We got chicks!

Spring is here! Yay!
I'm so excited, this week we got our first chicks! These little gals are going to be our egg layers. They are so fluffy and cute! They are a heritage blend and some are possibly roosters so we'll have to see in a few weeks what we have. We started with 10 and so far (fingers crossed!) we haven't lost any. Their names I believe are, Alvin, Simon and Theodore (the ones with the stripes on their backs and look like chipmunks ;-) Miss Henny-penny, Furby, Peckles, Shadow, Snugglebug and.....I can't remember the last two, I'll have to ask the kids when they get home from school :-)

My little greenhouse is all jammed full of little seedlings and that makes me soooo happy! 

 Hope your weekend is sunny and springy!

May Travels

Way back in May our family did some travels and we spent about a week on beautiful Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada (I can't believe it has taken almost a month to post about this but hey that's life) I'll warn you though, this post is going to be pretty photo heavy :)

So, in order to get to Vancouver Island you need to either fly or take a ferry and in this case we took one of the ferry's. On our trip over we had gorgeous weather, but unfortunately didn't see much marine life (we saw one sea lion, very far in the distance)

We were visiting the area of Parksville and Qualicum and we had such a great time! We took the kids for their first time mini-golfing and we all had a blast (so much so that the kids kept asking if we could go back every day!)

Penticton Farmers Market

Good morning to you! So I've been sharing a lot about my hubby and I's little vacation last week, and today I'm sharing a bunch of photos of my Saturday morning at the Penticton Farmers Market. Let me tell you, I was impressed! It was awesome! So colorful and fun, lots and lots of vendors of all sorts of things like scarves,

Our Little Getaway Part 2 {The Wineries}

    As I mentioned yesterday, one of the days we were away, I got to go on a wine tour of the Naramata Bench, and I have to say, it was fabulous! Now, I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but I sure had fun anyways :) I went with a bunch of other wives from the firefighter training weekend and I didn't know anyone else there, but it was nice and I got to meet new people, try new things, see new places. I also had a blast taking pictures (both with my iPhone and my good camera) of everything, so if you feel up to it, scroll down as I give a little picture tour of some of the wineries we visited. In all, we visited eight out of the twenty-four listed on the Naramata Bench Winery website and one other that is not which is called Ruby Blues. We visited La Frenz,  D'Angelo Estate, Hillside Winery and Bistro, Laughing Stock Vineyards, Black Widow Winery, Lake Breeze, Elephant Island, and finally 3 Mile Estate. Whew! That's a lot of wine! And a lot of grapevines! Go grab a cup o'coffee or tea (or maybe even wine!) and get ready for some eye candy   :)

The first one we went to was La Frenz and this is the entrance to the tasting room (I knew from this point on it was going to be a good day ;) Rustic pergola, wine barrels and acres of grapevines...

Our Little Getaway

         First of all I want to apologise again for another impromptu blogging hiatus, life has been BUSY! Of course it's that time of year, end of school, field trips galore, lots of house hunting etc etc etc. But, one thing hubby and I have been lucky to do this past week, was enjoy an (almost) week long getaway. On the 15th Pat and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary and it just so happened that last week was a B.C Fire Training Officers Association Conference in Penticton B.C. So, as my hubby is the training officer for his department, we got to go :) And it was fabulous! Although hubby was busy every day with training courses, I had a lovely time just soaking up the peace and quiet (we left the kids at home in the capable hands of their Gramma Sue during the week and Gramma Dusty for the weekend) and got to go on a lovely wine tour of the Naramata Bench with some very nice ladies and a couple handsome guys to drive us around. Tomorrow I will share with you a more in depth tour of some of the wineries we visited, so stay tuned!

We were pretty surprised when we opened our room and saw this loveliness, king size bed, fireplace, jacuzzi tub, it was fantastic! (sorry, bad lighting + iPhone = grainy photo)

At the far end of the room was some french doors that led out to a private patio and a central courtyard with a heated pool, hot tub, kid's playground, and pub.

