I miss some time and fall behind again......

I really want to be better at not falling behind on this but just never seem to succeed......

It's hard to believe that it is almost the end of July. I have been begging and begging for September to come and now realize that August will be full of getting ready for back to school and of course a camping trip to Keji. So July has been long and hot.......it's hard to entertain the kids and do the household duties that never get finished. We have managed to squeeze in a little fun here and there and hope to have a little more next month. We did a last minute road trip down to Bridgewater 2 Sundays ago (the 20th) to visit Uncle Mike and Auntie Keah. We went to church with them where we got to see some other friends and then headed back to their house for a visit and a yummy supper of fajitas and cheesecake. Keah's parents came over to eat with us and they are always fun company......Georgia even provided a table dance during dessert. After dinner we popped into Irene and Brian Hirtle's for a quickie visit and it's always fantastic catching up with them. On the way out Brian helped call the cows in and the kids got a super close visit. Georgia was beyond excited to get so close. We are hoping that on our way home from camping that they new baby calf will be around for us to meet!!!! The drive home was a wet one but the kids were glad for a fun road trip.....thanks for having us guys!!!

She loved going up and down the stairs......

Making the fajitas......I brought cheesecake..

Wouldn't be a visit without some video games

Jake giving out some kisses....

Here they come......

Holding on tight but moving on in......

Watching Georgia closely......

This is the Mama who is having a baby.......

So we really haven't done too much since our little excursion to the south shore. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have been having fun trying to figure out my camera and took some fun shots of the flowers out front. Jeff planted them years ago and every year we get more and more. They are so beautiful and missed when winter rolls around........

Friday brought the rain again and Jeff got to stay home......the kids really wanted to go to the Maritime Museum so off we went on a little field trip. They don't love the looking and reading.....they just like to look and couldn't wait to go out on the real ship. The sun managed to come out and we had a fun time together!!!

They had a few boats here.....lol

Atleast someone would look at the camera

Relaxing with some friends.....

Taking a peek.....

Hanging out by the nets.....

The weekend rolled around again and brought another birthday to our house......Jeff's 33rd to be exact. We hit Opa on Saturday night and had amazing meals........he had the special of the day which was a stuffed pork tenderloin and I had lamb souvalki.......yummy!!! Our appetizers to start were amazing and dessert came with a candle and lots of cream. It's not the cheapest place to eat but you get your moneys worth for sure!!! Sunday we started the day with a simple breakfast in bed and some presents. The kids were excited to open the "Super Soakers" and insisted on trying them out before church. After church Jeff's parents came over for a BBQ and some yummy birthday trifle. My mom stopped in later for some birthday hellos and trifle too!!! Later we settled in for the car race and were joined by Darren and Lesley. Lesley thought we should ring in Jeff's birthday with a late night snack of ribs that Jeff prepared up that afternoon when she dropped them off. They turned out quite yummy!!! Job well done birthday boy!! Any to put the icing on the cake Jimmie Johnson won the Brickyard 400.....LOVE seeing my guy win!!

Feta and roasted red peppers whipped with

really awesome bread to dip........

This was huge.......Jeff really loved it!!

My lamb souvalki........delicious!!!

The most amazing dessert......

He got the BIG super soaker and some INDY

This kid loves the camera......

Ready.......set......

I think she's aiming at someone else here...

Watering the plants....

Blowing out the candles...

Jacob was dying to touch that fruit.....

Wouldn't be race day without the bib......

Yummy BBQ ribs.....

I'm now signing off for the night.....this has taken forever no thanks to all the pictures....a bit more to update on but maybe that will motivate me to do it sooner........I guess I'll know who made it this far by the comments.......hope it hasn't made you too hungry.......

Finally......

An exciting phone call came my way last night around 11p.m.......Karen called to let me know that Josh and Julia Blakeney had FINALLY had their baby. I was so happy for them, especially Julia because I know how it feels to go late........and how yucky you feel in the HOT weather. Welcome to the world Miss Lyla Jae Blakeney......she tipped the scales at 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. No pictures to put with this but I'm sure once Mommy is home she will be all over the internet. Congrats guys......can't wait to meet her!!!!

Georgia walking.......

