A night with the Gaskins.....

So last night was a highlight of the summer for me. Amy and Edwin are in town visiting and it seems that we always have a hard time getting together to do anything and somehow last night all the stars aligned and we were able to get out, just the 4 of us to enjoy a movie. We are lucky to have awesome grandparents that will watch all of our kids......especially mine since we are leaving them again tonight to celebrate Jeff's birthday. It is always fun to catch up and visit and I just wish that we were able to do it more. I have so many fun memories of Amy and I doing crazy things so I love when we get to hang out. I'm hoping that maybe we'll figure out an easy way to chat or stay in touch more as we really stink at it........we are both busy mom's of 9 between us and I just found out that she is the Primary President in her ward too......maybe she has some great tips for me :)

Thanks again guys for a fun night.....wish it could have lasted longer. Transformers 3 was enjoyable and I promise we will make it back your way for a visit......maybe we can meet in Maine sometime to play.....the kids would LOVE it!!!!!

Sorry for the quality of the picture....it was rainy and on my phone....I have a few more funny ones to come.....

A new smile....

I don't have too much to post lately.....summer has been full of some ups and downs and we just haven't gone to far. On Thursday though it was an EXCITING morning at our house as Jacob has been waiting for his front tooth to fall out. I had checked it and didn't think it was going anywhere yet but I told him to get Jeff to wiggle it. Jeff pushed the way that was super loose and then when pushing back the other way he broke whatever was holding it in......with one quick tug it was out......Jacob was thrilled and was even more excited when the Tooth Fairy left behind a toonie. Trying to get a picture was tricky......as he smiles so big the hole gets hidden. Miss Georgia wanted in on the photo action so she is at the bottom of the post.

Partners in Crime......

I'm trying to be better at uploading pictures of things that we have been up to or things that have been going.....if not for me but for Laura who is on the other side of the country and hopefully missing these little rug rats. I wanted to get some last day of school pictures uploaded and left Cooper in the company of Dora. This would have been fine but big sister Georgia had other plans.....into my stampin' markers they got and they went to town. The best part was that Georgia tried to blame Cooper for most of it forgetting that he can't draw little people yet and she was covered in marker as well. Luckily most of it came off completely.....

Swimming with friends.....

Our kids are lucky enough to have some really great friends that have siblings the same age. Kaitlyn and Michael live one street over from us and if our kids aren't home you can usually find them there. The weather has been hot so their Dad has got the pool set back up for the summer. The day after Canada Day I headed over with all the kids for an afternoon of swimming. I was in the pool for a little bit but seeing as it had only been up for a day the water still wasn't too warm. It was was fun afternoon and I think Georgia had the most fun of them all......I didn't think I was going to get her out of the water. While we were in Disney she got comfortable swimming in a life jacket on her own so swimming has taken on a whole new meaning of fun for her. Hopefully the sun will stay out this summer and we'll get some more pool days in!!!

Canada Day 2011

It was another beautiful Canada Day this year. We got up and hit the strawberry fields early and Nanny Nelson came with us. When we got to the fields we also ran into Poppy O as he had gone picking with Nanny Logan. We picked 56+ quarts in about 90 minutes and they are the best berries we've had over the last few years. Our freezer is full and I can't wait to have lots of yummy smoothies throughout the winter. We stopped on the way home for our usual McDonalds.....the kids always love that perk from all the hard work.

Later that day we had Nanny and Poppy Nelson over for a BBQ and we then hit the fireworks in downtown Dartmouth. All in all is was a fun day and night celebrating the great country that we are proud to live in!!!

Where to begin......last day of school....June 30th....

The kids have finished another great year of school and they all passed with EXCELLENT report cards. They all are moving on to their respective grades but 2 of them will be in splits next year so we are curious to see who they get for teachers and if Jacob gets put in the 1/2 or 2/3 split. I'm rooting for the 2/3 split as he did really well in Grade 1 and needs some challenges next year.

We were very proud of Jessica who received an academic award for Science. She was surprised and very excited to receive a plaque with her name on it. I'm sure it will challenge her to work hard next year so she earns another one.

We have the next 2 months off to do lots of fun things. I recently made my first blog book and had to back track all the things I missed recording so hopefully I can keep my blog current for the rest of the year......wish me luck!!!

Homemade caramel corn for the teachers....

A cute thank you note.....

Jessica with her award and the big plaque that will hang in the hall

Jessica and her buddy Kaitlyn with their awards.....

Jacob and his Grade 1 teacher Ms. MacDougall

Jessica and Mr Ashley.....we are going to MISS him....

Sarah and her grade 3 teacher Mrs. Scott......we LOVE her.....rooting Jessica gets her for 5/6