Oct. 30th Day 300

Tonight is our Halloween trick or treat at the church, we are going to do pumpkin seed spitting, pie contests and of course trick or treating...our family went as Star Wars people...

Oct. 29th Day 299

Kimball wanted to make these rice krispies spiders for his friends at activity days...they look like they have lipstick on!  Kimball loves to bake and cook, I realize that holidays bring a lot of treats with them...

Oct. 28th Day 298

Okay, so remember how I had hundreds of pounds of apples?  well, I decided to can applesauce and apple slices for baking.  Wow!  It looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen!  I took this picture thinking it would be fun to do a before and after picture, you know, of how messy the kitchen was, and then how sparkling clean it would be when I was done, but, the after picture never got taken!  Ha!  Norah was helping and by the end she said"I don't want to make apples anymore!"  Neither do I Norah!!

Oct. 27th Day 297

It was my turn to host playgroup today and it reminded me so much of our joyschool days in Winnipeg...four little people to do a craft, finger plays, toys and snacks.  We made bats and sang 5 little pumpkins, and then Tasha painted these amazing backdrops for the Halloween party on Saturday so we took a picture with it!  Aren't these guys adorable?!

Oct. 26th Day 296

Today is Tuesday. Norah and I went to the library program this morning and I completely forgot to take a picture...sooo.....here is another photo from last night, the chaos of cookies...but they love it! 

Oct. 25th Day 295

Kimball wanted to make Halloween cookies for family home evening tonight so we cut them out in Halloween shapes and let the kids go for it! (picture to follow)

Oct. 24th Day 294

Norah loves to paint and today I cut an apple in half and let her dip it in red paint for her canvas.  She thought that was very exciting. 

Oct. 23rd Day 293

Swimming lessons.  Rocket launch. Apple baseball.  Apples shot out of the potato gun.  I forgot my camera, so there are no photos of that...maybe next time...but my Keen boots came in the mail and I am over the top excited about it!  They are SO comfortable!  Great day. 

Oct. 22nd Day 292

No school today!  We had a really fun day cranking the kids new mix...dare I say I am almost tired of this dance mix?  I took the kids to the library and to the park and the highlight of my day was Norah's laugh as I pushed her in the swing.  She kept saying higher faster mom! So I did, and then I pretended she kicked me in the face, man did she howl!!  Of course I kept doing it, just to hear her laugh!  We also decorated for Halloween...

Oct.21st Day 291

Norah and I went to Apple auto glass today to get our windshield replaced.  This was in Coldbrook which is a half hour away...so we walked around for 2 hours waiting for our van.  I took her to Tim Horton's for lunch...45 minutes down, 75 to go.  It was windy, there were no sidewalks,  it looked like rain was coming...try to be positive Somer...okay, I have a beautiful new undamaged windshield, we got to see some pumpkin people, we got to have a cherry danish, and chicken noodle soup, and we are now more grateful for our home that protects us from the elements (having had to wander around homeless for 2 hours)  When we got home we wanted to make some applesauce so Kimball helped Norah "do it herself"

Oct. 20th Day 290

Book club tonight!!  I am making apple pie, apple crisp, apple cider, and a veggie tray. The book that will be revealed tonight is the Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. It's a gooder.  OH yeah, Kimball reached his goal tonight of reading all 7 Harry Potter books before the final movie comes out.  He is so excited...

Oct. 19th Day 289

Leah and I took the girls to the library story program today.  Then we went and picked up some Happy Birthday balloons and took them to Gillian who turned 30 today.  She wanted to do something spontaneous so we went and played laser tag!  Ummm, SOOO fun!!!!  I have snipers for friends.  All moms should play laser tag regularly.  I took a photo of the kids peg charts so that I would always remember this little bit of our daily routine.  Bed, piano, reading, and zone.  This is something we do so that everyone pitches in and gets the practise they need on a daily basis.

Oct. 18th Day 288

This is the best invention ever!  The kids love peeling apples with this thing and it's as old as the hills.  I am certain there will be more photos of this machine.

Oct. 17th Day 287

 Seth's baptism was this evening.  Leah asked Anna to play I am a Child of God as the children sang it.  Unbeknownst to us, the Greenwood Primary knew all 4 verses, so by the end of the practice song Anna's arm was very tired.  We kept telling her to just play one verse and then sing the rest.   While I was leading the children in their song, I noticed that Anna wasn't stopping, she played the entire thing!  After the song, she came up to me smiling and said "mom, I just had a miracle.  I asked  Heavenly Father to help me so I could play the whole thing and that my arm wouldn't get tired, and it happened."  How I love this girl!
This is a photo of the best art book ever!  I love this book!  The Robinson's got it for us as a going away gift, and it is full of information about each piece of art...love it!

Oct. 16th Day 286

Today was moving day for Leah!  Let it be said that many hands make work light....there were so many people there helping, and it was so FUN!!!  Kimball came home and said mom, I had no idea that was going to be so fun!  I feel like the Lord has been blessing us with opportunities to serve others lately, and the best part is, our children are right alongside us.  My heart was full as I saw Kimball and Sam carrying out boxes and Anna trying to put the family pet in a cage so it wouldn't be left behind in the move.  Even Miss Norah got in on the action and dragged some items out.  I am going to miss having Leah just down the street from me.  It is a family tradition to iron leaves in wax paper and put them up in the window.  This is a photo of this year's leaves.

