Week 9 Day 3 - Sunday, July 12th - More houses and nature walks

We took our time getting ready for church this morning and I checked online for new listings and gave calls/wrote e’mails to them all. Then we headed out. We were early again since the Youth Band’s Worship Team was doing the service. Arnold always does sound for them. Anyway I went to the nursery again with the boys and we hung around there and I got a phone call. I thought it was Arnold because I had just texted him but it was someone I had emailed earlier before we went to church. He gave me the information for his house and we arranged a time to go and see it. 12:30 that day. We would head over right after church to see it. He did warn me it was getting painted so it might not look 100% and I told him that was fine.

After church was over I went to the library and got more of my books (I LOVE these ones really I do! You should read them!) as well as a few DVD’s for the kids. I met Arnold up by the van and we quickly headed out to the first house.

This is the one that we found before church. It was a whole house. The front was nicely manicured and inside the front door we met the owners’ parents and the owner. They were all working on painting the house and getting it ready for the new tenants. From what we understood the floors were all carpet (you couldn’t see since there were drop sheets everywhere). When you walk in the front door behind it is the front closet (bonus it has a door, bad bonus it opens funny). Then to the right you walk into the living room and dining room. It’s one large room. There is a main window at the front that is nice with two windows on the sides you can open. If you walked to the dining room and went to the left you would enter into a ‘mini hallway’. There was one room to the left, a bathroom, VERY small linen closet (one that couldn’t be more than 8 to 12 inches deep with a crap load of shelves in it) and then to the right is the ‘master bedroom’. There is a window there that looks out onto the deck and back yard. The closet is SO small and slants because of the stairs going to the basement. If you were back in the dining room and went straight instead of to the left you would find the small kitchen. It is beautiful. Newly redone and everything is so nice, but a very SMALL kitchen. I don’t think you could have more than 2 people in there at once. The cupboards are normal size until you reach the end of the kitchen (it kind of goes in an L shape so you walk in hit the fridge, if you turn to your right and walk 5 big steps and then turn to your left and go another 2 big steps you are at the backdoor). Those cupboards are a bit smaller (think the linen closet I just talked about) and are from top to bottom. The door goes to the back yard onto the deck. Still in the house, if you go to the left at the door instead of going on the deck, you would fall down some stairs, steep stairs. At the bottom is the laundry. Newer units but still kind of funny to figure out. Then there are some old kitchen cupboards overtop of it. Beside it is another kitchen. And a chest freezer. In the basement is a hallway and right across from the kitchen is the family room with a small gas fireplace. Walking down the hall on the left is the bathroom and then a bit further (on the other side of the wall from the bathroom) is the AC unit and heater and water heater. Across from that (on your right) is the 3rd bedroom. There is a tiny place for storage by the AC/heater/water heater unit. Not that big at all but maybe enough for about 5 or 6 Rubbermaid containers.

Anyway in the backyard is a deck with a 2 car garage (one door to open) and a small yard. The yard is fenced in so that’s a bonus (even over the driveway). It is a very nice house.

So the back-story is that when we pulled up I told Arnold if it was nice inside I wanted the house. We walked in and I squeezed his hand. We looked around the whole house and checked everything out and then Arnold and I went back in and looked in a few rooms and talked quietly. The Owners mom was out in the backyard with the boys playing around (she suggested it). We said we wanted it. So when we told the owner he said, you know take your time ect… I told him that we had seen a lot of houses and we wanted this one. He said to e’mail him and give him some references and we would go from there. So we left and went to check out the other houses. We did stop at the grocery store and found a few more places we were looking for and then stopped at a park and had a picnic there. It was a lot of fun. I read some of my books and the boys got to play for a bit.

We went from there and found another 2 houses and had tours. Well townhomes. They were BAD. One was being lived in and they didn’t look like they were ever leaving and the other one was SO smelly and dirty and when you opened the garage we found bottles of beer and bags and bags and bags of garbage.

We had made an appointment to look at one more house on Monday night and even though we knew we wanted the whole house we wanted to keep our options open so Arnold was going to check it out the next day and I was going to send off some references to the guy soon. We got our youth pastor, a friend of mine and my parents (since they were our latest ‘landlords’ that spoke English!).

