Gramma Sadie

The kids and I left for Montreal last Saturday and did the 14hour drive to Antigonish...Darryl's home town. We stayed the night with his parents and then headed to Mabou...my hometown...on Sunday morning. I was in a hurry to get home as my Gramma Sadie (turning 96 in September!)was going down hill quickly and I wanted see her. My Mom and I spent about 7hours with her on Sunday and she passed away Sunday night. I am so thankful that I had the chance to see her one more time. She was the glue that held my Mom's family together and she will be greatly missed by her 10 children, her 45 grandchildren, her 92 great grandchildren, and her 12 great great grandchildren. My sister wrote a little something that was posted at the wake and it was perfect:

Gramma Sadie

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  Thank you for our homemade mittens that all 45 grandchildren received each Christmas. You wrapped each pair with love and homemade tags. The day after Christmas you began the new mittens for the next years gifts.


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  Thanks for allowing us to play with your collection of buttons (and take some home) while you sewed on your fancy sewing machine that didn't need electricity. It was amazing to watch your fancy footwork keep that needle stitching.


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  Thanks for making each grandchild feel special by granting each of us a place of honour in your graduation "Hall of Fame". (once you graduated, your picture was put up on the wall. I couldn't wait to get on that wall!!)


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  Thank you for sharing your many talents with us. Many of us have mastered the "Scrabble" board and improved our playing skills simply from listening to you say, "Are you going to challenge me?" We all know that you secretly memorized the dictionary when nobody was around.


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  Thank you for the quilts you made. They will be treasured for years and generations to come.


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  Thank you for always being happy to see each and everyone of us when we frequented your doorway. You always made each of us feel welcomed!


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  Thank you for always being kind and open-minded. There was never any judgement.


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  Thank you for always making room for each of us at Christmas when everyone came to visit at the same time!


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  Thank you to you and Grampa Hughie for making all those blue eyes sparkle! We're all proud to carry on the blue eyes...those who didn't get them are probably just a little jealous! (which I am cause I didn't get them and they are beautiful!) :)

Having a family funeral and a family wedding a week a part isn't ideal but I think Gramma would want us all to have some fun. She was truly an amazing lady that loved life and loved everyone around her. She was always so happy and we will miss her so much. But, now she is at peace.

Love you.

Well hello folks... it has been a while since our last post. There are no excuses really. We have just been quite busy with work, kids activities and looking for a home. Also it seems that Montreal is not quite as exotic as Australia (some might say... sorry Montreal) so we have let the posting slide a little.

The good news is we have a few videos instead of pictures. Both Shamus and Breagha had small graduation celebrations and part of the festivities was having a little concert with the kids. We thought it was pretty cute! They both did a mixture of french and english songs. Check them out!

Shamus' class was so cute doing all the actions to the song. They put a lot of practice in for this concert.

Below is Breagha's first highland dancing appearance. She was a little nervous but everything went really well.

I love Breagha's solo in this. Stacey laughed at me because I watched it like six times. I was so amazed that she was really on beat! Time to hit the pageant circuit (ok maybe not) :)

P.S. the video quality is a little crappy... Breagha is the one in the black and white polka dots with pink belt.

I hope you enjoyed these!

It's Just a Blur!!

Hmmm, I started this post 2 weeks ago and can't seem to get it finished! So, I'll just have to give a brief update for now but we hope to post a video soon...Breagha was in her first concert! :)

Where did May go?? Where did June go? It truly feels like the days are flying by! And it is a blur!! We've been so busy that I don't know where to start! May had my birthday and Mothers Day - both wonderful. Especially my yummy lobster. And my Michael Kors. :) Thanks Baby. Darryl got to do his mountain biking at Mt. Bromont. Had his Fathers Day pampering. We also had trips into Ottawa for birthday fun. We went to the Eastern Townships with Mike, Mireille, and the boys. Love it there!!!!! It was so great to get away. I'd love to post some pics (our blog is my memory box:) someday soon!

And it's full swing of soccer season - Darryl and I are both coaching (assisting). Still have swimming lessons each week, karate class (taking July/Aug off), and Breagha is dancing in the Montreal Highland Games next month!! And between all this, Darryl has gone to Toronto twice and Vancouver for work, doing long days, and we've been squeezing in a new workout routine! I've also joined a hot yoga class with a friend so I rush out the door around 8pm to make the class. Plus, Breagha's preschool graduation, year end school parties (and you have to bake for everything), Breagha's daycare year end party, karate year end party, kid birthday parties (all the time!), and finalizing summer camp details (pay for pre/post camp, buy lunches?...)

