Happy Anniversary X2!

Posted on by
Reply

Around the corners and through the bend
Haringe’s Slott is where it would end
For a journey so short, with such import
We began to live again in a far away land

Back we went across the sea
Kids awaiting the CDF 5,
A golf club of all places, and it was time to jive
Speeches and fun, and cameras clicking away, little ones begging for more play,
A second magical evening wound down on the dance floor
A Montreal summer evening who could ask for more?

Now at today, it is all 4 years away!
Laughter, fun and a few tears to keep it real
A life so extraordinary, what a deal!
I am so lucky to be beyond measure
Life with my Meski is truly a pleasure.

Happy 4th Anniversary X 2!!!

Haringe Castle – where it all began!!

Zandra Fashion and Hair

Posted on by
Reply

This girl has got some talent.

She went to fashion camp for two weeks and did a fantastic job designing and making her outfit! She looked spectacular on the runway!

She has also spent a lot of time on youtube watching cool hair videos.

I get to be the lucky one and be her hair model!

She also does a great job on her own hair!

Talented girl we have:))

Quote of the week

Posted on by
Reply

One of my favorite uses of Facebook is to see all the great quotes people post!

This one caught my eye the other day:

“A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere until you change it”.

It jumped out at me as I find it perfect for our family right now!

With all the different camps, activities and events going on in the summer, you can have a lot of fun. But one rotten apple can spoil the whole bushel! One bad attitude can change a fun time into a miserable one. A bad attitude can guarantee a really bad time.

There’s a story that I wish I could find so it would be more eloquent, but I’ll have to use my own words. I have told my kids this story often enough – who knows – maybe one day it will sink in for all of us (because yes, we all struggle with the attitudes:)

A man was moving from one town to another. Along the way to his new destination, he met another man by the side of the road. The traveller stopped to talk to the man at the side of the road and asked if he knew anything about the new destination he was headed to. The man said he did.


“Tell me”, said the traveller, “Are the people in the town up ahead nice? Are they good and kind? Will I like it there”?


“Well”, said the man by the side of the road, “How did you find the people in the last town you were in”?


“Oh, they were rotten, unkind, mean spirited and boring”, responded the traveller.


“Unfortunately, my friend, the people in this new town you are headed to are exactly the same way””.


The traveller shook his head sadly and continued on his way.


A second traveller came along and stopped by the man at the side of the road as well. He too was headed to the new town and wanted to know how the people were in the new town.


“Well”, said the man at the side of the road, “how did you find the people from your old town”?


“Oh, they were great! They were kind, warm and welcoming” said the traveller.


“Wonderful! You will find the people in your new village just like that”, said the man at the side of the road.


Grinning, the traveller continued on his way, excited to get to his new town.

What’s the difference? Attitude.

I know it is hard to always be positive. Sometimes circumstances stink. Sometimes life is unfair. Sometimes we just feel plain awful. But when we can’t control the wind, we certainly can adjust our sails.

So change your attitude!

Last Day

Posted on by
Reply

Beautiful, bright and sunny!

After sleeping in as much as we all could (even though we all agree early morning is the best part of the day – but sleep is good too:)), we packed up.

We headed to the marina, and headed out again! We tubed over to the beach where we were able to anchor in the very shallow beach water. The kids played around the boat and then spent some time on the beach, and playing out on the tube. Rob cleaned the boat:) I slept a bit on the boat.

We had lunch, and then had to head back to head home.

All in all, it was a nice little getaway!

Day 2 and 3 in Collingwood

Posted on by
Reply

It has been a busy couple of days here in Collingwood!

Yesterday, we spent the day on the boat- packed a picnic, anchored, swam and then did some tubing too. It was a beautiful day and we were sun tired at the end if it.

