Update on my camera

WOOHOO!  My camera battery charger is IN THE COUNTRY!!  After 2.5 weeks, it finally escaped Canada.  Of course, tracking doesn't tell me WHERE in the US it is.  It just says that as of 12:12 am this morning, it entered the good ol' US of A.  It's on the move.  It's about dang time.

ADDENDUM:
Apparently, my package entered the country through MISSISSAUGA, Ontario.  This is south and east of us by about 712 miles.  Given that it's coming west from Calgary....  you MISSED US, Canadian Post!  Should've dropped it off from the airplane on it's way over.  And now that it's actually in the states, it's "location unknown".  But within 1000 miles!!  MAYBE, just maybe, I'll have a camera for the boys' birthday coming up!! 

Full Bloom

My irises exploded into full bloom today.  They have bloomed in the past, but I don't remember them ever being so plentiful, so heavily laden.  Several of the stems actually fell to the ground, there were so many blooms.  I had to prop them up on nearby plants.  The lupins are also in bloom, and the fields are full of daisies.  The garden is WAYYY behind schedule (knee high by the 4th of July?  Not even close!) but everything surprisingly DID germinate.  We're just on track to harvest around November or so.  Beets, carrots, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, zuchini.... it's all in there, in teeny tiny form.  How I LOVE summer here.  How I WISH it lasted more than a few days at a time.

?&%* Canucks

I have been without my good camera since Mother's day, as the battery charger is on the fritz.  I ordered a new one soon after.  It's almost July, and I STILL haven't gotten it.  Know why???  The Canadian Urban Postal Workers Association.  Yup.  The Union.  Is on strike, with no end in sight.  Near as I can figure, they went on strike the millisecond my package entered the post office in Calgary.  And now my charger is stuck in the land of polar bears.  HOW in the world has Canada gotten by with NO MAIL for three weeks????    How are Canadians supposed to get their credit card offers and dentist appointment reminders????   I mean, yeah, they DO have cell phones, email, facebook, Twitter, satellite tv and online news.   They might  be able to communicate by other means.  I guess. My two cents on this scenario is this: get off your high horse, Mr. Urban Canadian Postal Worker.  You're shooting yourself in the foot.  If people realize that they can go months on end without the mail - they just might get USED to it.  The post office would become irretrievably irrelevant, and disappear.  So, while you're holding out for the big bucks,  and making some American Mom REALLY angry by not allowing her the means to catch precious summer moments on film.... you're ALSO working yourself right out of a job.  Forever.  Way to think that through.

SHEESH.

((Step down from soapbox here))

It's beautiful.  Which is why I want to take pictures.  Because any moment, I have this dreaded feeling that the SNOW IS GOING TO COME BACK.  Sure, it's 80 degrees at the moment.  But tomorrow?  We'll be needing our stormy kromers again.  So I borrowed my husband's camera (shhhhhhh), and took these this afternoon. 

My irises are ALMOST ready to bloom!!!  Full glory is just days away.  I better have a battery charger for my camera by then, or I'll be steamed.

Reagan's First Fish!!!

The clouds have parted, the rain has ceased, and summer just MIGHT be here.  Finally.  Rob took the kids out fishing this afternoon.  Colby reportedly snagged  a 24" (at least, by all reports :)) doozy, but alas - it got away.  I wasn't there, but there were apparently witnesses.  And little miss Reagan caught her first fish, compliments of a worm and a Cars-themed toy fishing pole.  She was pretty dang excited!!

Happy Father's Day!!!!

We're very blessed in this family. We've been blessed to have been raised by fathers who were present, involved, and dedicated to their families.  Fathers who taught by their constant example of selflessness, hard work, and devotion to their spouse.  Growing up, Rob and I both thought we came from "normal" families.  The families we grew up in were anything BUT normal.  We are the exception, unfortunately, not the rule.  We are blessed.

I am further blessed to have married a man who loves his children intensely, is dedicated to their well-being, and who provides an example of hard work and committment.   I thank God that He chose Rob for me, to be the father of our children. 

Thank you, Dads, for the gift your are to us!!!

Bribery at the Park

It's getting harder and harder to take pictures of my children.  Well, first off, my good camera has been on the blink for a month, which has been KILLING ME.  I've had to rely on my iPod camera, which is okay, but far from great.  On top of that,  the children keep being adorable and picturesque, and then RUNNING AWAY as soon as they see the camera!  Little turkeys!  You're supposed to stay adorable and picturesque until I can dig around in my purse, find the iPod, switch it to the right setting, and capture the dang moment!  Ha.  Right.  Today, a beautiful sunny day at the park, I had to bribe the hooligans, as they kept running away screaming.  I promised the boys that whoever was cutest would get a special dessert tonight for dinner.  That did the trick.  Suddenly, I had all the models I could handle, posing and smiling, and being cooperative.  See, if I make anything a competition, I get results.

After this photo shoot, two little boys  and one short girl  all got homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.  

BLAST OFF!

Our first rocket launch with the Cub Scouts!!!  Pretty cool, pretty cool.  Those rockets were reportedly hitting altitudes of up to 300 feet!  Parachutes deployed appropriately, and surprisingly, our Elmer's glue held things together.  Colby's rocket ended up somewhere in the woods, and we were unable to find it afterwards.  That was a tough pill to swallow for the little boy, but his brother let him fire off his rocket a few extra times to make up for it.

 Poor Colby.  That's one very distraught little boy looking in the woods for his rocket!  Alas, it was not to be found. 

Rocket Construction

 Tomorrow is the big rocket launch for Cub Scouts, so the boys and I constructed these two humdingers. Having boys MAKE a rocket, but not PLAY with a rocket, is near impossible, and there was lots of "no no no", and "don't TOUCH IT!" as we had to reglue some parts on up to seven times. Fun times.

First Day of Summer Vacation

First day of summer break, and I was determined that we would start out on the right foot.  Well, "the right foot" started out FOR us, as our power went out....again.... due to a huge windstorm.  There goes the temptation to sit in front of the tv or computer!!!  There goes mom's attention towards mopping, laundry, and dishes!  It could not have been better timing. 

As soon as the boys woke up, we came up with a schedule for the day.  Breakfast, pick up bedrooms, make beds, a little math, a little play-doh for hand strengthening, a little penmanship and journal writing, followed by "recess" and lunch, quiet reading time, arts and crafts (bird seed hanging ornaments for our trees outside), picking up the basement, and then recess again.  Dinner, visit with the cousins, then a family movie night.  WHEW!!!  Holy cow.  WE DID IT!  We had a successful first day, with NO fighting, NO mischief, and lots of constructive play.  Problem is, I'm exhausted.  And the mopping, laundry, and dishes still aren't done - even now that we have power. 

I'm finding that I can EITHER be a successful mother, OR a housemaid.  Not so good at being both, and it's a constant strugle to find a balance.  I am almost jealous of nannies, whose job it is soley to raise the kids, without all the other stuff getting in the way. 

We'll really see how long I can keep up all this structure ;).