our week.

this week seemed to have flown by but yet it was jam packed with goodness.

i'm going to start talking about a week ago friday cause that's just how it is.
around these parts that day is known as Terry Fox day. We all help in finishing his dream and running to find a cure for cancer. and run these kids did! they had to go around and around the field collecting stamps along the way to track their progress. it was supposed to be a stamp a lap but then it became about how many stamps you could get in a lap and then it was just fun. they got sweaty and exhausted and had a grasp on the cause and that's all that matters! what a fun day and it was the first day that i have EVER been able to volunteer at my kids school and they were so excited about that.

last weekend tony had to work all weekend so the kids and me decided it was high time to go apple picking. after that day i will only ever go on week days thank you very much!

holy smokes there were a lot of people there!!! wowzers! we were planning to meet friends rom the city there but that never happened. they got caught in the traffic coming out and decided to head deeper into the country than where we were and since i don't have a cell phone...yes i know, just call me mrs. brady!...we missed hooking up with them there. the place was a zoo! since i don't get the montreal paper i was not privy to the fact that this was the big weekend for that particular ochard and they had been advertizing like gangbusters. after the THIRD tour bus showed up i started to clue in.
and then the sun came out - boy did it come out! it was unbelievably hot! like july hot.
after finally giving up waiting - and after the kids exhausted the fun the playground could offer -  we went and picked our apples.

it took all of 15 minutes. really?
thursday's after school now sound like a good idea to me......we left a little grumpy and miserable but we had our 20lbs of apples that no one is going to eat and we did get to stop by a favorite veggie stand on the way home so not all was lost...just look at those pumpkins!

then we had picture day on monday - which of course i forgot to take a picture of - and we were late so i drove them to school and took them in for some strange reason...which i never do....and was accosted by the other mother volunteers to help out. so i did. so fun!

i took time this week to work on our week in the life album as well which i will be sharing shortly. i am so excited that i got right down to it and completed the picture part all thanks to our new printer and the fact that i was trying out a new photo filter program that i have heard great things about, Rad Lab - free 14 day trial - and am hooked and hopefully i can get it.
loved how it lightened and sharpened the photo's with just a click.

also i am trying to make more of an effort for play dates. i remember going over to friends houses during the week and loving it. since i am home for right now {not for long i hope!} i have decided to embrace that. they both had a friend over last week and loved it...again void of any photo!! aarrgghh.

but...

i did download my camera and find these gems in there. these, my friends, are hidden treasures.

aydan took these and her explanation for it was - well this is an outside set so i had to take her pictures outside.
of course.

friday afternoon we went to target to go birthday party shopping and treat ourselves to a starbucks - that will put a smile on anyones face!

this weekend was full of swimming lessons {they are doing so well.}, running into friends at the pool, walks, bike rides, yard work, another birthday party {number 3 in our 6 rotation. two more this coming weekend and one more the following week....then who knows!}, groceries, friday night home movie - Castle in the Sky, so good!, new fish for the tank, a water hose fight between tony and me {yes we are twelve - i walked outside and all i heard was "WET T-SHIRT CONTEST!! and the next thing i knew i was soaked. then i got him good.}, he tried to instigate a tomato fight - a couple went whizzing by my head - but i didn't bite on that one. finally getting to painting the upstairs two-story stairwell - it's a two man job and we have to make one more pass at it but what an unbelievable difference! plus one of the best chicken chili's i have ever made...well the ONLY chicken chili i have ever made!
all in all a great week and an even better weekend to get me out of my friday morning funk.

oh and we are ready for halloween.....

and i am so glad my mom convinced me to plant dahlia's - we have vases of these all over the house!

favorite quotes of the week:

"what are little boys made of? trash packs, skylanders and video games. that's what little boys are made of." ~aydan

"me and my kids, we are going to chase rainbows when we see them." ~cooper after seeing a rainbow in the sky last night on the way to aydan's irish dance.

*********

Also i came across this post by one of my favorite bloggers, Ashley Ann, and i think i am going to play along. It's called Embrace the Camera and it's to get you, whether you are a mom or not, out from behind the camera. monday's prompt was Smiles and tuesday's was Making Memories and today's is Everyday Moment.
i will post mine here throughout this week.
{i will be using my big camera and not the iphone as i don't have my own and will want weekday shots.}

are you going to play along?
are you guilty of being behind the camera too much?

the out-of-towners.

last weekend we stole away and went to one of our favorite places. it is a wonderful place filled with good friends and always a great time. this time was a little different. we went for a surprise party for one of the main people we see on these trips. mike & the boys house {that's what we lovingly call it.} is usually the first stop when we get there and we always stay there as they do when they come to our house.
this time, though, it was a little different.

this weekend we were part of the surprise!

this excited and confused the kids a little. there were a couple "when are we getting to mike's? when do we get to see finn and eamon?" and after the millionth time explaining we got the big, "WE ARE STAYING AT A HOTEL?? With a pool?! YIPEE!!!"
when we finally got there, i never saw them again......

we arrived friday and had to somewhat lay low till saturday at 4. now the town that this is in is a big town but a small town. you know those kinds? we had some funny escape plans if in fact we did see them - being in a town 7 hours away from home you wouldn't just bump into each other - their shopping isn't THAT great.

the kids and me went to check out the new-to-canada target and had three plans in mind should we bump into them - plan 1) stuff our selves in the doll/stuffy display and hope they don't notice, plan 2) pretend we are mannequins and plan 3) RUN!! Tony had come with a more exceptable one that we were there to support our friend at the children's book author fair going on in toronto on sunday....yeah that was a good one - i had forgotten that one......

anyways when it came right down to it he was surprised & mortified {hates being the center of attention}, brian & marsha's has the best pool ever so the kids were busy {plus there were a ton of other kids there!}, we partied all night long and had fun.

