enjoying

Oh summer, slow down, I can't believe it is the last day of July - we are enjoying all our flowers lately in our garden, we've planted a small veggie patch in the back and are hoping to get some lettuce, cucumbers and a few carrots. We are also enjoying our visits on Wednesday's from Kate and Andy - they usually have lunch with us, Kate watches the kids while I have my weekly Dr's appointment. We spend lots of time with them at the park in the sand or in the pool if it's nice. Anna and Andy seem to have a special bond, she loves feeding him and he is almost walking. We've also got Anna stocked up on a new lunch bag, backpack and a few clothes for school. Getting this started has helped her get excited and very interested in meeting lots of new friends. Sam and I are going to miss her, she's a huge part of our days.

backyarding

Last night Anna and Stew slept in the tent in our backyard - the weather has been nice, and I thought it would be good for them to spend some time together before the baby. I suggested it, and Anna was very excited. They spent the whole night out there, and Sam was looking for Anna this morning in their room, so he joined them just before 7am. We are loving our new backyard - it's a little bigger than our previous yard, we can go barefoot more, as the stones are very smooth, and since the people that bought our Calgary house purchased all our patio furniture and bbq, we replaced them here. This set I got at Canadian Tire and it's the Lazy Boy brand and we love it. We wanted a casual conversation set, and we also got a matching deck box for storage. I also purchased a small kids picnic table and it is very handy for meals outside. With the weather being warm well into the evening hours, we are spending lots of time out here as a family.

one month anniversary

(garden photo's by Anna)

This week marks one whole month in our new house. It feels like time is on major fast forward, as I can't believe we've been here that long. It seems like only yesterday Jay and I were driving across Canada together. We've made great progress on the house, painting, unpacking, organizing and cleaning - lots of cleaning. We've steam cleaned rugs, washed walls, swept and vacuumed a lot. Art is going up, and just this past weekend while we were away Stew tackled a number of big projects so we can be organized and really settled for when the baby arrives. Rooms are starting to take shape - we are doing a small front porch make over, we've ordered some furniture for the blue room, and our guest bedroom will be almost ready for guests, as soon as our new mattresses get delivered. Anna and Sam are sharing a room again on the third floor, it works well for us, which gives us a room for the baby, which is almost ready as well. I'm hoping to photograph each room as it gets more complete.

What we've learned so far:

:: we drink a lot of bagged milk, Anna loves being able to pour it out of the jug

:: the weather in the morning is so warm, we are adjusting to not wearing jackets

:: there are so many snails in our garden, they come out after the rain, and are amazing to watch

:: the kids have gone for a swim almost every day we've been here, we are the first ones in the pool across the street almost every day, Anna has learned to dive under the water, and her confidence in the water is getting better everyday

:: we've seen many cardinal's, an amazing site to see as well as hear them

:: we love walking Stew to work in the morning, it's about an 8 minute walk, and it gets us out meeting our neighbours, learning the streets and helps Anna learn her route to school

:: my garden is so huge, I'm loving it, I have so many perennials and everyday new flowers are out

:: we love sitting out on our patio at night, with candles and our new patio set, it's a great way for just Stew and I to chat and relax

:: all the familar smells and sounds of weather and wildlife are coming back to me - these are the strongest memories I have of Ontario, huge thunder storms, the frequency of rain, the warm wind and the sound of morning doves

:: we love our street and our neighbourhood and can't get over the number of kids - I counted 60 kids all around Anna's age at the park on Tuesday, they get together on Tuesday nights for baseball in the park and soccer on Wednesday nights - not really organized, but they all know each other and are good friends

:: we are feeling incredibly blessed to have found this house - for not ever seeing it in person until we arrived, it is so us, and we love it - it is starting to feel like home

visiting the farm

Robots, sailing, corn on the cob, hunting for dressers and of course lots of time with Grammy and Tompa. Our first visit to the farm since we arrived almost one month ago. We also got to visit Nana, The Donald and Great Grandpa, as I hadn't seen them since my arrival with Jay. It was nice to relax, visit, catch up and take in lots of great weather. Sam was glued to most of the machinery, Anna was all about the animals - a new litter of kittens was born a few weeks ago so we spent much of our time there, we also got our first sail in on Faye and Paul's boat - Anna swam in Lake Ontario off the back ladder while Sam ate snacks. It was a great weekend.