do i look tired?

because i am!
i was at a birth during the night last night and i have no childcare this morning to try and catch up on the lack of sleep.
i do have childcare this afternoon...
however, i've made a hair appt and i can't cancel.
my split ends would kill me if i did!
so instead of napping at home... i'll be napping in the hairstylist's chair!
ha!
i hope david's scissors aren't too sharp today!
then tonight we're off to ballet in the park.
every summer our city's ballet company and ballet school perform outdoors at a park theatre.
we take the girls each year and it's fabulous.
every year i dream about taking ballet and discovering my hidden talent.
ha ha!
yes, it's a joke, kind of...
but i can't help but feel sorta wistful in a strange way about acquiring some much needed gracefulness!
can't you just see me like this?

i know... no way.
i'll keep dreaming.
and dreaming...
and dreaming.

(hopefully i'll sleep while i'm dreaming too.....)
zzzzzzzzzzzz

instafriday -- better late than never, right?

it's been a crazy busy week.
phew... you'd think things would slow down in summer?
well, apparently not in my household.
sheesh!

luckily the next few weeks aren't as jam packed as this one was.

last weekend we saw a real fairytale in our own neighborhood!

obvs it was the most magical wedding EVAH!

do you think the girls were super excited to see the horse and carriage or what?

i wasn't so keen on all the leftover poop.

checking out the greenhouse... always a great saturday treat!

little k loved this kitty!

my parents were still out last weekend and so we got some one on one time with the eldest girl.
went for a little bike ride and got some slurpees.
love and NEED that one to one QT.

walking into church, with her daddy and 'lala'.

so excited to take a ride in big m's truck! ha!

went along to my BFF's midwife appt.
can i just say that the sound of a baby's heartbeat NEVER gets old?!
LOVES it!
anyhow, whilst in the appt... i took care of my one girl and my pal's two.
here's these two cuties holding hands! ;)

i didn't have my other two girls b/c they were at daycamp.
look at them with their little aprons on?!
isn't it the cutest!
who doesn't want to learn all about mennonite traditions at a daycamp!
sweet!
make me some schnetje, girls!

we went to visit the girls one day at lunch.
look at baby... she's only half the size of this vintage tractor!

this week was also psycho busy b/c we had VBS every night.
isn't it funny how it's not called DVBS anymore?
that's how i grew up... going to DVBS and it really was during the day.
now it's every evening from 6:30-8:45.
super fun but tiring b/c the girls were at daycamp all day every day.
i helped out at VBS with one of my good friends and we taught our oldest girls.
can you see my cutie?
(can you tell a couple of them were really impressed that i was taking a photo?)
(incidentally, they also loved my sweet action dance moves and singing to the theme song!)

date night on wednesday night started with yummy food!!!

mexican is ALWAYS a favorite!!!

then we went to the kenny chesney concert.
first you have to check out the merchandise.
seriously... who doesn't want a pair of panties with the word, "DAMN" on the back.
it was kind of the running joke of the night.

big M in all his glory!!!

he's just a little obsessed with kenny.

me... i think i'm now a little obsessed with billy currington, the opening act.

seriously... who knew he was so dang CUTE?!

wow... really, i'm almost speechless.

this was a fantastic show.

kenny made us feel like we were the best audience he's ever sang to.

he really did.

now, it makes you wonder, is that all part of the show?

or is it genuine?

i'm thinking... part of the show.

remember?

we're the armpit of canada.

nothing too exciting here!

oh yeah... cap off a thursday night with some fireworks.
do it all the time!
ha!
just kidding.
but some people in the neighbourhood thought it was a good idea.
and who am i to argue?
my girls were FAR to tired to wake up from the intense noise...
and i got a great show in my own backyard.
it was lovely!
now, if only i could have enjoyed it with my husband... but alas, he was playing church baseball.

that was essentially my week...
well, the exciting parts.
you missed my physio appt, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc.
shall i take pictures of all of those next time?

link up!!

who doesn't love the beach?

wishin' i was right here, right now.