 I should probably mention that my hubby and I haven't gone away together for more than one night since before our kids were born, and that's 10 1/2 years ago people! Even though Pat had his courses, we still got a bit of time to spend together, we went to see Ironman 3D (the closest theatre to where we live is an hour away so this was a real treat to go to a movie in a movie theatre!) As my first official 3D movie experience, it was an awesome movie to see! And even just having time to talk without a million interruptions  was heavenly  (I'm sure many of you parents out there can relate!)   :)
 Tomorrow I'm planning to share my photos and experiences of the winery tour I went on and later this week  some Farmers Market yumminess, so stay tuned!

Happy Monday and have a great week!

P.S. Anyone looking for more information about the hotel we stayed at can check out their website HERE

Mom's Day

I hope all you mothers had a wonderful day yesterday. I know I did! We had a very busy weekend and so I'm not going to bore you with all of the details, but I did take a bunch of fun pictures that I wanted to share with you.
      These first few pics were taken with my phone and didn't upload as clear on here as they appear on my phone :)

Such a cool big rock!

This girls life...

Just a quick photo dump of life around here lately :)

A Visit to Vancouver

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 32! Ack! It's crazy how fast time flies by isn't it? I had a lovely day spent relaxing with my family as the previous few days were busy busy. My sister, my mom and I went to Vancouver (B.C.) for a couple of days as my sister had to have a surgery done there (she's doing great!). And though the reason we were there wasn't so great, we had a great time doing some touristy stuff despite that reason. We had to stay right downtown Vancouver for a night and two days and the first day we were there it was gorgeous! We decided to go down to Granville Island to see the sights (and get some dinner!) Here's my sister Kim at the market enjoying her gelato :) We had dinner in the Public Market and I can't even describe how amazing the food is, in fact just click on the link above and it'll take you to their website which explains it all way better than I ever could.

:)

An egg-cellent weekend!

Happy April everyone! I can't believe it is April already! 

We had some Easter fun over the weekend, we enjoyed colouring some Easter eggs,

A walk in the sunshine

It was so nice out today! So sunny and springy we had to go for a walk! Pat and I (and Stella!) went down to our local beach and enjoyed the sunshine, but it sure wasn't warm yet :) There was a brisk wind blowing and it was sure cold!

Are you wondering what happened to our deck progress?

    Yesterday as I was reading back over the last couple months of posts (which didn't take long as there are so few of them :)  I realized that I inadvertently left everyone hanging about the progress of our deck redo. So, I apologise for that and I'll tell you that what happened was this.
    We sold our house in April with the closing set for June 30th and part of our agreement with the buyers was that we would fix up our deck before they moved in ( you can read a bit more about all that HERE and HERE ) basically the deck was deemed unsafe by their inspector and as the buyers had two kids of their own and she was planning a daycare in the home a bad deck would be no good (even though we were told by our inspector when we bought the house that the deck was just fine ) Anyways, so began the journey of the deck redo. Everything was going well, permit acquired, contractor chosen, demolition day happened ,and we were off to a good start. Except we didn't plan for the weather to be the wettest, rainiest spring that blasted records set 30 yrs ago! Seriously, it was bad. Our local soccer fields were flooded so much, there were people canoeing on them, streams and rivers flooded over their banks, it was pretty bad.  




     So, what happened with our deck? Well it got put on hold of course until the weather cleared up and everything dried out a bit. By that time, we had moved out (during a downpour!) and the closing of our house finalized and the new owners moved in. Luckily the new owners were very understanding and were OK with the work finishing during our transition. But, I still haven't gotten a chance to go back and ask them if I could take "after" pictures. We've driven by and had a look and it turned out very nice indeed, we just wish we could have had a chance to enjoy the new deck for a couple days! :)
      So, there is the story of our deck. The highs, the lows, the crazy weather, thankfully this summer the weather has cooperated and we've had lots of nice hot sunny days!

So, how about you? Crazy weather? Projects that didn't quite pan out the way you had hoped? Having a good summer?

Baa baa black sheep......

Have you any wool? You sure do and you are super cute too! :)

 Yesterday, we went and visited Grandma Dusty and Tim's farm again! Every time we go there, there are new little treasures to get acquainted with :) I can't believe it has already been two months ago since the last time we visited when first saw the baby lambs! (I do realize that saying baby lambs is redundant, but I just can't help myself :) They are getting so big! Also, since Grandma helps a friend with taking care of lambs rejected by their mothers, her lambs have changed and now she has a few black ones, last time they were all white ones. But, black or white, I think they are all super cute, and so do my kids.

