Fall....Cakes....Marriage....Children

My days are flying by. In an effort to minimize daycare for my in-laws (well, Joanne namely), I am now working Monday to Friday. Brooklyn is in school full-time (grade 1) and my boss is so flexible that we've changed my schedule to accommodate that. So, I now finish work at 2:21 (I know....long story....) each day. The days wing by me and in fact I didn't even mind working my first Friday as it came so fast.

And we still have cakes coming out of our ears for this Cake Decorating Course. There will be even more as I've decided to sign up for the second one. Although Darrell thinks I might be the teacher's pet or perhaps driving the other people nuts because I'm always finished early and end up leaving 30 minutes before anyone else!



Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary. 14 years!!! I know, crazy how time flies isn't it? Darrell bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, really beautiful. I'll try to post a pic at the end of this post. For our anniversary dinner we had Cheeseburgers, french fries and caesar salad. Nice - don't you think? We're actually going out later this week to celebrate it (see cake course above) as I was out last night due to the busyness of our Fall.

I must confess, Fall is not my favourite time of year. I love summer. And yes, I know I've already complained about making school lunches but it's just one of the reasons why my summers are so much easier. No taxi services are required to soccer, dance, cross-country meets etc. Having said all of that, I had the joy of watching Zachary in his first cross-country race on Saturday and I have to say, highly enjoyable. He did not disgrace himself in the least but he was a little ticked he wasn't in the top-20 as only those boys got a ribbon! It was a race between all of the private schools, and the funny part was that when he crossed the finish line, he didn't look all that tuckered out. We asked if he tried his best and his response was 'yeah, kind of'.

Actually, there is my segway into this week's funniest Zachary moment. Conversation in the minivan on the way to school:

Me: Brooklyn, did you meet any new people at dance yesterday? Or introduce yourself to anyone new?
Brooklyn: No, I don't like doing that.
Me: Why not?
Brooklyn: I just don't like it (nervous perhaps??)
Zachary: You should just do what I do when I see someone new.
Me: What's that Zachary?
Zachary: I trip them.
Me: What!? Why?
Zachary: Because then you have to go over to apologize to them, and you can say hello at the same time. Works every time!
Me (in fits of hysterics!): But what if they fell down and hurt themself?
Zachary: Well at least you'd know you got their attention!

My son - the master of Social Interaction :)

Weekend Update

We had a blast of a weekend. We picked up Kelly from work, caught the 5pm ferry, then drove to Kelowna to suprise my sister in her new house for her birthday weekend. The kids knocked on the door at 11pm - Anna answered with mouth wide open and ecstatic with the surprise. Then we all walked in the door - all except Kelly - and carried on laughing and crying in disbelief. As we were getting louder baby Jack awoke - at which point (and this was the best part) Kelly walks into the house and completely nonchalantly says "don't worry - I'll get him" and proceeds to go to the nursery. Anna just about lost it. It was great. Mike had arranged the whole thing as well as a birthday party at their friends place.

We had great weather - spent some time walking in Peachland, took the kids to the beach and Anna, Kelly & I visited Mission Hill & Quail's Gate wineries. Good times.

Also went a bit hog wild with chocolate cake................

AND - Darrell bought a Wii while we were in Kelowna. Never before had he seen one, played one or researched one. He'd only heard from Aaron how much fun theirs was, and from Brooklyn & I how much fun we had playing it at Jeni's. Let me tell you - if you try the boxing - prepare for soreness! Great workout.

Back to School and Class....for almost all of us....

I hate packing school lunches. My parents always taught me never to use the word hate. We always said "Really don't like" so as not to invoke the intense emotions brought on by the word Hate. But I don't care. I HATE PACKING SCHOOL LUNCHES. It's not that it takes very long to do. But it is one of those things that you put off because you don't enjoy, and at the back of your mind all evening you're telling yourself you need to get it done. Before you actually make school lunches, it is like you have a nag on your shoulder constantly reminding you you haven't done them yet. This is why I love pizza day at our school. Don't get me wrong - I would not willingly choose to give pizza to my children on a daily basis. However, our school offers alternating pizza and hot dog days on Thursdays for a nominal fee so Yes, I participate. It removes that nagging voice from the back of your mind, the one that prevents you from thoroughly enjoying that episode of ER or takes the pleasure out of an evening down at the mall.

Well, it's Wednesday night and we have made it through the first two days of school. Brooklyn is now in full-time and at the new PCS campus (old Montessori school). The new campus is very cute but I can't help feeling a little disappointed that it will now be 2 years before Zachary and Brooklyn are back at the same campus again. I always wanted an older brother growing up - I thought it would be cool on the school playground to be able to find him if ever I were in trouble or getting bullied. Brooklyn will, I guess, have to settle for taking care of her own business. Oh who are we kidding? Like that will be a problem......!

