Trying to catch up...

Ahhhhh....this blog is getting away on me again! I just can't seem to catch up with everything that has been going on. Now I have to think back several weeks to what we have been up to.

A few weeks ago, we bought a trampoline for the kids! They have wanted one for awhile now and we found a great deal on a used one. They love it and it is getting lots of use. We bought it from a family that lives only a few blocks from our house and this is how Jeff transported it to our house on our little truck...



One of the bike stores in town was having a "mini" bike race for kids and we wanted the kids to try it. We brought all their bikes down to the store and they got their own race numbers...so cute! Marty did the practice round and the girls did not want to participate. I think Gabby would have done it if Megan had. Oh well...we gave it a try, maybe next year they will do it. They also had a BBQ at the bike store, so we all had some hot dogs and Jeff looked around the store.



We had a great Fathers Day celebrating my dad, Jeff's dad, Jeff's grandpa and Jeff!! They are all really incredible fathers and I feel blessed to have each of them in my life:)

We had all our parents over for a BBQ dinner of steak, potatoes, salads and of course desserts. Jeff's favorite dessert is peach pie and we had some homemade frozen pies from last summer when Jeff and his mom made tons of pies. So, we had one peach pie and then I made homemade Boston Cream Pie...I think they both went over really well!



I bought Jeff a new bike helmut for Fathers day. It wasn't the right color, so Jeff exchanged it for a different one. He has been riding as much as possible, probably 3-4 times per week! He really loves it. And on the days he doesn't ride his bike, he usually goes for a run. He's a machine:)

Megan's class at school had a special Fathers Day celebration a few weeks ago!! It was such a special little date for Megan and Jeff. The kids gave their dad's neck/back massages, showed them their school work, read together and finally Jeff got a special gift from Megs. His very own Fathers day bookmark! It is SO cute and he has it in his book right now, so he can look at her sweet little face whenever he reads his book:) **we have pictures from this, but they are on the other camera. I will try to add them later**

Megan is done kindergarten on Wednesday and I can not believe it!! She had her year end class party today and they went to an indoor play place and did rock climbing, gymnastics and played. Megan had so much fun! I'm looking forward to having her home for the summer and not having to get everyone ready and out of the house for school by 8:15am! Megan and Gabby have been playing really nicely together lately and I know Gabby will love having Megan home too.

We went camping this past weekend for our annual church campout! We went to Kettle River Provincial Park. It's a very nice park with big open spaces. The river was really high and flowing fast, so we didn't let the kids go anywhere near it. We went up Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday afternoon. The weather was rainy and cold the first night, but the days were pretty nice. We were in a tent and it was fine, but I'm trying to convince Jeff to get a tent trailer...we'll see how that goes! Maybe we will get one in a few years. I think we would do more camping if we didn't have to tent. I just don't like being dirty and not having a dry/clean place to hang out if the weather's not great. We still have a fun time and the kids absolutely loved it and loved playing with their friends. The park also has a nice playground and we went there lots. The kids didn't fall asleep until about 10pm each night and were up before 7am...needless to say, we were all tired yesterday and are still recovering! We all had a great sleep last night in our own beds:)


















We have a busy week coming up...both Jeff's brothers and their wives are coming for a visit and we are so excited to see them! I can't wait to see my sis-in-law's new little baby bump...and I can hardly wait until December to meet our newest neice or nephew:) We are all going to see the Cirque de Soleil show on Saturday and I'm looking forward to some grown up time with our family. Our friends(thanks Jas & Warren) have gracious offered to watch our kids for us...I think I have some pretty great friends:)

I hope we have some better summer like weather this week, so we can spend some time outside!! It sure has not felt like summer yet...

A little of this and that...

Megan and Gabby have been in gymnastics lessons for the past few months and they both absolutely love it! I got a great 1/2 price deal for the lessons on Twongo. Gabby goes on Monday mornings and Megan goes after school on Wednesdays. So it's been a little busy with driving them to and from. But they love it...so it's worth it!
Gabby...





Megan...



I bought some "make your own popsicle" containers at Superstore a few months ago and figured it was time to make some. I wanted to buy the containers at the end of season last year and they were sold out everywhere. So this year, I bought the first ones I saw:)

I kind of made up my own recipe for the popsicles...