Grandma has also acquired some miniature donkeys! Aren't they cute? The smallest one is called Isabella (or Izzy for short) and she is only two months old. Pictures just don't do these guys justice, but they are so cute and charming in person.

The kids sure had a blast getting reacquainted (they met once before, but it was mine and Pats first time meeting them)

 The kids (and I) were thrilled to meet Grandmas newest chicks and another new addition, ducklings!

Sooo cute! I have to admit that although I think the chicks are cute, I fell hard for the ducklings :) Have to add ducklings to my list of animals for our eventual farm (still working on that, went to look at a few places yesterday!) Here is Grandma holding one of the ducklings...

and of course the kids had a turn holding the chicks and ducklings :)

I just love Gabes' expression, he is cuter than any baby animal, by far :) He was also so nice and gentle and calm while holding them, a real natural.

Gabe also enjoyed helping Grandma herd all the animals back in their pens for the night :) "Follow me donkeys, follow me"  

We sure enjoyed our day on the farm and the kids are sure looking forward to summer break so they can sleep over at Grandma and Tim's place for a whole week! :) Pat and I had a quick, but very enjoyable visit and I know for me it totally inspired me and made me extra committed to finding our "perfect" place to have our own farm.

Thanks again, Grandma Dusty and Tim!

Anyone else visited any farms lately? Have your own farm and enjoying the spring influx of baby animals?

Have a great week!

8 happy years (so far!)

As you may have guessed, today is Pat and I's anniversary. Eight whole years! 

A lot has happened in those eight years, 2 kids (our first was born before we married) 4 1/2 moves (we're smack dab in the middle of one now!) 2 different cities, 4 different vehicles, got a puppy, lost a cat, and a partridge in a pear tree. Just kidding about that last one :)

Happy Anniversary darlin'! Thanks for being a wonderful husband and father, my best friend and lover (hey that rhymes sorta). I can't wait to see how happy the next eight years are going to be.

I love you.

:)

I feel loved :)

Yesterday I had a lovely day with my family. I was greeted with a plethora of lovely handmade gifts from my sweet little kidlets :)

Nyla made this sweet card,

and a few paintings that she made at school. The one below is one called "friends come in all colours" or something like that....

and this one is a pastel and watercolour of some waterlilies. I love the colours in this one, definitely one of my favorites!

Cadence painted this beautiful flowerpot and then planted the flower/plant inside :)

She also made a whole whack of cards and some of my favorites are on the right side of the picture below. The one on the left is Gabe's sweet card which Nyla helped him with. She drew what he asked and then he coloured it all in. Isn't it sweet? I loved it! 

We were blessed with a gorgeous day! A beautiful cloudless blue sky and nice and warm :)

So gorgeous that the grass is growing like crazy :) So, me and my trusty lawnmower set out to make the grass pretty. I know it sounds crazy, but I really like mowing the lawn! It is so nice to know I can make a nice pattern in the grass and it won't get upset or ruined right away. When you do dishes or laundry you know that the cycle is going to start again almost immediately, but mowing lasts about a week :) 

Hard to see, but there are pretty lines in the grass :)

We all spent the day outside, had a big bonfire (doesn't look like it here, but that fire is super hot! We had flames about 10 feet high for a bit too :) and roasted hot dogs and smokies.

 The kids had a blast building a fort in the forest and swinging and playing on the trampoline with the neighbour boy.

Whee! Go Cady :)

So, did you have a good weekend? And a good mothers day? Have you roasted anything over a bonfire lately?  Do you like mowing the lawn like I do, or do you prefer the "man of the house" to do it instead?
Have a great week!

Happy Mother's Day!

                                          (source)


A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving


Happy Mothers Day to all my mothers and to all mothers everywhere!