However, Zach had a soccer game in the evening in the city so he and I gathered the soccer gear and headed on a mini road trip:) Aside from being really tired at first, it was really enjoyable to chat with him on the long drive there and back. They tied their game – so that was nice too! I had my photographer beside me snapping some pics of the sunset:

Rob stayed back with everyone else and they had dinner, played some tennis and then just chilled. Zach and I rolled back into town around 11 and absolutely crashed!

This morning we were awoken by a wake up call we never asked for:( but we got up and got going.

We spent the morning and early afternoon on the beach. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so only got a few snaps with my iPhone. The kids swam, then we all played various games including frisbee, soccer and football. We had a picnic lunch and chilled on the beach too before heading back to the marina. There, we hopped in the boat, did some more tubing and touring and enjoyed the calm waters today!

We were excited to head back to the condo resort and have our first ever CDF tennis tournament! We decided last year since everyone is now playing (at one level or another), we would start a yearly traditional tournament.

The teams: (we were pretending to wave to the crowd too:))

Zach and Gabe

Rob and Josh

Zandra, Sam and me

It was a lot of fun! Zach and Gabe ended up winning, Josh had a complete meltdown (we have some serious “how to lose” behaviors to work on – with a few of the boys:)) and everyone tried their best!

Here we all are, giving it our best!!

Evening came along and we headed out for some dinner and then back to the condo for a movie. I think Rob and I were more tired than the kids- with the exception of Josh who headed up to his room to tuck himself in!

Last day tomorrow!

Heading to Collingwood

Posted on by
Reply

We headed on a mini vacation today – to Collingwood. We only had a few nights to squeeze in between all the activities/sports we have planned throughout the summer (our real vacation is coming up in August).

We brought our boat and put it in the marina then headed to our condo right by the mountain to check in. After a quick change, we were excited to head back to the boat and drive to the beach.

Unfortunately the beautiful Georgian Bay had other plans for us.

The water was a little rough to start with, but we drove for about 20 minutes and got to the beach. We anchored and within 30 seconds a huge wave came crashing into the boat. No need to swim anymore I guess:)) The water came to us!

The water conditions changed in a flash and we knew we had to head back. I think it was the roughest water we’ve been on and we were soaked every second by huge waves. I think the kids loved it for a few minutes – then it became a little scary. Rob was a trooper – I’m not sure how he saw anything with all the water in his face!! In fact, I do recall him yelling “I can’t see anything”!! Sam said he wished he was older than 7 because then he’d be braver:))) So sweet! I reminded the kids this was the kind of adventure we would talk about for years!

Of course, we made it back and dried off. The kids found a “hot rock” and sat on that while they had some snacks and then danced a little bit on the rock (?!?).

Groceries were next, followed by dinner. We then headed out to play a bit of tennis and walked around the resort. We found a little otter and a couple of frogs.

Finally, we went to Blue Mountain Village and walked around before heading home to watch some “Gilmore Girls” and having some treats.

Now, everyone is tucked in and Rob and I are completely exhausted! Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and hopefully the water will be calmer!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Posted on by
Reply

11 years. Could it be possible?

I am so happy that after each of my sons were born I made it a priority to write out their birth story for them. Now, we get to review the details of their birth – and it is so fun to remember that amazing day (and day before:)). I read it over with Zach last night and at the end of it,  I comment how it is hard to believe that the tiny baby lying right beside me at the time I was writing would ever grow up.

Eleven years later….

The days are long, but the years are short.

But it is fun to read through the fun little details that I recorded in the early years!

It goes to show how Zach may have changed a lot in some ways, but in other ways he is the same little boy who called me one night to tell me his “by bank” (blanket) was not working (it had fallen off) or the big brother who bossed Baby Daw (Josh) around, or the picky eater that spat chicken out if it was too dry.

Here are 11 things I love about Zach!