We have been making some progress.....amazing what she'll do for some grapes!!!! Sorry about the blurriness but I was taping this on my Blackberry......it sure comes in handy!!!!

Babies Galore.......

It has been a busy couple of days in my family......and exciting ones at that. I have 2 cousins that were both due within 2 days of each other with their babies. Brian and Melissa welcomed Charlotte Bina Haas into the world late Thursday night......she was 4 days early and tipped the scales at 8 lbs 5 oz. I then got the phone call about 30 minutes ago from my cousin Suzie in Texas telling me of the early morning excitement in Texas as the fast arrival of Benjamin Thomas Irwin......he too was 4 days early and tipped the scales at 8 lbs 4 oz. Poor Suzie didn't get the epidural this time as he came way too fast........hopefully she'll forget that feeling quickly!!! She sounded fabulous though and I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy. I'm sure her kids will be excited to wake up this morning and find a family friend there.......Sam was dying for his brother to come!!! I'm putting a picture on the bottom of Brian, Elise and Charlotte. I love the look on Elise's face in this picture.......I hope when they are older she is still as excited to have a little sister!!! Congrats to you both........ I will post pictures of Benjamin when I get some......

A very excited big sister checking out baby Charlotte!!

Audrey & Sam excited to visit Mommy and Benjamin!!!

Alot of catching up to do.........sit down for this one.....

So I have alot of catching up to do when it comes to my blog. I really didn't think it would be so bad in letting it go for 16 days but apparently I was wrong.........lots has been going on and lots hasn't.....I'm ready for school to go back in. I'm just not loving the whole entertaining aspect of summer vacation. It's great when we have things to do and places to go but the housework doesn't take a summer vacation so we have to stay home sometimes to do that as well.



So we are going to back track a little here......all the way back to June......first things first is to give my HUGE SHOUTOUT to my friend LESLEY who always looks out for me. She was lucky enough to score a trip to Miami to visit her sister. A trip to the states always means some shopping and Lesley knows how to shop. I sent her with my usual Bath & Body Works list (not knowing I'd be going soon) and had her on the hunt. Anyone who has ever tried the kids soap knows how awesome it is.......especially the Bananarama Ding Dong BUT is is near impossible to find. Since Jeff brought me home some from North Carolina last year I have always had people on the hunt when on vacation. Mom & Dad had managed to get Groovy Grape in the past but no banana:( Lesley didn't fail me........at first she said they didn't have any but in her multiple trips to B&B she was always on the lookout.........and BINGO she got me the last 4 they had in the store and it only cost $2 a piece......... YAHOO!!!!!! While I was away I went to 5 different ones and had no luck........I have to make this stuff last now.....who knows when I will get it again. Now back to the soap, not only did she hook me up with some sweet stuff but when her luggage was overweight she made sure my stuff all stayed in the suitcase.........what a gal. I'm still crossing my fingers and toes for her that her sister will hurry up and mail the rest of her stuff home. Thanks friend......you rock!!!!


All of my banana soap......it smells so awesome!!!!!


The other soap she got me......no pics of the wallflowers......

So summer vacation is here........that means that yet another school year has ended. We had an awesome year at George Bissett again this year and had fantastic teachers!!! We had originally planned to skip off the last day of school as that was departure day for our last minute getaway to the states. It didn't happen.......I got a phone call from the school telling me that Jessica was receiving a Citizenship award at the assembly that day. She was the only one in her class to receive the award so it was pretty special. We got some great pictures with our teachers and Sarah got one with her bestest buddy Sydney and we had some teary goodbyes as Jessica's teacher accepted a new job and won't be back at the school next year. We were quite saddened as she was amazing and we were looking forward to Sarah having that same experience. Things never workout the way you think and I'm sure Sarah will still have a great year in September and her new teacher will be great. Jessica is getting Mr Coolen for Grade 2 and is super excited!!! She had all A's on her report card and Sarah had a fantastic report too....she doesn't get letter grades until next year. They both did awesome and we are super proud of them both!!





We will miss Mr MacPherson in the fall too......he retired!
He was an AWESOME principal!!!!


Sarah and Mrs Gillis......


Sydney and Sarah......they are the best of friends!


We loved Mrs Zwicker.....good luck at your new job!!!!



Jessica receiving her award......