A Busy Weekend

Hi everyone, did you have a good weekend? We did, albeit a busy one! On Saturday, all three kids had soccer games, my hubby had to work, and I had to do some volunteer time for Cadence's gymnastics club for a competition that was being hosted there. Thank goodness my mom was willing to help out! (Thanks mom!) My mom and sister took the kids to their soccer games in the morning, and then the kids and I went over to her house to help out with a greenhouse they are building. Since we (hubby and I) aren't sure yet where we will be living come July (hmmm gotta get on that!) my mom and her partner Al generously offered us some of their garden and greenhouse space to use since we don't know if we will have a garden space and by the time we move it'll be too late to plant some things. Whew, so that was Saturday, then on Sunday, Cadence had her part of the competition to go to. 

Here she is receiving a medal (all the participants of this age group got a medal of participation) and certificate.   

(so sorry the pictures are really blurry, it is really hard to take pictures in their gym and I am definitely no expert photographer!)

Cady did really really well and the judges and her coaches all commented that she had excellent form. She especially excelled at her vault and her beam routines :)

Here she is mid-dismount :)

 All in all it was a good weekend, busy, but good. I better get used to the busy as the next couple of months are insane. We are moving, the kids all have soccer, Cady has her gymnastics, Nyla is doing a writing course, we are going to an extra special birthday party 8 hours drive away (more on that to come), rebuilding a deck, and Mine and Pats anniversary is in 8 days. Whew! I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but as you can see we're going to be busy!

How about you, did you have a good weekend? Is this spring promising to be a busy one? Any extra special birthdays coming up?

Have a good week!

Demolition Day

Whew it's done! Yesterday we lucked out with some perfect weather and some wonderful friends and family to help us demo the deck we have to redo before we move. I first mentioned it last week HERE that we had hoped to get most of the demo-ing done this weekend, and thankfully the stars aligned and we were off!

So first off, I'll share a couple before pics of what our deck looked like. This first one is facing our front yard and driveway,

And this next one is taken from the driveway, looking up. As you can see, there is a carport underneath, and you can sort of see that wall on the right how the concrete is leaning in, well that is not a good thing and that is one of the major reasons why this had to be redone. There is also some of the wood that is starting to rot through as well.

You can see in this picture below where the hubby started a bit of the demo last week. The wall underneath was covered in plywood and those two squares (rectangles?) had windows in them. We might change this set-up a bit, but we still have to discuss with the contractor.

Also, notice how the concrete is sloped? Apparently that is not the proper way to build a concrete retaining wall!? From what we gather, it is much better (and easier) to have the wall come down in steps and 90 degree angles to make it easier to build on. We figure whoever built this was a bit of an amateur :)

Progress! The railings are down...

You can see a little better in the picture above how much the wall on the right is leaning. Then, we (and by we, I mean the hubby and the other four big, strong men who generously gave their Sunday to help us out!) started prying off the top layer of decking etc etc.

(Hubby and his dad, aka Grandpa working together)

I enjoyed watching this big strong man at work ;) I think he was the cutest of them all :)

Gabe was right in there as much as he could be (and as much as mommy and daddy would let him :)

Then came the rest of the deck, piece by piece...

The guys sure seemed to enjoy breaking out the tools, especially ones that made lots of  noise :)

 We are very lucky to have friends with some big machinery at their disposal to help us with the really big heavy stuff (thanks Al!) and Gabe had a grin on his face the whole day as he got to go for a ride in it :)

Then the boys had to show off their muscles for awhile :) My mom and I hauled a bunch of that wood out of the way (had a nice picture of you with the wheelbarrow on here mom, but I didn't think you would appreciate it :)

We were trying really hard to not break or crack the concrete floor as it was fine and we didn't want to replace it, so Al did a great job with the backhoe of being very careful and delicate (or as delicate as one can be with a backhoe :) He did a fantastic job and I'm please to say that we shouldn't have to replace the concrete floor.

Next, we decided to break up the concrete the old fashioned way (with sledgehammers) and haul it away in a couple pick up trucks. I'm not exactly sure whose idea that was, but it was sure a lot of hard work and heavy lifting!

 

What started out like this...

Ended up like this....

And demolition is done! 

It was a long day, but I can't believe we got it all done. We never could have done it if it weren't for some very special people in our lives. So, thank you again, Mom and Al, Dennis, Al F, Kevin, Sheldon, Sam, Nora and Griffin. We owe you big time!

Once again, before...

and (8 hours) after...

Feel free to ask any questions and have a great week!