Wait - what's missing?

It was a very productive day! Matt got Drew up bright and early to try their hand at fishing. Nothing but a stick.

Later in the day we decided to tackle the wood pile. This is before.

Working together.

And bit by bit we got this!

And this is what we have left!

A LOT of the wood was quite wet so we are hoping it will dry out this way.

Yey team! Tomorrow we might, just might even tackle the logs with the chainsaw!

Oh and BTW - we were able to relax for a good majority of the late afternoon at the dock.

Caught up!

I just got all caught up on my 365 but check here in the next few days as I hope to do some back tracking on some "saved" posts and share some photos. Til later!

We've got stairs!

We've got stairs! I'm taking this as an anniversary present because we've talked about getting them done for a few years now! Rob and Jim came on Saturday and helped Drew put these babies together. Yey!!! So much safer and easier for everyone involved. We still need to do something for the bottom but as it is right now there is still a step under the deck which works well.



Drew added the padio stones in between to level out the landing and added rocks to the area beside to cut down on erosion. Mission complete! Thanks guys!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Our baby girl is 5 today! She has been waiting for this day for several weeks - no actually a few months (I think she is learning that from Cierra!). She was so glad that her cousins would be able to join her at "her cottage" for her birthday.

We had an easy-peasy day - Nan and Ya-ya were still up and we opened a few presents from family (all cool clothes) and then the cousins came in the afternoon. She helped decorate her cake with lollipops and candles. She and I plan on spending some 1:1 time shopping together for her gift from us later in the week.


So who is Marlee right now?

She is a total girly-girl who loves to dress up as a princess, play with barbies, Polly pockets and pet shop pets. She wants to dress like a rock star and is very strong-willed. She is not looking forward to school at this point - even though she will be one of the "big kids" in the class. Even though she colours and draws and wants to write stories all the time - she apparently does not like the work at school and wants to stay with me all day. She can play independently for very long periods of time and yet can also be very demanding of parent time. She for some reason is also into licking (still - I do have myself to blame). Oh and really heavy breathing - on us???

In the last few weeks she has magically gotten taller, asks a million questions - especially "What does such-and-such-a-word" mean?, and wants to be a big girl.

Some of the things she is saying these days?

• That's so weird!
• Seriously?
• For real life?
• Goof!
• That was so cool!
• That's actually a good opinion Matt!
• I'm a little freaked out about them [escalators] right now!
• Yeah yeah babaa!

But no matter how you say it Babaaa - we are so glad to have Marlee Moo in our lives and we are SOOOO happy that you are now 5!!! Love you girl!

Women's Equality Day

I read that tomorrow is National Equality Day in the US. While not American I too am thankful for all of the freedoms that we as women and as Canadians have. I am reminded daily of many rights that I value. Some that come to mind are that we live in a free country; I am thankful that I can believe in our God, openly and without fear of being condemned. I value that we have the right to choose our own government and to vote; that we have the right to free speech. After watching movies set in other countries I am continually thankful that our children grow up where slavery and child labour is not a part of their world and that they can get a great education. I am thankful that we have food abundantly - and that we can even grow our own. I am thankful that we are able to work and provide income and necessities to live. I am thankful that we have more then enough.

So many of these things we take for granted. So often we are reminded of all to be thankful for - from movies, reading, the daily newspaper, mission work and from travelling. It is sad how quickly we get back into our daily routines and again, take these liberties for granted. I am glad for the reminders of the hard work that was put into securing these freedoms for us and our nation. Thank you to all of the men and women and families for the sacrifices that were made to allow us this amazing country to live in. Thank you to the women who fought for our rights to be an equal citizen.

101 years old!

We had dinner with my mom and dad last night since they got back from holidays. We learned that they found out some interestng news about Aunt Elsie. Apparently she is a year older then we all thought! And her birthday isn't her actual birthday! It turns out that Alberta wasn't a registered province when she was born on May 30, 1908. So when her birth day was registered in January 17th of 1909, they took that as her actual birthday. I guess she just never bothered to correct it - or see that it was worth doing. So happy 101! WOW!

BTW - welcome back mom and dad!

Movies and blogging

I'm loving the library movies - we are picking up several that we would probably never have gotten had we gone to Blockbuster.

Last night we watched Blood Diamonds - another to remind us how blessed we are here in Canada - and how little I know about the world around me. I am trying to be a bit more aware, but I know I tend to be self absorbed and to be honest - when this movie took place, I had no idea the troubles going on in Africa.

And now Drew would like to say that "Tonight's was good, but that would be a lie - it was "okay"". He woud be referring to "Saving Sarah Cain", a Michael Landon Jr production. I liked it - simple, redeeming; a good clean movie.
Note: It advertised another MLJr movie "Love's Unending Promise" - a book I loved as a teen. I will be looking for it soon.

Watching movies that aren't so intense also allows me to do a bit of catch-up on the 365. I finally got all of the "Days" corrected. Now I just need to add the photos. Getting there!

Weekend getaway

We spent a lovely weekend away with our friends Mid D and Little D and their kids at their cottage. It is on a remote little island in the middle of Georgian Bay without electricity. We arrived mid evening Saturday and stayed until noon Monday so that the kids could get back for a birthday party.

Surprisingly, the no-electricity thing was kind of refreshing. (The company was pretty good too).

Drew made us breakfast each day on the propane stove.

The kids wore their life jackets most of the weekend (The island is mainly rock, slippery and steep in some places) - and spend most of the time exploring, picking berries,

climbing trees,

and swimming.

We saw lots of wildlife - frogs, huge tadpoles, birds, garter snake, a water or fox snake and bats.

The kids asked repeatedly to go to the small cabin where they went up and down the ladder to check out the loft.

All in all though, a nice relaxing weekend (other than the bats), great company (if they still like us) and it did make us appreciate all that we have. I admit though, it made us wish our own cottage was just a little bit closer.

Thanks D's!

July 2009 Recap

Back to fill this in!

Exercise: eleven times

Books read:- Flight of the Dragonfly

Movies seen:
- Twilight
- Odyssey
- PS I Love You
- He's Just Not That Into You
- Ice Age 3, Night at the Smithsonian (Drive-in)
- Reservation Road
- The Other Woman (W network)
- Kronk's New Groove
- One Special Night

Things done/ dates to remember:
- Crocodile Dock camp
- Matt in soccer camp
- picked strawberries
- Liberty born (July 17)
- Jen, Jon married (July 17)
- Sarah here (July 31)