Last night the kids and I attended their schools annual "Fall Festival". Each classroom and the gym had different games and activities for the kids to play and do. The prize was candy! Most kids dressed up and it was fun to see all the different costumes. You can see what Paige and Ben are going to be this Halloween! Ben is "Jack Sparrow" from Pirates of the Carribean, whilst Paige is going to be a "Gypsy". I am proud to say that I MADE her costume (Ok, not the skirt!)....The past few weeks, each classroom has been asking for donations from home along the lines of a specific theme (Bens' class was chocolate, Paiges' class was Christmas). Then this week, each class put together a basket with the stuff donated and these were raffled off and the money from each basket goes directly to the class for various things (field trips etc). This is a HUGE success each year and this year was no exception...and Kindergarden made a killing on their chocolate baskets (they had enough donations to make FOUR! WOW!)....There was also a cake walk which Paige was determined to win, and so after six tries (she IS persistent!) she won a tray of cupcakes! Yummers.....so we came home last night with lots of candy....the winnings from the cake walk...and very tired from all the running around (Ok, I was tired, the kids were NOT! hahaha).

Mark was on duty last night and I am expecting him home any minute now (Saturday Morning)...we plan on spending the day out in the yard cleaning up all the limbs and branches etc of the places we cleared this summer. The burn ban has been lifted so you know this means one thing at our house: BON FIRE!

Hope you all have a great weekend!
Hugs

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Yesterday (Monday, October 9th) was Canadian Thanksgiving. Mark had duty on Sunday, and when he came home yesterday morning, he had these BEAUTIFUL flowers in his hand for me! I am so spoiled rotten! :)

We spent the day just relaxing and doing things we each liked to do to relax....we watched movies and tv...played on the computers and ate...and ate some more! We also had a nice phone conversation with Shelby, who is doing really well in school and having lots of fun with Cross Country. She is going to see Mom and Dad next Saturday...I'm sure they will have fun as usual!

We had a nice ham dinner (Ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn) and pie....then layed around some more....

It's nice to have a lazy family day now and then, but it's also nice to get back to our schedule.....so today the kids are all at school while I catch up on some homework.

Hope your day is going well too!

Hugs,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Before hitting the shower and starting the pie baking for Canadian Thanksgiving (tomorrow!), I thought I would post a picture of our new fridge! It is much bigger than our other one (22.5 cf), and also has the freezer on the bottom which I REALLY like! Our old fridge is great for an extra 'companys coming lets load up on soda and wine' fridge...so we put it outside in Marks grill kitchen! As you can see, our new fridge already has the required number of magnets and kids artwork on it!

Ok, I am off to shower..then bake pies...Pumpkin (for Paige and I), Chocolate (for Sam) and Coconut cream (for Mark)....Ben doesn't like pie so he will probably have banana bread!

Hugs to you all,
Mark, Jaye and Gang

This past Thursday, Troop 1224 had their annual Investiture/Re-dedication ceremony. What this means is that any girls who have bridged from Daisys or who are staying in the troop and re-registering for the new year, get pins and have a ceremony to mark this event. They have a whole ceremony with each girl putting a different flower in a vase...each flower symbolizes something different (Patience, kindness etc). Then the girls take turns and each light a candle on the log. Here you can see Paige lighting her candle...again, each candle and each colour of the candles represents something (lighting the way etc). It is a fun way for the girls to start their girl scout year off. The following day, the troop left for their annual September camp out. This was the first time Paige wen tto Girl Scout Camp without either Mark or I. We only had ONE teary phone call, and after that she was just fine. It helped having her 'other mom', Miss Ami on the trip with her! The girls came back with lots of new crafts and lots of stories. It's events and clubs like this that these girls will take with them into their adult lives! We are truly blessed to have two WONDERFUL troop leaders! Thank you Miss Karen and Miss Libby!! We love you!!

Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang

I know, I know, I know! I haven't posted in awhile....many of you have emailed and/or telephoned me to say 'hey..what's up with your blog?'..so for you nags..here it is (and by the way...you all know who you are and you WON'T be getting a Christmas card this year! Haha).

Ben celebrated his fifth Birthday on September 24 with a 'Curious George' themed party! It was so much fun.....Ben was thoroughly spoiled by family and friends (Thanks everyone!!) and the kids all had fun. We played lots of party games, ate cake and snacks and ended up playing outside(The weather here has been amazing and even now, into October...the days are WARM!).

Our dear Friends, Peggy and Gordon were able to be at Bens party as they spent the weekend with us after having come up for MY party (total surprise!).....so what a weekend we had....more cake and fun than any family should have in one week!

Hugs to you all,
Mark, Jaye and Gang