I cut up 2 mangos...

2 bananas...

and added 2 small containers of vanilla yogurt...

I poured it into the popsicles and I drank the leftovers...it was yummy!!

I think they like them...


I also tried an awesome new banana muffin recipe. A girl I work with brought some to work a few weeks ago and they were amazing!!

They are Crumble Top Banana Muffins...try them, you will not be disappointed! I usually double the recipe because they are so good:)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I had a soccer game last night at 9pm...that's right, it started at 9pm! For those of you that know me, that is usually when I'm heading to bed. So it was hard for me to get motivated to go. Besides the fact that it was POURING RAIN and had been for several hours. I knew the field was going to be soaking wet. We play rain or shine, so I knew it wasn't going to be cancelled:( The moment I stepped onto the field, my socks and cleats were soaking wet. But, we got used to it and still had fun. By the middle of the second half the rain had stopped and it was a comfortable temperature. It was just hard for me to unwind and settle to sleep after that. I don't think I fell asleep until close to midnight!

The kids love to play on their bikes on the driveway. We are planning to train Gabby to ride a 2 wheeler this summer!

Also in the plans for summer is potty training this little guy...

SIX

I woke up this morning at 4:50am for some reason...but then I remembered that it was almost the time that we had Megan exactly 6 years ago today!! I can not believe how quickly the years have gone by. Megan made us parents for the first time and we are so thankful for that.



I can remember the day I went into labor with her like it was yesterday. It was about 4pm(I know because I was watching Oprah!) on June 3rd and I was having some mild contractions. Jeff came home from work and the contractions were starting to be more consistent, but not painful yet!! Around 8pm I decided to go to bed to see if I could sleep a little bit if this was the real thing. My water broke about 10pm and we headed to the hospital. At this point the contractions were PAINFUL and OFTEN. We got to the hospital and I was only 2cm dilated:( I did not want to go home because the contractions hurt so much. They gave me a shot of demerol and told me to have a hot shower. I sat in the shower at the hospital for about 3 hours...it was such good pain relief for me! Around 4:15am, I felt the urge to push and the nurses told me to get out of the shower and into the bed. I was fully dilated at this point and pushed for about 45 minutes and she was out!!! I had thought throughout my pregnancy that she was a boy, so I was shocked and SO excited she was a girl!! She is such a gift to us.

Megan is such a incredible blessing to us and I know to many others! She has such a kind and gentle heart and I love watching her grow. This past year has brought about so many new things for her, with starting school full-time and making new friends on her own. She is growing more and more confident every day. In fact, her teacher wrote her a little note yesterday and it said "Hope the birthday celebrations go well tomorrow. Megan is becoming more confident everyday and is a real pleasure to teach (and very, very clever too!)." Of course, Jeff and I are just bursting with pride in our sweet girl!



We had a big birthday party with a bunch of her friends this morning. We had 7 girls and 5 boys come to celebrate with us. She invited all the girls from her class at school and then some other friends too. It was the first time we have done a "drop off" party. It turned out really well. Thankfully it was an absolutely beautiful day outside!! Jeff played some games with the kids and we had the bouncy house outside too. We got pizza for lunch along with lots of other snacks and then birthday cupcakes for dessert!!




The birthday balloon cupcakes...


Megan has been blessed with some really amazing friends and we are so thankful for that!




Jeff took Megan on her birthday date this morning too. They went to McDonald's for breakfast(her choice!) and then went downtown to City Park to fly her new butterfly kite. The kite was a birthday present for us and she absolutely loves it. We gave it to her yesterday, when it was windy and our family went to the school field to fly it for the first time. Then Jeff and Megs went to Value Village and she picked out a new chapter book, her favorite, Junie B. Jones!! She was so excited. And just to brag a bit about Megan, yes she is in kindergarten and yes she is reading chapter books...again so proud of her!


So Happy Birthday Megan Sara...we love you more than words can say!!


Also a big happy birthday to my dear sister-in-law Annie for tomorrow!! And...in completely different news, a HUGE congratulations to Jeff's brother and his wife, Traci who are expecting their first baby in December. We are so excited for them and can hardly wait to hold their precious baby at Christmas time!!