First Day of School 2014.

They're back at it today!
This guy enters his last year of high school! Eeeeekkkkk!!! Isn't he handsome? :D What an exciting time for him. He is also part of the 1st original graduating class, meaning the school opened the year he started grade 7.



This little lady starts grade 10! She has blossomed into such a loving beautiful young lady. She's so helpful and caring. I'm excited for her to take on some new challenges this year and really spread her wings. I really can see and imagine where she will fit best in the future.



And my little man enters into grade 4! This year he didn't stand beside me as we waited for the class lists to be posted. He went straight to his friends. He didn't look back as they went in the school and he didn't say bye. My momma heart broke a little and at the same time filled with pride at how confident he has become. Ugh it's a fine line we walk as mom's.



So here's to a wonderful joy filled new school year. xo

As Summer Comes to an End.

This summer has been interesting to say the least. I would like to be able to look back on it and say it was the best summer ever but I don't think it will make the list. The last day of school we were to leave on our first vacation of the summer. We were heading to Lake Superior. I ended up in the hospital having surgery instead. The four weeks to recovery were long and hard and boring I'm sure for the kids. Close to the end of July I returned to work and my new position. It's been challenging for sure. The beginning of August brought on our second vacation and this time we were going! We packed up the kids and headed on our 12 hour journey. We drove through the night. It was scary. There was sooooo much fog. The kind where you can't even see an 18 wheeler coming at you until it is right on top of you. I thought I was going to die that night. When we finally arrived and my heart rate returned to normal we had breath taking views everywhere we looked. We hiked, and swam, and hiked, and zip lined off a mountain, (I almost died again) and tree top climbed, and cooked, and had camp fires, and played in the dark, and froze a little, and re-connected as a family. It was a great vacation. Now summer is at it's end and we are heading back to school tomorrow. I don't know where time goes sometimes. But as we journey into this fall we are excited for new beginings. D will enter his last year of high school, C will enter grade 10, and little Q will start grade 4. The leaves will change then fall, the days will get shorter, the sweaters will come out. The air will smell of fall and fire and spices. Here's to my favorite season, may you enjoy every last Pumpkin Spice latte that you can wrap your hands around.

Happy Birthday Big Brother.

I feel like I missed it, that it whizzed on by. I didn't visit your grave site today. I haven't been in a long long time. That doesn't mean I forget, or don't miss you, or don't feel your absence. I do. All. The. Time. So happy Birthday brother. I hope you're having a party up there. I love you always.

Summer book list

This summer flew by and I didn't get through my stock piled summer reading list. Nor did I update my blog as promised. Between my unexpected surgery that had me in and out of the hospital for two weeks, recovery time that made me nauseous and weak and sleepy all the time. Vacation with the family, and going back to work and taking on a new position. Here's What I did get through.

The Fault in Our Stars : John Green.

I enjoyed this book so much it was touching and moving and I cried a few times, then promptly saw the movie.

Left Neglected: lisa Genova. She is one of my very favorite authors. This book was so amazingly written she always seems to capture the characters so perfectly that you really can feel what they go through. Again a tear jerker.

The Storyteller: Jodi Picoult. Oh my, where to begin. I was not expecting that. A beautifully written and emotional story about the Holocaust.

Shadow Spell: Nora Roberts. Book two in The cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy. An easy romantic read.

That's about all I got through this summer. The rest of my stack awaits me:)

D turns 17!

Today D turned 17! He is my first born. An old soul. A thinker. He is wise beyond his years but still manages to be young at heart. He is a great big brother who even though he sometimes wants to be left alone will still play lego and nerf guns with his siblings. I hope we have instilled upon him the importance of his family. He's grown so much over the past 17 years and turned into such a great kid . We are definatly blessed. We did the usual party with family. Dinner, cake, presents. This year I hope brings him lots of fun and friendships. He will learn and grow many different ways. He will enter into his last year of high school this year. I think he is nervous as he will soon be making some big decisions on what school he will go to and what program he will take. He got accepted to the duel credit program at our local college so he will be taking classes there once a week for the first semester as well as doing a co-op placement and completing 40 hours of vollunteer service. He will also complete his grade 12 course load. He is ready for these changes and this next phase of life. I am so proud of him. Happy 17th year, we love you so very much!

What I'm Reading.

This is what I'm reading at the moment. City of Ashes, the sequel to City of Bones. There are five books in the series. This series is fantasy fiction. C is currently on book five and D on book four of this series. Does anyone do that? Read the same books as their kids. I think it gives us something to talk about and also lets me know what their reading/learning about. kwim. I know it's geared towards their age group and I'm okay with that at least if something happens we can talk about it and I can give them answers... It's a pretty decent series so far. The movie ummm well it was very different from the book but doesn't that often happen? Some other popular series I have read with them are The Hunger Games and Divergent series. We have a rule. You read the book before you see the movie. This helps with teens and keeps them reading. They all love to read and I love that.

I'm also currently reading The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom. It's very good so far. It is inspirational fiction.

Is Spring Ever Coming?

Seriously this is what's happening outside right at this moment. Everyone's done with the weather here. We are lucky however that we aren't getting the storm that's crippling eastern Can today... You know it's bad when the whole city shuts down... When the warmer weather finally arrives I suspect there will be a little bit of spring fever in the air. I can't wait. Bring on the rain and the dog poop smell if that means we get to look at flowers blossoming soon.

Sounds Like a Plan To Me.

It's time to get back at this whole blogging thing. I've missed it. For real. Other things have taken over my life. I feel like there isn't enough time in the day for everything. I miss scrapbooking too. I need to make an effort to get back at it. I recently left facebook and I can't even begin to explain how much of a great choice it was for me. I'm not going to get into all the details because really who cares. I left, I'm happy, end of conversation. I'm thinking that I need to document our lives a little better now though. That's part of why I started blogging in the first place. So here's to a fresh start. I'm thinking of switching it up a bit, take some ideas I've seen on other blog's like random days where I just post something well, random. What I'm reading, kids updates, scrapbook stuff, pinterest fav's of the week, fashion find's, ect.