how much longer can we procrastinate?

Why, yes, I should be packing up my house. But, instead, after returning home from Saskatchewan late on Friday, we spent Saturday morning at soccer practice, and then the rest of the day with the Kantor family at the annual picnic. And now, instead of packing, I'm posting pictures of that. Because that's the most valuable thing I can think of doing right now. And because packing looks impossible.

Also, the picnic was such fun and relaxing and we look forward to next year!

from what I could hear...

the story goes something like this:

There were two princesses and a prince. And the prince fell into a hole. And the only one who could save him was this princess.

What kind of prince is that?

dad

It's harvest time. May this be the year that everything goes right.

a quick recap...

We're back from Saskatchewan and heading into our crazy week of moving houses (please pray for us, that we do not misplace any boxes or small children). So if I don't do this now I fear I never will... so here is a fast forward version of our week in Shaunavon...

birthday cake for the eastern kids... Lily is not a fan of sweet things, which is why I find the second picture particularly amusing... what is she supposed to do with this?

farming... free tractor rides around the yard and canola-swathing demonstrations

tractor tires, picnics, swimming, and cheering for mum-mums

we attempted that grandkid photo... perhaps small groupings are better?

rodeo-ing... this is Matt and he is a cowboy

a day at the dam

another look at the house

and napping on Grammie.

Other things... David ran a 4-day volleyball camp at the high school, Becca is a lifeguard, I saw Cindy, Sammy, and Rachel, we visited Aunties Marilyn and Rosella, and we became regulars at The Frosty Treat. Awesome.

eleven months

a preview of Grammie and Papa's Christmas card photo

Should be a good one.

here's what's new

1. we're surrounded by boxes.

2. happy to report that we have not yet lost a child in all the boxes.

3. potty-training is on hold... it was making poor Joe miserable. And is moving to a new house really the best time to do this? We learned that, no, it is not. And now we're happier.

4. we have a lot of stuff.

5. after 5 years of dirty lower windows in our living room, I learned that it's the windows, not the screens, that pop right out. So now we are appreciating two weeks of clean windows. It's like a whole new room.

6. Henry has reached a developmental milestone... "protests when a toy is taken away." In other words, Henry spends his days SCREAMING at Joe.

7. we will miss being walking distance from the sprinkle park.

8. David is busy patching and painting all the holes in our walls (we hung a lot of pictures. a lot). Do people do this? Are we being extra nice? Are we going to have to do this all over again when we get to our new house?

9. it's World Youth Day in Madrid. Remember the last one? In Sydney? Three years ago? A few things have changed for us since then (ie. one is named Joe and the other is Henry). Crazy.

10. after almost 4 weeks of keeping track, Joe is excited to finally put the last sticker on his "countdown to Grammie and Papa's house" calendar. So that's where we are, in case you're looking.

glamour girl

My anniversary bouquet from my dear husband, presented to me when I'm with my sidekicks and at my oh-so-finest.

five

Five years, two babes, two houses, and a million moving boxes.

That's our life today. 'Tis quite awesome and I'm so glad it's with you.

summer nights

Our nightly pilgrimage to the sprinkle park...

puddles and pajamas

This morning there was rain. And we were still in our pajamas. And it was awesome.

portrait of a (sweaty) soccer star

Joe's having fun at Sportball... me, too. His/my soccer skills are improving by leaps and bounds... and by "soccer skills" I mean running, running with airplane arms, throwing, hula-hoop chasing, kicking, running away, and timbit-eating. Good job, Joe.

(look at how much fun Joe and his little teammate are having... I love their smiles at each other and excitement to just run)

(throwing the ball... not being hit by one)

happy napping

That's what we say around here. The naps aren't always long, and it's not always easy going down, but the world is a lot happier when there is napping.

what's cuter than baby birds?

Baby bums.

addendum

Dear God -

The birds are cuter now. Thanks for that.

Gillian

p.s. - There were three; now there are only two. What's up with nature?