Goblins and Ghosties

Can't believe we are in to November already. Life has been busy, busy. There have been bags of leaves to rake. Well I rake. Brian has a leaf blower that he likes to use. Of course, the biggest thing on everyone's mind now is H1N1. The boys are supposed to get their shots November 16th, but the school sent home a notice on Friday that there has been one case of H1N1 at the school already, so Joce is going to try to get them done earlier. Which sounds like a good idea, except that clinics have been cancelled and postponed due to lack of vaccine. Aaron was sick a couple of days last week with sore throat, aches and fever. But it was short lived, so we're not sure if it was just regular flu or not. Joce felt miserable for a day or so also, but she kept going for the most part. However, life goes on and Halloween was in the air!

Aaron had a few friends in for the afternoon to play video games. Joce made pizza for them for supper, then it was on with the costumes and off for trick or treating. Joce and Brian and Mocha went also. I was left to hand out treats. We only had 20 to 25 visitors.

Aaron in costume. Not sure what he was, some gruesome , ghostly monster I think.

The boys carved their pumpkins. They got pictures from the internet and traces them onto their pumpkins and then carved them. Greg's was a regular face, and Aaron carved a pokemon face on his. They did great jobs and were both very proud of their work.


Aaron put a chair on the front steps and posed as a dummy, hoping for someone to come along so he could scare them.

Greg was some kind of action figure, Transformer maybe. He looked really cute whatever he was.


This is a group photo just before they left to go trick or treating. Left to right - Aaron, the big orange person is Tim. His father carved the cheese slice out of foam and then painted it orange. It was really cute. The only problem was that it was 18C , a very warm evening, and Tim was roasting inside his costume. Nahum is in the Mario costume. Greg in front of Nahum and last , but not least, is MacLean.

They all came home with pillowcases full of treats. They covered 4 or 5 streets in about 2 hours, so they were tired when they got back , but they had a great time.

Jocelyn is anxious to get all the Halloween decorations down so she can start with the Christmas ones, but she had to take Greg to a birthday party this afternoon, so it will be delayed until tomorrow.

End of summer

Heavy sigh! Summer is over! The pool is put away for another year, the leaves are starting to change colors, the air is crisper and the boys are back in school. They had a great summer and were very busy with all their social activities. But now its back to the books.

Greg on his first day of school

Aaron, also on the first day of school

And the pair of them, just before leaving that first morning. What a pair of cuties. There were many 'bunny ears' in the pictures that Joce and I took of them.

They are quite happy to be back with their friends. Aaron has a lot of his friends in his class this year. Greg has a few friends from last year in his class, and he's getting to know the other children.

Aaron has joined the cross country running group. This only lasts for maybe 6 or 8 weeks. They run every Monday after school at the school, and then on Wednesdays they go to Centennial park. Aaron did very well last Wednesday. He is also a 'reading buddy' for a little boy in kindergarten. All the Grade 5s get to do this which I think is a great idea. They meet with their reading buddy once a week and read to them.

Joce's job has changed and she is now working 30 hours per week, as opposed to the 20 she was working. So Mocha and I spend most of our days together. Some days I take her for a walk. She wants to go full speed ahead for the first part of the walk and then she settles down for the last bit. She has a lot of energy!

I bought a battery operated pencil sharpener a couple of weeks ago. Greg made it his mission to find every pencil in the house and sharpen it to a fine point. It took him quite a few trips to do it, but it is now done. And I still have some power left in the batteries.

He's also making soap now. He found a nearly empty hand soap dispenser, and decided to fill it. He used some soap, hand lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash and water. It smells pretty good, but doesn't lather very well. We keep squirting it into the sink to use it up, but he keeps refilling it, so I think we'll have it for a while yet. Joce also provides a container of regular soap so we do have a choice.

I have been keeping busy as usual. I'm trying to get the gardens ready for fall, and am moving some plants around. Every year I think the gardens will be exactly as I want them the next year, but its yet to happen. They are a lot better than our first year here, so I guess there is progress.

Till next time......

Summer Happenings

Can't believe that August is nearly half over!!! I don't know where the time goes. Honestly.

It has been a busy summer. I had a lovely visit with Evan and Marcelle. It was so good to see them and to spend some time with them.
Here Mocha visits with her 'Uncle Evan' who she just loves and can't stay away from whenever he's around.

While Evan and Marcelle were here we had a family barbeque. It was great to see everyone and to partake of all the goodies of a pot luck.

Little Gracen is enjoying a delicious pumpkin square. She's making sure that every crumb gets into her mouth.

