Family Time

We were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with our family.  It was great.  The kids get on with each other amazingly.  We are thankful for that.  It is like two little brothers and a sister they don't have.

We were able to spend some time with all of our cousins on the beach, such a nice treat.

Another nice development was a relationship with our newest cousins.  We haven't always had a lot of face time with them.  It was so sweet to see Abby light up around Max.  The way that sweet Rylan said Ella's name melted her heart.

Some brother and sisterly love was had as well, along with some facepainting, and a trip to the zoo.

Getting all five kids to look in the same direction and to smile with eyes open. GOOD LUCK!! I love that no one is looking at the camera in this pic.

Getting to see all this lovely bunch for a week, was truly priceless.  Seeing them all go was pretty sad too.  It made me realize just how important family is, and how we just need to say WE LOVE YOU more often.
Thanks for a special week guys.

Niagara Falls/Great Wolf Lodge

So the Hubster turned 40 on Tuesday and we went away to celebrate.  Well actually we have gone away the last couple of his birthdays, but this one was way more fun.

The American side of the falls ROCKS!  It is beautiful and so much more hands on.

Is any other parent going OH there is no fence behind them.  That's right folks, you have to have your kids about you.  No goofing around.

This one has a fence so this guy was safe.

One lady complimented Ella on her goggles, they are fancy and in this case totally practical.

So as I am walking up these stairs I am questioning how safe can this really be?  Would we do it again, in a heartbeat, but next time we would pack a picnic and make a day of it.

So even though it was a little hot and sticky out, kids always find a way to make it fun.  Like counting all the stairs as we climb to the top (there was 48), or walking on the huge stones that line the roadway.  There is always kids work to be done.

Great Wolf staff, embarrassing the Hubster as they sing Happy Birthday!

  She is howling, hair doesn't matter at a time like this.

 So in the words of Great Wolf Lodge, have a great wolf day. HOOWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLL!!!!

Just hanging out!

So today was one of those days that it was just fun to hang out in the sun with the kids at the park. 

Popsicles were enjoyed while in a daze.

 Fire poles were slid down, and monkey bars conquered.

Shade was found, and after all that the kids were invited into a neighbours pool to cool off.  Boy was it cool.  I am thankful for these simple days. 

A daddy and his girl, being crafty

Sometimes, it is easier as a parent to connect with a child who is most like you.  For example, Max loves to play computer games, and Ella likes to craft.    For me being crafty is a no brainer, but I do have to concentrate to keep up with Max in a video game.

Well one rainy day (I know which one, since we have had so many) I asked Craig to paint a background with Ella and she and I would make the owls together.  Well I think they both had a great time.

The background is just a misc. piece of cardboard we had hanging around.

  The owls were made out of : paper towel tubes, paint, googly eyes, and fabric for the wings.

Didn't the Hubster do a great job on the background.  I love him for it.

I know the orange owl looks kind of scary, but just imagine him with two eyes. Or that he is winking at you.

Ella just doesn't ever feel a piece is done unless there is something sparkly on it.  We are missing one of our owls as it was a family of four.  That owl has flown the coupe, all the way to Ottawa to send well wishes.

Thank you Craigger, for taking the time to make memories with Ella that she can appreciate. The craft idea is not mine, I saw it at http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2011/01/top-10-posts-of-2010-1.html

She has such easy, doable crafts that I know we will use some more ideas soon.

Good deeds

We have had for a while the good deeds chart in our house.  It is basically a behaviour chart.  I originally saw the idea on a blog. http://kimboscrafts.blogspot.com/2010/05/3-more-days.html.  I have to agree with her, when you tell my children they are going to move down a level there is a little pleading fest.  "No Mom please! No Please I will be good".

I knew that Kung Fu Panda 2 was coming out so they have been working towards getting 20 good deeds tokens to go and see the movie.  Well the day arose after much counting that we reached 20.  Although I am not positive that this little girl didn't add one, two, or ten while Momma wasn't looking.

We did one final count and cashed in our tokens.  With excitement in the air and popcorn and drinks in our laps we settled in to enjoy the show.  For this day, I pretended a budget wasn't part of our equation.  Although Ella had a hard time keeping her butt in the seat they enjoyed their highly anticipated reward.   

The good news is that Max asked "what are we going to work towards now Mom?" I am excited that the system is working now Momma just needs to find a cheaper or free reward.

The writing is on the wall..............

The chalkboard wall ofcourse.  The chalk board paint stinks to high heaven.  For those of you who like the smell of magic marker than have at it.  I probably need another coat, but I was doing this project with stuff I already had on hand.  The problem with me is that I have lots of great ideas, and purchase things for those ideas, but they never seem to get done.

Onwards, that is the new mission of the Laverty house.  To live with less stuff, to try and create less waste, to be on a budget.  I know that last one seems obvious but let's just say the Hubster and I have always been the buy now pay later mentality.  I digress, back to the chalk board.



This space is pretty boring and underutilized.



Yes I like it, but the chalk is not good enough.







           I bought some chalkboard markers and they are perfect.         

So chalkboard is done big fat check. Yahoo!  Now I need to hem some pants for my growing little man.


Working the weekend away, and loving it.

So the long weekend is upon us, yahoo.  Yesterday was spent clearing out weeds and dead plant life.  I planted some new ones, and then came inside.  While I was gardening Craig was helping Ella do this.

This is her first go..............................

 This is how it ended.......................

Those are tears and major disappointment.  Don't give up yet bean Just keep trying, keep trying never give up.  That was sung in my YO GABBA GABBA voice.  If you are missing the reference, don't fret it is an annoying kids show.
So now with the training wheels off I am left to wonder should we just put them back on for a while.  I guess it is kind of like diapers vs potty training.  It is just easier for me to have her have them on. Ella is like someone else who will remain nameless.  She doesn't like if she can't do something with relative ease.  For now we will stick it out, there is always tomorrow.

Today I spray painted frames BRIGHT YELLOW.  It is perhaps not the colouring I was aiming for, and the spray paint job is not perfect, but I love the intended function of it all.  Max and Ella's gallery.

Oh ya, just keeping it real that is dirty laundry on the floor, but oh so close to the bin.  To the left is Max's room, can you tell where some of these dirty clothes came from???

The pictures are just held in place with the clips so that the artwork can be changed as often as their clothes.  The words on Ella's picture say "I want to be a lion when I grow up".  Ella has informed me that the daycare teacher didn't know what she was saying.  Ella said "I want to be a ballerina teacher when I grow up".  Max saw the artwork and offered this comment "she looks scary".  I think it is the giant fingers, but not sure.

I hope to finish the chalkboard wall tomorrow, I will let you know how it turns out.