Another year done........onto Grade One and Two in the Fall

After school was over we literally hopped in the van and headed for the states. A week prior my Dad had mentioned maybe going down so I said to Jeff that we should tag along and hit the NASCAR races in New Hampshire that weekend.......so with some last minute hustle and bustle planning we pulled it off. We drove to Bangor the first night.....had some yummy supper at The Olive Garden and then Jeff and I did a little bit of looking around at the stores. The next day we started to head towards Massachusetts with some shopping in Freeport along the way. I got to hit Bath and Body Works and LOVED it!!!! Stocked up as they had smoking deals on and got some things for some friends too!!! I had fun spending other peoples money. After checking out LL Bean and some other stores we headed for out hotel. Being a last minute trip it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a hotel in New Hampshire but it was only an hour drive from the hotel to the race track so it wasn't too bad. That night my sweet Mom watched the kids as we hit some more shopping in NH.......it was maybe a 20 minute drive.......after going to the malls there Jeff, Dad and I went to Chilis.........yummy!!!! The next morning it was an early one for us as we headed off to the races and my parents took the kids to Vermont to visit a family friend. I won't bore you with the details of race day but what an awesome time!!!! I had goosebumps for the first 3 laps.....we had great seats........took amazing pictures.......see my facebook and I almost saw my boy Jimmie pull off the win.........unfortunately we had severe thunder and hail move in with 16 laps to go and the race got called. We then spent 3 hours trying to leave the track but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a blast and I'm so glad that Jeff and I got to do it. We are hoping to get back to Charlotte next year for a race as Jeff really enjoyed it down there.......hopefully we'll be able to pull it off. We got some great race souvenirs......all the kids got their favorite drivers shirts and we got Georgia a Kyle Busch bib......no one likes him but he is on fire this season with 7 wins!!!! She's feisty so we thought it was a good choice!!! The next day we did more outlet shopping and ended back in Maine........sleeping in Bangor and getting up the next morning and doing more shopping. Jeff ended up coming home with a kayak but he has sold it all ready and made a great profit. It was long driving the first and last day, but we did it, with a few pee stops on the side of the road and came home with some great stories. We got to see our friends the McKims in New Brunswick on the way home and it was a blast. The kids had a great time together. Hopefully we'll get to see them once more this summer....I can't thank my parents enough for agreeing to do this crazy trip. They were so great at helping with the kids and really let us relax a bit!!! Thanks for giving me a fun summer vacation........


The back of Jake's Jimmie Johnson shirt......he love it!!


One of these things is not like the others.........poor Georgia!



They need one in NS already......my stuff plus 3 others.....



Kyle drives the #18 M&M's car.....she wears this on race day



I don't know who needed to stop for pee breaks the most??


I have a ton of race pictures and more trip ones but can't post them all.....check out my facebook to see more!!!! So we have been home from the trip now for about 2 weeks and I think that I am finally unpacked......how I hate packing but hate the unpacking more!!! We haven't done too much since being home. We took the kids to see "Wall-E" and LOVED it.....we will buy it for sure and then Jeff and I went out with Darren, Lesley, Ronnie and Denise to see "Get Smart". We really liked it too!!! We have a long list of movies we want to see this summer and might actually pull off a few more and we have some great coupons to use. This past weekend we went to my Uncle Jack's cottage for a family BBQ. The kids couldn't wait to get into the pool and I thought we would never get them out. We had a fantastic time seeing everyone and left with super full bellies. Can't wait till we get to do it again!!!!



Georgia was very anxious to get in the pool....


Elise and Brian......she loved being in the pool too!!!!!


Sarah.........love this shot......Dad was in charge of pictures!!


Melissa looking FANTASTIC for being 9 months pregnant!!!!!


Mom and Aunt Julie hanging out with Georgia.......


Keah showed up with an awesome new haircut.......





Uncle Mike brought the party in the pool......


All the yummy salads.....my burger couldn't fit on the plate


Awesome dessert that Aunt Julie made.........so YUMMY!!


Someone loved the watermelon.......



Uncle Jack and Uncle Glenn being big kids!!!

So I'm done....all caught up.......I've been in bed all day as I was a little under the weather. I'm going to end this and head back there as tomorrow is busy with eye appointments and soccer. I'll be back sooner next time.........