Some More Nostalgic Shots

Since my i heart faces linky was deleted in last weeks entry, I thought I would share some more pictures that did not make it with all of you. Not like I ever had a chance of winning anyways, but I was still a little bit disappointed. I have no idea what happened and I even commented and got no response. I was sure I had done Mr. Linky correctly and even tested it... hmmm! Just for that I will not be entering on Monday! LOL Actually I will not be entering anyhow because I do not have an editing software yet (at least one I had to pay money for) so I am waiting for the back to school entry, which I am very excited about. I actually take Lilly to her new school on Wednesday to meet her teacher -- she is so excited!

The Very Brave (scratch that) Clueless Cashier

At Walmart the other night with all three girls, Abigail decided she would have a little tantrum in line. She was crying for a treat. I said to her over and over in my calm, collected mother voice "Abigail, if you are a good girl, you can have a treat when we get home. But Abigail, little girls who cry do not get treats." Clearly she was very tired but trust me even if she hadn't been Abigail is known for throwing fits while we are out. She like to through them even until we get to the car so that every person passing either rolls their eyes in disgust or smiles with sympathy. I prefer the later and always smile at passing patrons regardless of their reaction and completely ignoring my child. Anyhow, so here we are in the line up (Liam extremely embarrassed as usual) I glance at the cashier and smile saying "It is funny, because she has never got a treat for that kind of behaviour yet, but she insists on trying!" The cashier (younger than me and clearly no children) says "Well, sometimes it works." My response "Not with us as parents" {smile}. Then, she proceeds to start speaking to Abigail. I swear it was if she was trying to get the whole stores attention because anyone in our line and the two next to us all got quiet to listen to her speak. " Do, you really need a treat? Do you really need a treat?" She asked my crying child as she suddenly hid behind her Dad. I watched in awe wondering what on earth she could say next and then it came. " I don't think you need a treat and it doesn't look like you are being a very good girl, are you? And little girls who are bad do not get treats!" Stunned I stared at her and she said "Well, I guess that worked." since all was quiet. What she didn't realize was that everyone stood in amazement as this cashier spoke to a customers daughter that way and all was quiet. I ignored the behavior as I did my child's and we left the store stunned. Once we reached the van I asked Liam if he thought she noticed how everyone around us stood quiet and in shock from her behaviour, but he doubted she did. That brave (scratch that), clueless cashier may have not thought about what she was saying and clearly we doubt she will ever realize how unacceptable her behavior was.

Remember, we were in Walmart. I see screaming and crying children all of time who do not get what they want. Remember as an outsider to mind your own business please and let the parents deal with the situation. Thank you very much {smile}.

i heart faces -- Nostalgia

Nostalgic for me is watching my Gramma do anything at all with my children. It brings back very fond memories of my childhood. I am thankful that my girls are lucky enough to have Gramma in their lives and I am thankful that they are so close and will always remember her.

When I was little I use to spend hours with Gramma doing laundry. She would let me help wash, and hang and fold the laundry. My favourite part of all was helping her to hang the clothes on the line. I loved handing her the clothes pegs and I loved the smell of the laundry afterwards.

Here is my Grandmother {86 years young} hanging laundry on my line {since she no longer has her own}. It may have been a staged shot {smile} but Gramma, she took her job very seriously. In the end I think I liked the shot best when I got her to glance and smile at the camera. She laughed and said "Who ever smiles while they do laundry?". My response "You do Gramma, and that is why I loved doing it with you."

If you would like to see every ones nostalgic photographs, head on over to i heart faces and check them out -- like now!

All I Want For Christmas

You guessed it! My two front teeth {and not me of course -- I already have mine}! Exciting news -- Tessa has her two bottom teeth poking through the gums! I cannot wait to take some pictures once they are in. I love once those first teeth are in. Their little smiles have so much more character!

I have some great ideas for this weeks theme at i heart faces, but I am not sure I am going to have a chance to get them done. I have Declan tomorrow and Tuesday this week and the pictures involve dear Gramma. I think even if I miss out on entering I may still try and post some pictures with her in them. Lots of great memories with her :)

Anyhow this short and sweet post has now ended. More exciting posts to come soon I hope {smile}

Wednesday Art Fun!

Marshmallows + Finger Paint + Dry Pasta + Paper + Cardboard = Wednesday Art Fun!

And {clean} marshmallow and chocolate treats after.

Man, Tessa sure misses out on all the fun doesn't she?

In due time sweet Tess. In due time :)

{not so} tiny Tess

{not so} tiny Tess

sports two tiny tails

atop her tangle-free

tete {insert accent that looks like roof ^ over the first 'e' in tete}

Camp Out

Okay, okay!

Not really a camp out.

More like a 10 minute marshmallow roasting fest.

The mosquitoes were mad.

The girls had a ton of bites...

On their little faces.

But, boy oh boy those marshmallows were tasty!

And the little girl who missed the roast...

She was free of bites in the morning.