(ha... remember that song by jesus jones?!?!? bringing me back to grade 8!!)

love the sleepy ride home with this tired out girl!
she went non-stop all day, without any semblance of a nap.

and, of course, my other girls were just as crazy on the drive home as the drive there.

maybe even more hyper?!

oh well... at least they had fun together (even though they woke up their sleeping sister).

warning, do NOT purchase this...

ok, you know the schpiel.
you go to the store with your kids to pick up a few groceries.
only this store has a whole heck of a lot more than groceries inside.
you start meandering the aisles of produce, to the dry goods, to the diapers...
and suddenly you're checking out the clothing, and then... of course, the toys.
here is what my kids BEGGED for:

crayola colored bubbles.
seems harmless, right?
although, being the mom that i am, i'm not usually suckered into buying these 'gimmicks'.
it just seemed like a bad idea to me...
bubbles=mess
colored bubbles=bigger mess.
nope.
back on the shelf.
well, my parents came out this past week.
and guess what they brought for all the grandchillens?
you guess it... crayola colored bubbles.
ok, ok, i need to stop being so anal.
just let them play with it, right?
kids are only young once.
ok, go to town, kids.
but KEEP it outdoors.
that's not unreasonable, is it?
well, thank the Lord that they were outdside.
here's what i started to notice shortly after the first bottle was open.
yeah, uh hum... it's supposed to be PINK.

what does it look like to you?

not pink... but red.

lots and lots of red.

like there was a bloody murder happening RIGHT in my own backyard!!

and my daughter and my nephew were the culprits!

holy moly...does that look horribly wrong to you?

do they look kinda guilty or what?

or is it just me?

talk about a scene from a slasher flick!

clean it up, kiddies...

just like any good criminal would do.

(isn't it great that little k is trying to clean up the mess with a gun of all things?!)

can you guess what we've done with the excess bubbles?
we'll no longer be purchasing these beautiful and artistic colored bubbles.
nope... somehow i never imagine my children at this age to be re-enacting scenes from CSI.
bu-bye colored bubbles!

so long blood bath!

birthday bash weekend!

the end of june is a busy, busy month.
there's the end of school activities, playing outdoors, plus we celebrate 3 family birthdays.
this year was a big one for my father in law... 60!
we were able to have a big shindig for his birthday, complete with a bluegrass band, hog roast and all the fixin's.
it was a blast!
we've been planning it for months and i think we actually managed to surprise him.
although the day before the party, we were getting all sorts of decorations done and who shows up on coffee break (one of the 2-3 times he comes home for coffee during the day)?
yup... birthday boy himself.
i think we were pretty good at hiding it... saying we were doing stuff for little k's bday.
regardless, the party went well.
everyone had a good time.

so, remember when i was painting this:

well, it turned into this:

and no, we weren't making rabbit ears...

we were making these adorable buntings:

sis in law and i went went totally redneck and hopped in M's pickup to get the balloons for the party.
big K came along too... and we squished into the one bench with 20 helium filled balloons.
it made for a funny drive.
i couldn't shoulder check on the right side of the vehicle.
that's how i like to roll... a little on the wild side.

some decor from the party...

relaxing and enjoying the band.

took little babester on a walk because she got bored.
it was beautiful!

found some pretty peonies!
some of my favorite flowers!!
(it almost looks like i scolded her.  ha ha!)

old trucks are always great photo opportunities, aren't they?

there was even a pen with a few animals on the property.
the two older girls, being the scaredy cats they are, didn't go near 'em...
but little H put her hands through the gate always trying to grab the goats.
thatta girl!

the party was a great success...
fabulous weather, delicious food and great fellowship!

on little K's actual birthday we took a drive to see daddy at work.
then picked up her favorite breakie...

a little mcD's can go a LONG way in making this sweetheart a happy girl.

chowing down on said breakfast while fielding many birthday calls.
life is so busy!

playing with her new toy from mommy and daddy... GO-GO!
we are mean parents and don't buy her a real dog.
look, i don't have to chase after Go-go hoping he isn't pooping all over my house.
he's very easy to look after.
i just turn him off if i can't handle the barking anymore.
now THAT'S my kinda pet!

auntie even made her a sweet little cake to celebrate the day...

a PINK rainbow cake!!!

hooray!

sharing some cake... with her grandpa that shares her actual birth day.

playing with gifts... playmobil!
this stuff RULES!
it's awesome... and well worth the money.
i LOVE helping them set it up.
sometimes a little bit too much.
it's my OCD tendencies that have to have it set up 'just so'.
hello!  TYPE A here!!  ;)
but just look at all those teeny tiny accessories...
they're just begging to be put exactly where they belong!

then i spent all night working on this creation.
this was big for me b/c i normally use the cake molds.
ta-dah!
this one i did all myself...
just made the cake in a 9x13 and cut and shaped.
boy am i glad there's always a few months between my girls' birthdays.
then i can recover after making one of these.
oh... all those stars... the stars!  oy!

for her friend birthday party we had a birdie theme.
so the kids all painted birdhouses.
so cute and so fun!

happy 5th birthday to my little peanut!

i love you, my darling!