Aaron is also enjoying a pumpkin square and making a statement. I forget what he said this was. Rock and roll maybe??

Becky and Jocelyn entertained us with a few songs. Their voices sound so good together.

This is Greg after spending an afternoon at Magic Mountain. Mummy applied sunscreen but I guess with him going in the water a lot, it washed away the stuff under his eyes, so he got a bad sunburn there. This was the day after the outing, so the redness had lessened somewhat. A day or two later it was all gone.

We went to Amherst on August 2nd, to attend the service at the Amherst Wesleyan Church, which Becky and Matt attend. It was a lovely service, though it was hot in the church. Then went back to Beck's for lunch, while the kids went into the pool. Then it was off to the Shinimicas River where Becky, Matt, Gracen and 3 other people were baptized. It was nice and hot there too, but the baptisms were very nice. The river had quite a current in it but it didn't sweep anyone away. Pictures are on Joce's facebook. Then it was back to Beck's where there was more swimming and eating.

This past Saturday, Becky, Michelle, Joce and I attended the craft fair in Victoria Park. It was a lovely day, and there was lots of stuff to see. We all bought something so we had a good trip. Then it was back to Fishers for lunch.

On Sunday, August 9th, Aaron left for Camp Wildwood for the week. He was looking forward to it, and they have lots of activities, swimming, kayaking, games, etc. He'll be back on Friday afternoon. Greg is enjoying his time without his brother. He gets to play what he wants on the computer and Wii, and to watch what he wants on tv. But he'll be glad when Aaron's back.

That's all for now.....

Lots of activity in the last little while. These pictures are from the grandparents birthday party that was held for Greg. Fishers had a BBQ and everyone brought salads, and of course, birthday cake and ice cream.

Aaron looking sweet as usual. Little Freckle Face I call him.

Greg blowing out the candles on his 3rd. birthday cake. Then he opened his gifts, and there was a Treasure Hunt for the last gift. We had done this at Aaron's party and so of course Greg wanted it also. He asked me the day of his party if I'd done up the clues for him, and I wanted it to be a surprise , so I sort of hummed and hawed about it. Then at the party he asked me again and I said wait and see, and he got very upset because he really wanted a Treasure Hunt. I told him that there had to be surprises for a birthday and that he would have a good time. That seemed to appease him, but when he found the first clue, he was really happy. We had 12 clues that had him going upstairs and down, until he found the final gift.

Then after all the excitement of the treasure hunt, there was entertainment. Aaron played a piece on the piano.

Then Greg and Mummy played some duets. Greg wanted to do every song from his piano book, luckily there were only 5 or 6, and they are short, but he and Mummy did a great job and everyone clapped heartily. Aaron didn't want to play a duet so that's why Mummy didn't play with him.

Greg loves to play piano and plays his little songs many times a day, hence I know them all by heart.

Brian's parents celebrated their 50th. wedding anniversary. The family had an open house for them at their church, which was well attended. Brian's brother and family came home from Ontario, so there was lots of family activities that week. On Canada Day they went to St. Martins, which is a lovely spot. Joce has lots of pics on FB.

The boys have started soccer, and they are enjoying it. They're both doing well and while they haven't scored any goals yet, they've eached contributed to some, so that's good for their esteem.

The pool is up and filled with water finally. Takes a while to do that. The water is still quite cold but the boys , once they get used to it, have a great time.

There have also been a few trips to Magic Mountain with friends. They got a bit of a burn yesterday, but they all had fun.

Till next time.....

Aaron and Mocha

A couple of extra pictures, Aaron and all his freckles, so cute and little Miss Mochie.

The third picture is a plaque Joce bought on her recent trip to the states and is now in her kitchen. Very appropriate!

Greg's birthday

Sunday was Greg's official birthday, so there was another party , well, just supper of his choice (pizza) and another cake , a bowling ball and pin.

Then came another round of presents. A scooter from Mum and Dad, Magnetics from Aaron and a new game for the DS from Uncle Evan and Aunt Marcelle, which he is playing in the picture of him on the couch with his DS.

Greg had his friend birthday party on Friday night. It was held at a bowling alley, where the kids bowled and did breakdancing. Who knew it could be done at the same place. Joce has pictures of this on Facebook. Greg was very pleased with all his gifts. One of his favorites was Martian Matters, where you make aliens with something like Play Doh, then their guts with some slimy stuff, then you dissect the guts and everything is slimy and messy. Just perfect for a 7 year old.