Last night I asked Liam if there was some way we could roast some leftover marshmallows in the house. He said I was crazy! If only marshmallow roasting could be bug free...

Upper Canada Village

Lets just say it -- I loved Upper Canada Village. Through all the crying, the heat, the inconsolable children... I loved it! It was so fluffing hot when we went and it seemed like there was absolutely no getting out of the sun there. But, you can guess... I loved it {smiles} I loved all of the animals. I loved the beautiful setting. I loved the old buildings. I loved the people all in their olden' day attire doing olden' day work -- like making yarn, riding horse and carriage, using a sithe (sp?) to cut weeds, baking in a kitchen on a fire (no stove), having a classroom with chalkboards and chalk. I loved it all!

I think the girls enjoyed it too, but may have been a little agitated by the heat. I think they would have enjoyed it much more had it been cooler. They were able to do some activities that were fun. I could not get Lilly to pose for the camera dressed up for the life of me. It was too hot. Did I say how stinkin' hot it was? But -- I loved it there!

i heart faces -- Bubbles

I am sure this is just a typical bubble photo and not quite as creative or out of the box that everyone is looking for this week. BUT, I LOVE this photo! I love that Tessa's sweet little face can be seen through the bubble and I love the setting in the grass and the barn in the background.

How about you head on over to i heart faces now and see the awesome entires this week! I know you will not be disappointed. There is much talent there. Promise. Really!

Old McDonald Had a Farm

One of the visits we made while we were Ottawa bound this week was Valley View Farm. It was a great place to take the kids and the animals were super friendly. I have to say I have never been very fond of goats -- but these goats were so sweet and lovable and loved to be loved on!

Look at this sweet little girl so in love with loving on the loved to be loved on goats...

Even the deer came up to check things out -- well at least this one did. All of the other deer kind of jumped away and hid.

Love this shot!

Liam has a thing with windmills so I took this picture for him and I love how it turned out also.

Outside of one of the many barns we could explore in Abigail thought she would pose (scream for) the camera -- Can you guess her problem? That seat she was on was smokin' hot!

And -- for my favourite part of the visit... the donkeys! I love these creatures endlessly and was reminded quickly just how badly I want one. They were so sweet and very lovable as well. I had to go and try to catch up with Liam and the girls because I was far to busy loving on these sweet animals!

And to end our visit we took a train ride through the crops (noticing soy is the new hugest crop). I think Tessa quite enjoyed her ride. Although, it could have been that digging of the train bell Lilly was doing that distracted her :)

Lots more to come! Most importantly our visit to Upper Canada Village. We also visited Saunders Farms which was really neat and had some pretty cool play structures for the kiddos to play on. I may or may not post about that adventure... we will see. Have a fantastic week everyone!

Monkey See Monkey Do

Well, here we are back home after a VERY busy week. Lots of posts to come with many pictures of course.

On Tuesday we took the girls to the Toronto zoo. I remember the last time Liam and I were there (probably last year) we said we would definitely avoid the Canadian and American trails next visit, because who wants to look at deer and moose when you have seen them a lot before and in order to see them you have miles of walking to do in the extreme heat and way too many hills to climb! We did avoid them this year. I think we also said it wasn't even too much fun and maybe we would avoid the zoo all together from now on. Ha! There we were again in the hot, grinning and bearing it for the girls. Man it was hot! Lilly was all about seeing the monkeys and all she kept asking us was if she ran quickly enough could she avoid being hit by the poop they were likely to throw in her direction! Only my child! LOL We didn't witness any poop throwing, but we did see a monkey pick his bum and then smell it! Monkeys are all about class you know. And then we kept seeing signs everywhere saying that humans and monkeys are %98 alike. This got us a little upset, because when we saw the apes they looked so sad. Here we all were standing and staring at them locked in these cages. If they were anything like us they would hate us staring at them. They would be bored out of their minds and have nothing better to do then... say pick their bums and smell it. I know this is quite a rant but I am thinking this may have been our last visit to the zoo ever -- or until we entirely forget how we felt about it this visit and go next year.

Here are two of my favourite monkeys!

This is the only half decent shot I got of any of the monkeys. They were always in cages making it hard to get a good picture.

I really love the elephants. Beautiful animals. They were spraying themselves with dirt to cool off.



This was a first for us. Walking free around the zoo was this peacock and her babies. Lilly almost walked right into her.

Clearly my girls are having the time of their lives and the guy guiding the camel -- well, not so much! I told you it was really HOT!

The highlight of our day was the very end. We visited Sting Ray Bay (a new section of the zoo). We got to pet sting rays! Lilly was not so into the smell (it was fishy) but Abigail loved it and could have spent the day there petting them. Here is my last picture from our visit... not too exciting but a memory caught for us so Abigail can remember her love of sting rays.

Anyhoo, I am completely beat. Need to rest -- like now. See you tomorrow to share some farm visits from our trip to Ottawa! Night all!