This is why things are a blur at the moment! It can be overwhelming. I don't know how my brother and his family does this craziness for most of the year! I get up at 530am most days and our days are extremely busy...so going to bed late...not a lot of sleep.

I'm happy to say that I have a week off soon! I took next week off to celebrate Shamus finishing his first year of school! He's done very well and we're looking forward to the week off together. With Miss Breagha of course. We plan to have some fun outside the city and then we're going camping at a waterpark on the Thursday until Sunday. Darryl's coming along and my brother with his crew. It looks like lots of family fun. Thennnnn, on the way back from camping, we're dropping the kids off at my brothers for the week!! Eeeeeeek! I'm happy the kids will get a week with my brother and his family....and no summer camp...sleep in...but I'm a little freaked out too because we've never sent the kids off anywhere before. We've only been away from them when we went to NYC but Darryl's parents stayed with the kids at our house. Besides that, we've had a night to ourselves 2-3 times but never the kids off somewhere and we stay at home! I'm sure they'll be great and it will be nice for Darryl and I to be able to just go to work and not be rushed to drop off/pick up kids. Still a little freaky though!

So, we have lots of pictures to post but it's tough to get the time. Sitting at the computer at 9pm is the last thing I feel like doing! I'm sure most people understand that! ;) But, I will try to get pics posted because I do look at the blog as a "memory box" for us!

I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of summer! We've been getting wonderful weather so I hope it continues next week! Please be sunny on Canada Day weekend!

Get your motor running.....

We are a little late posting this but oh well! We decided a couple weekends ago to take advantage of the beautiful weather and give Shamus a chance at learning to ride a two wheeler. That's right! No more training wheels!

I think it is safe to say that he surprised us and himself at how fast he caught on. He did it his first try. I ran with him for the first five meters, holding his seat. I let go and he was off. I pretended to hold on for his sake but he was riding solo. When I told him that I had let go "way back at the start" he was pretty pleased. I told him to try again and he did it all on his own. It was pretty exciting (for him and Stace and I). Check it out below:

Breagha saw how well Shamus did so she thought... "pfffft if he can do it... so can I". She asked to try without her training wheels. After supper we removed B's training wheels and tried her out in the parking lot at the back of our building. Let's just say that she needs a little more practice. She loved to look at her feet or her handle bar tassels or her shirt or the flowers passing by or her feet. Everywhere but straight ahead. I think we'll keep the training wheels on for at least the first part of the summer and see how it goes.

Ok, Mama, Here you go!

It's been a while!! I know.
My mother has been bugging me for about 2 weeks now to get a post up!

Here you go Mama.

She specifically requested a pic of Breagha in her kilt (B loves her kilt for dance class) and pic of Shamus in his karate gear. She did also request a pic of our new car (new to us) but I haven't gotten to that yet. But, we are loving it! :)

Breagha sporting her fancy kilt. She's super cute dancing in it.

And Shamus getting his blue belt. Quite a big deal. He was in his first karate tournament yesterday so pics are coming up...

We really love his instructors. They're great with the kids.

And his buddies.

We celebrated Easter in April but we also celebrated Purdy's birthday!!! I booked a babysitter for the Saturday before his birthday so Darryl and I got to enjoy a nice evening out...great food too!! For his birthday, we had a nice evening at home. Darryl requested seafood chowder for his birthday dinner (we each get to pick our bday dinner) and then of course we enjoyed some cake and ice cream!!

We got him a couple of silly gifts (which the kids loved) but we also booked him a day of mountain biking at Mt. Bromont. It's a skihill outside Montreal that offers mountain biking in the spring/summer/fall. And the day pass includes a 90minute bike lesson, an awesome bike, all the gear, and transportation. It's a full day on the hill so hopefully Darryl will enjoy a day to himself and the beautiful hill.

Love you baby!!

April was busy for us!! (the reason for no posts...)
We also enjoyed an afternoon of bowling! It was the kids first time and they really liked it. Their friend, Matteo, turned 6 and the party was at a bowling alley.

