dad brought me home from the hospital to that house and I lived there until I was 6 (I think) and then we moved to the farm.  There are these beautiful lilac bushes in the backyard that I have always loved.  I stopped by to see if Mark and Denise were home and unfortunately they were not.  Now comes for my confession.  I picked some of their lilacs and now they are in a vase at my house.

May 9, 2012

Claire is a big fan of the yogurt tubes frozen, however, she doesn't like her hands cold.  It must be wrapped in a cloth.

May 8, 2012

Another foggy morning on my drive to work.  These windmills are located just outside Kettle Point.

May 7, 2012

At work today and it rained for most of the day.  This is a puddle outside our base.  This picture didn't quite work out, how I had planned, but you get the idea.

May 6, 2012

Now that's determination!

May 5, 2012

Claire was invited to yet another birthday party today.  This time it was our neighbour, Jessica who was turning 6!  This one was held in Canatara Park at the playground near the animal farm.  And here is a picture of the birthday girl!!

May 4, 2012

I loaded the girls and my mountain bike in the truck today a drove to London for an afternoon of mountain biking with Chris.  Claire and Ava were super pumped to be able to hang out with Zack and Tora again and I was just happy to be out on the trails.  Chris and I decided to ride from their place and met up with Amy at Boler.  Luckily she had her truck with her because Chris broke his chain halfway through the ride.  Even though the ride was cut short, it still felt good to be out!  Thank you Barb for allowing it to happen!!

May 3, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!!  I cannot believe how fast these last two years have gone and everything that has happened in them.  Feels like just yesterday I was on the phone with my Dad at midnight, asking that he and my mom come to my house because I was in labor.  And now today he is not here to help us celebrate. 

When we brought Ava home from the hospital, I remember thinking, I just can't wait until she is 2.  Well here we are, and here is Ava on her brand new bike!  It's a balance bike and has no pedals.  She can run with her feet and then put them up when she gets going fast enough.  They are supposed to help with the transition to a big bike.  She can wheel it around pretty good already.

May 2, 2012

Today's job was to weed the garden's in the backyard.  We have a flagstone patio in the backyard and this year it's full of dandelions.  Time to get the Round Up out and get rid of them once and for all.  Mike shakes his head at all these dandelion pictures, but I can't help it, they are overtaking our yard!

May 1, 2012

It rained most of the night and everything was dripping this morning.  Our tulips always seem to be late blooming and they are just starting to come out.  I'm pretty sure they had more water droplets on them, but Ava was helping me take pictures and walking all around them prior to this photo.  These bulbs were given to me at my cousin Kerri & Peter's wedding almost 15 years ago, I think.  I was living at Aunt Anne and Uncle Ralph's at that time and gave the bulbs to them to plant in their garden.  They multiplied like crazy and when I got a house of my own, Aunt Anne dug some of them up and gave them to me for my garden.

April 30, 2012

We are having a party for Ava a few days before her birthday because on the actual day, Mike is working days and I am working nights.  So we had a few of her friends over for lunch and some cake and ice cream.

I had found a little helium tank at Hobby Lobby and the ceiling of our family room was full of balloons. 

I had ordered a cake from Foodland in Brights Grove for approx 12-15 people.  When I went to pick it up, they had made one double the size.  My jaw must have dropped when I saw it, because the lady asked if there was a problem.  No it was a beautiful cake, I just didn't expect so much of it.  Thankfully, I only had to pay the price of the smaller one.

April 29, 2012

Claire was helping me put together the treat bags for tomorrow's party.  Each guest is getting a jungle mask in their bags, a different animal for everyone.  Claire had to try each one on and make the sound of each animal while it was one.  Too much fun!

April 28, 2012

We were out shopping today for treats in the "goodie bags" for Ava's birthday party.  Every time we go to the dollar store, Claire is instantly drawn to these wacky caterpillars.  This time she picked out certain colours for each guest, and of course the pink one was for herself.

April 27, 2012

We had ice cream cones for dessert tonight and from the looks of it, Ava thoroughly enjoyed hers.