1. His enthusiasm  (especially for anything to do with travel!) and energy
2. His sense of humour and his laugh
3. His level of responsibility and commitment
4. His effort that he puts into many things
5. His fierce loyalty
6. His willingness to apologize and make things right and forgive
7. His quickness in doing things
8. His great hugs
9. His obsession with tickles
10. His willingness to always challenge himself
11. His sensitive side

Happy Birthday my favorite older son! We love you and adore you even when you drive us crazy!!!

Here are some snaps through the years (or at least ever since I went digital:))

For his birthday, Zach invited a couple of friends over for a soccer game, movie and sleepover. They stayed up until 2:45!! The next day they were completely exhausted! But, everyone had a good time and he was happy with his new soccer jersry, hat and of course, the candy poster!

 
I love you my boy!!
Love Mom

Quote of the Week

Posted on by
Reply

Not dealing with conflict, creates conflict.

(A modified version of a quote Zandra came up with).

It has been a crazy week here and we’ve had some emergencies to deal with – primarily involving the health of Rob’s parents. Hopefully they are on the upswing now, but I couldn’t let my quote of the week slip by nevertheless!

This quote stems from our all around family experiences in the past little while. Sometimes we think staying quiet, avoiding saying something, or pretending (ostrich head in the sand) is the way to go. But, that is not always the case. In fact, for us, it seems to make things worse.

Being honest, up front, having good intentions and working things through is always the way to go. And, it usually brings you closer than ever.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Posted on by
Reply

Sam asked me the other day “What is special about me? I have to write something in my class, and I can’t think of anything”!

“Are you kidding??”, I said.

I then rattled off 16 things in about 30 seconds about what is so special about this little guy.

Here’s a sampling – 7 things I love about Sam to mark his 7th Birthday!

1. He is so quick – with everything! Quick to learn, quick to run, quick to fall asleep, quick to wake up, quick to think, quick to be so darn cute!
2. He is so enthusiastic
3. He has a great sense of humour
4. He is a fantastic reader
5. He is very animated in how he talks and tells stories
6. He is very helpful and grateful
7. He is such a leader

This little man is going places in life:) Being the youngest, he has a lot of independence and is just so confident in himself!

Here’s some Sam through the years:

For his actual birthday, Sam wanted his favorite, rapini pasta. We then had some cupcakes (since he had had his actual birthday cake at his party). He was thrilled with his soccer jersey, special crystals (he specifically wanted purple crystals) and his candy poster!

I love you Sam and think you are so awesome! I’m so glad to be your Stepmom and look forward to many years to come!
xoxoxo
Leah

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Posted on by
Reply

Gabe turns 14 today!!

We are certainly in the stage where I’m not sure he’d be so keen on having a post written about him…but maybe one day in the future he’ll want something in writing to remind him how much we love and appreciate and admire him!

The top 14 things I love aout Gabe:

1. His amazing smile
2. His hair flip
3. His ability to be a kid still:)
4. His impersonations that make us laugh so hard at dinner
5. How hard he worked at math this year and demonstrated what he can do when he puts his mind to it!
6. His amazing curiosity which sends him on a quest for knowledge always
7. His desire to dream about the future – and make some cool concrete plans!
8. His knowledge about cars and planes
9. His obsession with technology (no – not texting – although he is a bit obsessed with that – but his desire to know how it all works)
10. How cute he is when he is the “big brother” with Sam (and imitates Sam talking in a little voice)
11. His great skiing abilities
12. His courage to face his fears this year:)
13. His eagerness to be organized and create a plan for himself
14. How much he reminds me of his Dad when he learns little facts!

I put together a few pics of Gabe over the years I have know him. He has grown so much, and gone through so many hair styles!!

For his birthday dinner, we ordered in Chinese food and had chocolate cake. He really wanted a car model (sorry – have no idea what kind of car:)) and then we got him some “Teen Life Strategies” books – which he actually seemed to life. The candy poster is always appreciated too!

It’s a computer motherboard…

Happy 14th Birthday Gabe! You are growing into quite the young man. I’m so happy to have you in my life and love being a part of your family:))

Love
Leah