And I have taken to starting the Wilton Cake Decorating Course. I've wanted to do it for ages, actually signed up a year and a half ago but had to cancel out. So in light of the upcoming wedding cake, it seemed like a smart thing to do. It doesn't actually look like this course will be of any benefit bearing in mind the cake the bride wants for May, but it will at least give me the experience in certain decorating techniques that I always wanted to learn correctly. (And the bride is as of yet un-named in this blog, only because I wasn't sure how much is public knowledge....but if you read my comments I'm sure you can figure it out!)

Well my friends, 1am now and I really nee to head to bed. At least I can now that the ham and cheese sandwiches are all sealed and refrigerated.

Life thus far......

See? I told you I would be more consistent in blogging.

However, not much been going on here since the lake. Ahhh....the lake.....

We do have family in town from Kelowna however, Darrell's cousin and boys and aunt & uncle. So the five kids have been back and forth between our house and Clint and Joanne's house playing 24/7. So convenient this housing situation.

And Auntie Sherry's having everyone over for dinner tonight so I made a fruit flan. And shortbread......and cinnamon buns for the kids hike with Grandpa today.....yes, the baking is a bit of an obsession....

That's about it. Going up to Stenberg's cabin this Monday but this time unfortunately without Darrell as he can't get off work. Looks like it's going to rain so we'll take a movie. Still, it will be fun to just nestle in with friends before the onslaught of school starts. Ah yes, my Fall schedule. Looks like we have soccer Monday, Dance Tuesday, Choir Wednesday, Soccer Thursday, Soccer noon on Saturday and Dance 2pm on Saturday. Yep. Nuts.

Oh and last thing - picture of the trial cake as well as cupcakes Brooklyn & I made last week.

Ciao All.

Long time no blog........

Well, at the request of a friend I have taken the time to update the blog. It's true....I'm not sure anyone reads this anymore after the invasion of facebook. So, if I'm wrong, feel free to drop me a line and I'll make sure I'm more consistent in the world of blogdom.

I guess it's been a month since the last entry. Luke & Helena's wedding to be exact. Not had great weather since then here in Victoria I'm sad to say. Making a lot of people wish they had booked some time outside of Vic for the month of August. Trust me, we are some of those people!

But we have managed to fit in some friend-time sandwiched between more work on the fence at the front yard and ripping out bushes in the back yard. And a friend of mine has asked me to make her wedding cake so after a very rough 'trial cake' using a new recipe for rolled fondant, I decided to say Yes. I'm very excited about it actually, I love cake-making and have wishes to learn more about decorating than I already know so here is my chance. I'll keep you posted on how the prep goes.

Oh, and a big WELL DONE to Jacquelyn for running the IRONMAN today in Penticton! YES, I SAID IRONMAN! Can't wait to hear all about it Jac.

Last week was a really relaxing, albeit short, break for us. I took 2 days off work and the four of us went up to Horne Lake for two days with Jeni & Aaron at her parents cabin. It was awesome! Just what we all needed. Zachary was in his water-baby heaven and Brooklyn had a hoot with us all in the 3-person tube. We also had an interesting time trying to persuade B. that it was okay to pee in the lake since we had stopped the boat in the middle of it for a swim and no-one was in a hurry to go back. We had our initiation with ConeZone and also got to see the Horne Lake caves. Very interesting. But most of all it was just fun to hang out with friends and relax. As Jeni put it, operating with 'no schedule' is very therapeutic. Enjoy the pics. And Jeni - enjoy the music! (Remind you of a little dance-party perhaps???)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Luke & Helena's Wedding - July 21/07

Well, it was a beautiful wedding. The bride looked stunning and classic in a dress that few could pull off as well as Helena did. Luke looked delighted beyond belief, and the gorgeous little children provided extra entertainment. Above all else it was a very God-honouring ceremony. Following was a reception at the Empress Hotel and dancing for all. A very enjoyable evening spent with two people who are head over heels in love with each other.

Enjoy the video - it's much clearer on my computer than when it uploads unfortunately, but you get the idea.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Babys, Spa Day and Flowers

Well it's been a fun couple of days so far. I got to visit my friend Elizabeth and her new gorgeous baby Maya. Then yesterday Tracey had her baby ! Way to go Tracey! Can't wait to meet little Joshua.

Then yesterday I had a great girly evening with crazy Kelly. First we went to the Ocean Pointe Spa for a gorgeous scrub (if decided between the scrub and massage, choose the scrub - you'll still get the massage for the same price!) If you haven't been, it's glorious. Low beautiful music, candles and wonderful towels everywhere. Then we walked through some shops for a little girlie shopping, followed by dinner at a restaurant I'd never been to before - the Mint. Awesome! Last of all we got locked out of my house for a short while - babysitter fell asleep and couldn't hear us knocking or the telephone! (still love you Jonathan :)

Our house right now is a flower-lovers paradise. Whoever planted it was very smart; as one set of flowers dies, a brand new set of a different variety seems to flower. It's like a symphony; every new plant plays it's part and overlaps the last one. Best of all is this: I absolutely LOVE rose bushes and told Darrell while dating that when we owned our own house I wanted them in my garden - and now I have 17!

So, I'm going to try and post a slideshow of them - they are so gorgeous, I just took a few photos of them this week right after they were rained on. There is also a couple of pics of my baskets.