We got home and had a bit of a break and some supper and went off on our nature walk. The kids had a blast doing that. Here are some photos from it:

Random Thoughts - June 26th

I thought it was time for another Random Thoughts post! It has been a month since my last one. This one will include things we haven't posted in here yet:

*we started 'house hunting' for us. We aren't buying anymore because things have been so crazy with our money and the downpayment we are going to rent again. I have been checking around and a friend of mine is going to come with me to check them out (no dragging the kids all over). Hopefully we can find something. I'm aiming for a house by August 15th. Sept 1st is the latest I will go. We are looking for something for at least a year and 3/4. We would like to do this again but want to wait a summer. We need 1 summer in a house so we can keep up with the saving aspect and hopefully do this (but at a different campground) and then move into our own house! *fingers crossed*

*I'm so glad we started up Bible Study for the girls and I again. I have missed it so much, I have totally missed being in on whats going on in everyones lives!

*Yesterday the boys were very 'artistic' I guess you could say. Before we went to the zoo I found lipstick on my car. I had to use a tissue to get it off. Then before we went to Auntie Kristina's and Uncle Tim's the kids got ahold of some markers that were in the van and coloured all over the dash. I later found out it wasn't just the dash but the stearing wheel and the seats.

*oh and to add to everything else Quinton put about 13.00 of loonies and toonies into the tape deck. This kid will be the death of me.

*Our friendly 'coon has come to visit us a few time in the past month. Generally there are enough campers around to make things 'interesting' for them and not worth getting into our RT

*Kyler is now calling the trailer his 'home'. I think it's cute.

*we still get funny looks with living here but hey, its fun!

*I think Arnold and I might take a walk around the park tonight. There are some cool tents out. I'll see if we can get a couple shots for everyone.

*I'm beginning to think it might actually be time to put away some of the 'winter blankets' that we have in the trailer. It's getting so warm at night that it's hard to sleep with all that heat around us. Hopefully we can figure out just what we are going to do and get it done.

*There is still a bit of organizing to be done in the trailer to make things liveable after the water damage from yesterday. I'm hoping to get most of it cleaned up and back to normal soon

*We are making progress, or at least continuing with potty training. The last few warm days we have had 'tiggers' on him and it seems to be going ok. Sometimes, at least once a day, he forgets that he has to take the OFF then pee. But that's ok.

I guess that's it for now!

Week 6 Day 5 - Tuesday, June 23rd, ST and special treats!

We had a quick morning hanging out and playing and then we headed off to Speech Therapy. All of us went (in other words Kyler, Quinton and I) this time. I had our babysitter, Rachel, meet us there. She finished up school the week before I think and was more than willing to make some extra cash. It worked out well for us.

It was another hot hot day so Rachel and Kyler were allowed to hang out in the Centre we go to for the Speech therapy. I did double check that if I left the babysitter here with Kyler was it ok. She said sure no problem so they played with some new toys and such the whole hour. They loved it!
I’ll post more about Q’s ST later.
After we were done we drove Rachel home, the roundabout way since I had to get some cash. When we dropped her off we headed home to hang out. The boys got a special treat by going to get the mail and then going to the pizza store! The pizza shop up the road was having a sale on their ready to go ones so we picked up one med cheese, and one med pepperoni pizza. The boys also got their special drinks as well. I tell yah, if you want to try something different as far as drinks go make sure you like it! K has such a great memory he got me a root beer at the pizza shop and I don’t normally drink them, just when we get pizza from there.

We got home and had lunch and hung out for a bit. It was nice to relax. We even shared the pizza with the electrician coming around checking all the boxes for water. Nap time happen shortly after that and we didn’t do much until Daddy got home. Here’s what the boys had to say about nap time:





And K just wanted his photo taken:




Arnold made supper and had a fire with the kids while I went out to Bible Study and chilled there with some girlfriends for a while.

