ordinary days

Today I'm copying Sarah from Memories on Cloverlane (probably my favorite blog to read) with a post of pictures from our "ordinary days"

Since summer has been winding down, I have been making lots of lists - Hadley has joined in.

the kids have been doing a lot of this

which makes a lot of this

I love it.

lots of this going on too

when we edged our lawn that probably hadn't been edged ever, it left a nice row of dirt. Elijah loves it.

I've discovered how to get Pandora in Canada. Love it.

10 on Tuesday

1. Since our summer has been winding down and family is all gone, I've been trying to get things back in order around here before school starts. I'm trying to become a morning person....it's slow coming.

2. Part of becoming a morning person, is becoming an exercising person. I've started doing crossfit - a very mild dose of it as I am 25 weeks pregnant, - there is even a whole crossfit blog dedicated to pregnant moms like me who want to do crossfit. Cool.

3. I don't like going to the Dr. I've kind of been putting it off this pregnancy. I went once before we went to Disneyland when I was barely pregnant to get a prescription for diclectin, and then had a mini appointment when I took Brian to the doctor a couple months ago. I finally did my bloodwork last week. The plan is to deliver in Lethbridge with a female Dr at Maternity Associates, but I don't really want to have to go to Lethbridge for appointments, so I've been reluctant to make the switch.

4. We are having a girl.

5. John is back to work full-time after breaking his collarbone.

6. I've been looking for some second-hand containers for our coloring supplies for a while, and finally found these at Walmart. Not second-hand. I got them. I love them. I hope my kids don't break them.

7. We've adjusted to having a pet. Our cat, Chase, is still kind of crazy, but he has mellowed since we first got him. I'm beginning to actually like him. I always thought I liked cats, cause we had one growing up that I liked, but I guess I don't like getting woken up by a cat at 4am. Our relationship is improving.

8. I love that I can go on a bike ride with the kids now. Sam goes in the bike seat, and the other 3 can all ride two-wheelers now. It's fun, but my pregnant body doesn't enjoy it.

9. I'm trying to talk myself into cleaning the house.....

10. My new favorite show is Psych - hilarious and clean - it's on US netflix, which we have. Awesome.

crazy July

July was filled with family visiting. John's family was here for the first week or so, and then my family was here for the last 2 weeks, with some staying more/less. There was not a single day that we spent at home all day. It was loads of fun, but it is nice to get back to a bit of "normal".

We  thought we'd start the summer off with a new addition to the family. I'm still not sure how I feel about this little character. He's a little crazy, but the kids sure love him.

We celebrated July 1st in true Raymond style, attending the road race (to watch Grampa finish), pancake breakfast, parade, and main street carnival. The kids loved dancing.

The next week John's family was all here for his Mom's 60th birthday. Elijah followed his cousin Josh around the whole week. I was very impressed with how Josh didn't mind and let Elijah tag along with him without complaining or trying to get away. Nice kid.

The next week we hung out with my sister Jodie (who was here for the whole month of July) and the kids started swimming lessons.

That week we also went to the zoo - did you know you can get passes with airmiles? Totally awesome.

The next week we prepared for the upcoming Freeze reunion (just my parents and kids and their kids). I took over the food department and planned out the food for the whole week. In the past people were having to go shopping every other day, so I organized it all so that we could shop in one massive shopping trip. It was kind of crazy. We ended up with 3 flatbed carts at Costco FULL of food. We were quite the sight.

Melanie unloading one of the carts....

That weekend was the Ellingson reunion (my Grandma's descendants) in Waterton. The turnout was great and we were able to have it at the Kate Parry Lodge at Crandell Campground. Kate Parry is my Grandma's mom and was the cook at the Lodge for 20 years. It is used as a summer camp for churches (I think), and they don't rent it out to families, but they made an exception for us. We started off the reunion at Red Rock Canyon. The kids loved it, and luckily John was willing to trek the whole way with them.

The next week was our Freeze Family reunion at my parent's house. With all of us list-making-organizing ladies in the family, things were planned almost to the minute. It worked out well and included lots of fun activities.

Elijah got 2nd place in the boat race which was part of our family Olympics. We had one event each morning.

Our original plan for a service project didn't work out, so we all weeded our neglected garden instead. It was amazing.

and then they felt like working more, so they edged our sidewalks. It looks great.

Everyone got ready to go to the pool, but then it started thundering, so we had a water fight instead. It looks like Sam was set on swimming though.

Dance party

After everyone left, the kids decided that they needed to have their own parade. They decorated their bikes and we had a quick parade at the Elementary School. Apparently doing it on our own street would be "too embarrassing".

I'm looking forward to a relaxed August.