The balls were super heavy for the kiddies so Breagha needed some assistance. :)

We also squeezed in a day at the Sucre D'erable. The sugar shack! We went with our friends Mike and Mireille, and I was really surprised with all the things to do. The kids kept busy with train rides, wagon rides, climbing structures, jumping structures, petting farm, etc.

The taffy was just a minor part of the day...

The 4 wheelers were the highlight of the day!!!

Shamus and Jason rippin' up the track!
Poor little Maddox was very upset that he was too little to have a turn. :(
Next year!

Breagha took her time, was very cautious, but still managed to drive into a bale of hay!

Annnnnnd, the biggest excitement for Shamus in the past week was...
losing his first tooth!

It's funny how such little things are such BIG things when it's the "first" time. Shamus was so proud and excited. And of course he made a few bucks from the tooth fairy! The best part!

And finally, the karate tournament!
Shamus did kata's for the tournament. No fighting but he said that he wants to do a fighting match next time. We'll see...not sure.

We were very proud. He got up in front of the judges and did his thing. And did very well.

He got 4th in his division which means he got a medal, but no trophy.
He really wanted a trophy (I think because they were so big) but it was his first time so he'll have to keep practicing and maybe next time!

Some of the boys in the club.

Ah, that's a quick summary of the last month.
I think one of the highlights for me was Easter weekend. And funny because we have no pics of it! We went to Ottawa and had such a wonderful time.

I'm really having a tough time keeping up with the blog lately. Darryl and I actually forget we have it some weeks! But, I want to keep it up, even just for myself, for another couple of more months. It will be a great journal down the road for the kids. The only problem is that it's difficult to keep up. We have so much going on but I don't drag the camera around with me everywhere I go, and I can't remember every little thing that happens each week. Like Shamus' report card! Just thought of it now...and that was a big deal! He did really well. And the kids in swimming they're doing great. Even Breagha is really enjoying it! So, I'll have to figure something out.

For now, this is good! :)

A Typical Evening...

So, a typical evening at our place, if we aren't running off to karate or dance, is having the kids enjoy some play time or getting some homework done. They really are at a fun age right now and it's nice to have some quiet evenings at home!

Breagha lovvvves her accessories...especially if it means wearing my shoes!
My new boots go up to her hips and she can look quite stylish while cooking in her kitchen! And she walks better in heels than I do!

Shamus has really grown up the last few months. He just looked so cute sitting at the table doing homework. He doesn't love doing homework but he is enjoying school. And he is doing very well...a little sponge when he is learning something new.

It will be great to have the kids back at the same place. Breagha's very keen on getting to school and Shamus is excited to "show her around".

One more thing about our evenings...
...We get the best sunsets. I haven't been able to take a great shot but I will work on it. I'm surprised how often the sky is super red when the sun goes down. It's really impressive to see and so peaceful.

We're supposed to get some warm weather this week. We're all getting excited for it! Dug out the scooters and bikes so bring it on!

Loving the Family Time!

We were so lucky to have spent time with our families last weekend!! It was wonderful! Everyone has such busy schedules but it all worked out great.

We headed into Ottawa on Saturday and spent the day at the Science Museum and Cosmic Adventures...with Darryl's sister, Kelly, her family (visiting from NovaScotia), Darryl's sister, Tracy, and her crew, and with my brothers crew! It was great to see everyone. We also squeezed in some birthday celebrations for Tracy on Saturday night. Even big brother Shawn joined us! ;) With his lady friend. It was great.

Sunday was more family time between Duane's and Tracy's. We arrived back in Montreal around 930pm on Sunday night but we were so happy to have seen everyone. We're very lucky to have Ottawa close by!

I've also registered Shamus for summer camps. I'm pretty happy. Out of 9 weeks of summer vacation Shamus will be at camp for 4 of them. I like that. Summer camp is great but I don't want his whole summer to be about waking up early! I have the last week of June off and we plan to do some camping/outdoor water parks. The next week he and little sister will go to Ottawa to hang with their cousins, then 4 weeks of camp (with swimming lessons everyday - his favorite part), and then the last 3 weeks will be in Nova Scotia. So, it's all figured out and it better not change! Takes a while to sort it all out. Especially with a new job.

Shamus and Breagha are also registered for summer soccer. They're both pretty excited about it. ...did I mention that kids are expensive...what we could do with all that extra money!! Good thing we love them so much!

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on my last post. It's great to get other ideas/views on things. Thanks!!!! Hope everyone enjoyed a green beer for St. Paddy's Day!