taking a minute out of the busy pool schedule to say surprise and hello.

her too.

giving mike his gift.

the luxurious robe from us to him.

custom lego set from his sister-in-law...there is actually a mike guy there as the announcer! so cool and perfect for the lego obsessed family!

aydan with aunt kelly and the card the kids picked out for mike.

all the guys together - they have been close friends since high school!!

the downside was that we were leaving the next day and we didn't get our full 48 hours worth of visiting in. we stuffed some in on sunday and then headed off.
short and sweet.

until the snow starts to fly.....

over the weekend.

you know when you have a weekend where you are thinking up things to do just to fill the time? or relishing in the fact that there is nothing to do?
last weekend was not such a beast.

ours was packed.

and the cool factor? it was packed with some firsts. i love those.

the first first was aydan's first sleepover.
with the brownies.
at the clubhouse...how cool is that?
she rocked it.

it didn't start till 6pm so the anticipation built and built all day till she was absolutely bursting!!
in honour of the sleepover we made cupcakes to take for all the girls - there were 11 girls and 3 "owls" {leaders.}
since the mascot for brownies is the owl it was only fitting that we made owl cupcakes.

so cute right?
and they were super easy....here's the steps:

first make a batch of this chocolate cake. instead of cake pans use cupcake tins. this should yeild 24 - i got 22 but some of mine were too big. line your tin with liners and fill 1/2 to 3/4 full. bake at 350 for about 20 mins. top should feel springy and since ovens vary please use your judgement - bake for an extra minute at a time till you are satisfied. let cool completely - very important!!! your icing will melt off!

now for the owls - the eyes are oreo halves with m&m's! make some buttercream icing {tint your favorite colour or leave white for snowy owls....since the brownie uniform is blue and brown we did blue owls} or chocolate ganache. set aside. now divide your oreos and m&m's. you will need one orange m&m {or smartie} for the beak per cupcake and two brown or coloured per cupcake for the eyes. also you will need 2 x cream halves of an oreo per cupcake. i have found that canadian oreos and american oreos are different...?? i know.....and mine were tough to come apart cleanly. american oreos are softer centers. if you find yourself in this predicament...although my stomach didn't mind as it got all the duds...place a row of oreo's from the tray into the microwave for about 15 seconds then twist and separate. warming them a bit helps.
now ice your cupcake, grab two oreo halves - place on top, place two eye candies on cream filling as close to the center as possible and push an orange candy in sideways for the beak! done!

i saw these somewhere on the internet at one time - can't remember where - and i just winged it. 
i think they turned out rather well.

while these cupcakes were baking another first was going on...copper went to his first playdate at someone's home...by himself! no sister, no me, no tony, no someone he has known for a long time.
it was to one of his best friend's from school and he had a blast! no nervousness, no shyness. he just jumped right in and had the best time. so proud of him!!! and happy for his as well. hppy he has taken this step.

now on to the third first of the weekend.....cooper had his first kfc! i know i know...we shouldn't eat the stuff and as you can tell we haven't had it for 6 years {probably longer}. it was okay...not like either of us remember it to be though. and i think that was our last. we didn't feel so good afterwards. we have found a doctor oz recipe cheating to be kfc and we liked that better. i'll pass that on to you guys as well.

so after kfc, three rounds of volcano island countdown {our new favorite family game} and no call from the clubhouse, we were ready to hunker down for the night.

tony went and got aydan at 10 on sunday and she came home just bustling with excitement and tales to tell.

sunday also marked the day that we put up our outside christmas decorations. i know maybe a little early but with the schedule over the next couple of weeks this is the time that presented itself. i wanted to get you a picture of it all lit up at night but yeah that didn't happen..another time i hope! nice to have it all ready and done....and tony was happy that we got rid of the cornstalks and pumpkins! ha!

in my books, this weekend was a success.

:)

to the fair we go!

monday around here was a holiday for some.
it was for me and the kids {the husband had to work}
since we had taken the day off on sunday there were a few errands i had to knock out before the fun could begin.
and since it was a glorious day out we spent the whole thing out of doors.
i gardened on the side yard for the better part of the morning/early afternoon and then it was time to go.

to the fair. the carnival as the kids put it.
a parking lot carnival.
you know the ones - they set up in a major parking lot for the weekend, take all your money and in turn provide crappy rides that kids love and provide a day of fun?
yeah...those ones.

that's where we went.
the kids had a blast.
they went on most of the rides.
some old favorites.
braved new rides and discovered courage they never knew they had.
they loved it.
some rides were gone on multiple times - in a row.
some just once or twice.
aydan loves thrill rides.
cooper loves spinning rides.
good to know.

this is my new favorite photo.

the sun was shining.
the crowd was happening.
the husband joined us for the second half of the adventure.
it was so much fun!

we were just about to call it a night when cooper found his big boy strength to try out two rides he had been avoiding. the drop thing and the gater-coaster. of course we had to say yes as i wanted to seize the opportunity that he would try them. he loved them of course.
i knew he would.
he's not the kid you can push on to things - you have to let him come to it on his own.
now we are ready to go......
okay, then aydan decided she was going to try the tilt-a-whirl with cooper.
he had already been on it about 6 - 7 times. loved it.
he assured aydan she would love it too.
we gave them one more ride - it was getting late after all.

we were on the back side, taking photo's trying to get that one perfect shot of the two of them. right when we gave up we saw aydan's little head poke around the side and stick out. shoot, we missed such a good shot.....then it happened.
she threw up. while the ride was still going!
and it was a twirling ride. you get the picture.
we knew it was one ride two many.
we didn't know what to do. so we started laughing.

it was time to go home.
thank you carnival for a wonderful afternoon.
memories were made.
forever.