I got home around 10 or so and Kyler was out. Quinton on the other hand was wide awake! He got some hugs and kisses from me and then I put him back to bed. He freaked. Arnold and I couldn’t figure out what was bothering him and then Arnold guessed it. I guess earlier that night the boys were walking back from the washrooms and Q saw the Raccoons and got scared. Normally when we get close (and they are out) one of us will take his hand so he is ok but for some reason he freaked out. We had left their ‘back’ window open so Kyler could check for monsters (last night) and tonight it was scaring Q. Arnold closed the window and then Q knocked right out.
 

Week 5 Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16th - Nana and Papa arrive

PHOTOS TO COME LATER ***I still have to upload them from the Zen so it will be a bit but I promise to post them later***

Since I am a bit behind I can tell you these last few days may not really make much sense, or have much grounding but I figured I should post them anyway.

Today my camera got a bit of a break. Our day started out with Daddy heading off to work a bit early and us chilling out. I cleaned/organized a bit and got ready for Trevor, the babysitter, to come and watch Kyler. Trevor showed up *just* at 10am and off Q and I went. Q was so upset about having to leave Trevor. They have a blast all the time. Q and I went to his Speech Therapy. It was cool. (more on that in the next post)

Once we were done Quinton and I headed off to Arnold’s work. We dropped off the meals I made Arnold the night before and took Arnold out for lunch. It was nice to get a few minutes alone. We even made use of what we learned in Tim’s with timbits! After saying goodbye we headed home. I did get a few second to stop and pick up some things we needed for supper at the store. When we got home Trevor and Kyler were watching a movie after a long bike ride. They had a lot of fun.

Once Trevor headed up to meet his mom for a ride home I put the boys down for a nap. I bribed them (yes you read that right) with telling them if they had a big sleep Nana and Papa would come. I didn’t lie I just couldn’t make it ‘unhappen’.

My parents arrived around 5pm I think. It was a lot longer than I thought but they said the highway was just crazy! They got here and started to get situated. I had to laugh because Dad had some serious issues getting the back wheel on the wood to make it level. Mom and I finally decided to give him his Father’s Day gift early. It’s these Lynx blocks. Kyler thinks they are big lego’s; which really, they look like it. Dad got a set of 8 or 10 I think and used those to help with their RV. It worked perfectly! I’m glad he is getting good use out of them!

We chilled out for a bit while I waited for Arnold to get home. He was running a bit late but it worked ok for us. We just hung out. I got supper ready about when he was getting home. We had Sour Cream chicken with rice and broccoli. It was really good. After supper Mom and I did dishes and headed out on a walk while Arnold and my Dad checked the van. I’m having issues with it and the AC so they check and I guess it’s working just not as ‘fast’ and as ‘cold’ as I want it. Oh well.

Once we had done our walk we started a fire! The kids were in heaven! They watched the fire for a bit and we did one last run up to the washrooms and back down again. It was time for bed but Nana made them go to her tent and get their faces washed. Silly us for not washing them.

We all headed off to bed about the same time. It worked out rather well actually. We were so tired!

Busy week!

Hey Readers!

It's a very busy week this week for us (as was the weekend).

This past weekend (as you may know by now) was so busy! We had a lot going on and it kept me away from the camera and computer at some points!

This week so far we are going to have a fun day by ourselves right now, then tonight we are going to Auntie Kristina's house to make some more meals for Daddy and have some pizza!

Tomorrow Quinton has his first Speech Therapy lesson in the morning and Nana and Papa are coming later in the day.

Wednesday, Nana and Papa are here and we have a soccer game, assuming the rain stops

Thursday, Nana and Papa leave and the boys and I might be doing the zoo (again hoping there is no rain)

Friday leads into our busy weekend (so hopefully we are doing nothing) and then Saturday and Sunday we are off to be 'Tourists in Toronto!'

So please forgive me in advance if I'm not able to get some updates but I promise they are coming!

Week 4 Day 5 - June 9th - fun fun

Today was going to be a no-photo day but the boys ended up ASKING for their photos taken… silly men!

Last night I was *sure* the raccoons were at it again but I guess I was wrong. Well partly. They were at it again, just not at our spot.