Oct. 15th Day 285

Anna decided to make homemade potato chips tonight.  She sliced the potatoes paper thin and Stephan helped her put them in a pot of boiling oil.  After boiling for about 10 minutes they were crisp.  I will never look at chips the same again.  She poured salt and vinegar seasoning on them and they were delicious I must admit.

Oct. 14th Day 284

Today Christine came over with her 2 baby girls and we took photos of baby Ava.  Very cute!

Happy Birthday Doryann!! We will be calling you to sing later...

Oct. 13th Day 283

I don't have a clue what we did today...I am writing in hindsight and let's just say I am a few days behind on the blog.  SO, here's a photo I took of Leah and her family a few days ago...aren't they cute?

Oct. 12th Day 282

We had some peas and cherry tomatoes ready in our garden and so Stephan took Norah to harvest them.

Tonight Anna and I snuck into the cub scouts meeting to spy on Kimball and Stephan.  It is one of my favourite hobbies to watch my children when they don't know I'm watching them.  I am so grateful they can do this together.

Oct. 11th Day 281

Today is Thanksgiving and we went apple picking at our adopted Courtland apple tree.  Leah and her children came with us and it was amazing!  The apples are enormous and so delicious!  We then went out to Gopher Lodge and had a hotdog roast and campfire sing along.  Great day.

Oct. 10th Day 280

Miracle Hamster!!!  We lost PJ's nine days ago outside and thought he was a gonner...but the hamster came back, he just couldn't stay away....sorry, couldn't help that one!  No, but really, we were downstairs and all of a sudden Stephan shouts 'hey! it's PJ's!'  he was trying to jump out of the window well, we went out to get him and realized he had made himself a little burrow in the window well...can you believe it? NINE days?  The kids went running around, "Our prayers are answered!"  I'll say...that's a miracle if I've ever seen one.

Oct. 9th Day 279

Today Norah and I made our Thanksgiving pies...autumn food is so comforting!  Pumpkin pies, apple crisp...butternut squash soup...delectable...that's fancy for delicious...

Oct. 8th Day 278

We had some friends over and Kimball set up a "course" for them.  The next thing I knew all the pillows in the house were stripped of their cases and this is what I saw:

Oct. 7th Day 277

It's banana split time!  Ice cream was on sale and so Stephan bought oodles and oodles of it...

Oct. 6th Day 276

I looked up from doing the dishes and watched as my four little children played together in the backyard.

I wanted to remember this scene when they are grown and moved away...something to remember them by...

Oct. 5th Day 275

Norah and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for when "her kids" got home from school.  We ate them out on the front lawn on a blanket...it was pleasantly warm today.

Oct. 4th Day 274

Sam was so excited to show this ship he built to his dad.  He made it just for him and spent a good deal of time on it.  We love seeing all the new creations these children come up with!

Oct,3rd Day 273

She sits with my scriptures and sings, following with her finger, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me"

Complete with pigtails, my heart is full...

Oct, 2nd Day 272

It is General Conference weekend.  We hooked up our laptop to our tv and the kids made a conference area complete with snacks, blankets and activities....this is a photo of them in their conference tent (minus the tent)

Oct. 1st Day 271

I finally finished my scrapbooking table!!  I am so excited to create wonderful things in this room!  Thank you Michaela for inspiring me to use a door for the top, and cheap shelves for the sides!  Woohoo!

Sept 30 Day 270

Anna and Braylee set up a very special tea party for everyone.  The boys had to dress fancy and use good manners.  They even made invitations.  "we would love it if you came to our tea party if you are, please dress fancy: tie, pants, nice shirt, If you are not, have fun somewhere else.  But we do hope you come. Well, the girls will be waiting fro you.  From Anna and Braylee. 

Sept 29 Day 269

Here is baby Gracelyn, Tandra's 4 week old baby.  She smells divine, and is just as precious as she looks!

Day 268 Sept 28

We went to Grand Pre and visited the museum that teaches about the deportation of the Acadians.  It was so beautiful!

Sept 27, Day 267

Woohoo!  I took my family to Cora's!  They had never been there.  It was, as always, delectable!

Sunday Sept 26 Day 266

We wanted to take some photos of Grandma with her 8 grandchildren.  Let's just say, the only reason they are all looking and smiling is because there is a crazy assistant beside me doing something upside down involving acrobatic skills.  Thank goodness for crazy assistants.

Sept 25 Day 265

We picked some mini, but awesome, corn at Dempsey's corner and Norah and Stephan shucked it on the deck.  Have I said it before how much I love my husband?  Oh, good, because he is amazing!!  I think one of the things I love most about you Stephan is that you involve our children in everything you do, you teach them, play with them, work with them, and love them.  You respect them, you are their friend.  You will always be the best example to me of treating our children as our greatest assets, which of course, they are.

Sept 24 Day 264

We went to Hall's Harbour today and ate fish 'n'chips at the little outdoor cafe.  Norah spilled her orange juice all over mom's shorts, and we got to see fishing boats coming in, and live lobsters playing in their water cubicles.

Sept 23 Day 263

This is my little niece Kenidee.  She has such a timeless, innocent face.  If someone was to try to recreate a photo from the 1800's she would be the one to choose, she just looks like she belongs from long ago...

And this is Miss Norah trying to get Kenidee to smile...

Sept 22 Day 262

Grandma really wanted to do a spa night with all the girls...it was very cute...
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