After the thunder and lightning we had last night I thought I heard them moving things around. If they did it wasn’t here. It was down a bit. Some college kids came in and were setting up camp way after dark. Well they ended up leaving ALL their food out and someone didn’t bungee the containers last night and sure enough, this morning it looked pretty bad!
Arnold headed off to work a bit late and I put in some of our stuff for supper. Tonight we are having ground beef, scalloped potatoes and diced tomatoes! Maybe Arnold will be lucky with leftover again.

The boys hung out in the trailer for about 45 minutes or so after Daddy left and eventually we all got dressed and headed outside. It was SO nice, a bit cloudy but a beautiful day! I took out my hammock and got to lay on there while the boys played around. Kyler kept going to ‘work’ with his packpack (cooler) and would work around the yard. Q was following him all over on the skateboard!

I did get a bit worried when I heard Kyler tell Quinton that putting stickers on this would make it feel better.
Here’s a photo, any one have ideas of what they put the stickers on?


These the kids thought Daddy’s bike might like, but since his bike wasn’t here they put them on the bike rack!




Just before lunch Kyler started squishing everything. Including this butterfly. The poor thing! I had to explain that just because something lands close to us doesn’t mean we should step on it.


The boys had lunch and made as many funny faces as they could!


I know that they love playing with their food now!




They came in and watched a veggie movie then back out (I was sure they would fall asleep after the movie but I guess not!). I found them playing outside like this when I called them in:


I put them down for a nap about 1 hour ago and closed the curtain. Something I haven’t done in a long time and now I remember why! They muck around when I can’t see them. They are still going at it. Oh well, this means a longer nap today!

Week 3 Day 7 - Thursday, June 4th - Laundry Day

Yah!! 2 nights in a row and I *think* we are winning. Arnold did end up outside at 5am because a box fell over. Now if that’s because of the raccoons or not we will never know (it was up kinda high, and according to Arnold very shaky so who knows!).

We started this morning running late. How odd that we always seem to be late in such a nice, laid back, atmosphere. But such is life I guess. Arnold was a bit late getting up and in turn everyone was a bit late doing everything. I rushed to the washroom and back so he could be on his way and for some reason he kept forgetting everything.

Once Arnold was off I went through our ‘wear at least 2 to 3 times’ box and found the boys some ‘new’ clothes to wear today. Then it was off. Kyler started with getting our laundry bike stroller and filling it up with things I gave him; our laundry bag, more clothes from daddy, some soap and spray and wash, some drinks, snacks, camera, books, and money. He did a great job (and even included some balls in there for the boys at the playground).



We headed off around 8:30am and we got there at the perfect time! I got the laundry in the first load (towels and things that needed to go in the dryer) and then the boys were off to play. I was surprised that the washer only took a half hour and the dryer only 45 minutes… but that being said, Kristina, be ready to have me bring over some towels to dry. This dryer is good for clothes, not so good for towels!



Shortly after that they told me they were “way hungry” from coming *so* far and doing *so* much that morning so we had our snack of chips and juice.





Another woman came to do her laundry and stopped by to visit with the boys. She even brought her 2 little puppies up to see us when she came back to get her clothes and we visited with her for a while. The boys LOVED having puppies to walk.





I must say I’m surprised how many people sell their houses and just travel everywhere. She sold her house in NFL and drove here and is going to drive around some more this summer. It just surprises me I guess.

We got home and I hung up the laundry while the boys played around for a while. Like my artistic shots?





Q turned on the fan in the RT since it was SO hot in there. It was as if he had never seen a fan before!


Kyler, on the other hand had some different ideas and put the hose on the water spout all by himself (yes I’m in the trailer taking photos, it seems to be the only want to capture them doing cute things). K just about soaked his brother while ‘watering the tree’.





And after a short bike ride it was lunch time. We had our PB and chocolate sandwiches along with apples and PB. Now our new issue is the “Little Raccoons” (read: chipmunks) I’m not sure I like them. The kids were so impressed that they came so close to them during lunch and wanted to feed them. Now I’m fighting a new battle of no feeding the Chipmunks!



After some reading of our books from the library (I have to work on my reading voice) and cleaning up our hands and faces they are off to bed. I love this quiet!

Have a great day!