our day

i picked up my camera today.

it was the perfect day.

seriously.

a cool breeze. the sun out. {psst! i ran again!} a lovely play date. 

so noah melted down multiple times today {not really sure what the deal was with him...} and jude wouldn't listen when i called him back to the house. 

we played! outside! with water!

watering the bird bath so the birds would have "good" water.

sunshine makes me happy too, kiddo.

a vigorous {and happy} clean up - chucking cars back into their bin.

and so ends a good tuesday.

tomorrow we've got a full day of visiting with friends in guelph and i'm kinda {really} looking forward to it.

'night!

sometimes mistakes are funny

today was gorgeous.

we went for a hike with our staff team.

it was fun, the weather was perfect and we all got some much needed time outdoors together.

i'm going to miss these guys.

*so i pressed the auto timer button before i was ready to run. made for a pretty funny picture in the end.

**tomorrow i'm heading up north with a bunch of pretty amazing women for a girls cottage weekend. i'm pumped. see you on the flip side of the weekend!**

these are the moments

Was it only last year that Noah was calling the tulip buds "those guys"?

How time flies.

tonight in bed Noah said to me after we prayed,

soon I'm going to grow up and be a Daddy.

And I'm going to have a beard.

And I'm going to go to work.

*pause*

And I'm going to drive a car!!!

I love how he longs to be "just like Daddy" already. These are the moments - the moments between the moments when we get to teach him what it means to be a man. And how to someday be a husband. And a father.

These are the moments.

warmth

today i wore capris and flip flops and no coat and it.was.awesome.

we all took naps this afternoon and when jamie got up (i let him sleep longest as he's in the worst part of the cold we've all been going through) he stepped outside and said,

have you been outside?

i had. just not within the last hour or so and when i did step onto our front porch it was decided.

we all tromped upstairs, the boys got in shorts and tees and we went outside.

we walked to the park and played there for awhile and not even the lure of ice cream could tempt noah away from the park! (can you tell we've missed outdoor play?)

eventually we walked 15 minutes to Licks to get hamburgers and french fries for dinner.

and noah got a free ice cream cone with his meal.

it was awesome.

seriously - awesome. i think it was like 20 degrees or something ridiculously warm. loved.it.

bring on the heat!

ps. this morning i did decide to take the boys to church but not put them in the nursery (as they both had coughs and runny noses - look at me! being all responsible-like). so we were in the worship part of the service for a bit and then in the foyer on the couches (when the boys started getting too rowdy) and then on the stage as a family while jamie spoke. 
also, i totally bribed noah and told him if he came on the stage and behaved nicely that he'd get a lollipop. well of course i let him "hold" the lollipop going onto the stage and of course he didn't want to just "hold" it on stage so there i was, opening up a lollipop on stage while jamie was giving an update and overview of us moving to Uganda. noah put on a good show and sashayed his way around the stage and made faces at our friend in the front row, but he was cute and so i was happy that i didn't have noah the grump because noah the cutie is so much more enjoyable (and funny). 
also, i totally started tearing up when jamie mentioned how we would be sad to leave the church because of the friends we had made and i had to concentrate on noah's antics so i wouldn't completely lose it. 
we are going to miss our church family here in guelph.

yellow

a few days ago jamie came home with some groceries and yellow roses.

just because.

i like flowers "just because". 

they're probably my favourite kind of flower.

i put one of the roses in an empty maple syrup jar.

it's currently on my kitchen window sill. 

Click!

November isn't always the most pleasant of months.

November 2010 has been downright delightful.

I am so thankful for sun and warmth, for friends and friends for my kids and being outside.

On Friday, the boys and I went for a walk with my friend Chantel {who becomes more and more dear to me the more we hang out which is making me more and more sad to be leaving next year} and her two girls and the little boy she looks after. Her daughter, Hannah, was born 2 days after Noah and they are seriously two peas in a pod.

{I remembered to bring my camera on our walk.}

Click!

The start of our walk. It was so cool to walk down this made-for-a-movie path lined with tall, old trees.

Click!

Hannah & Noah have a blast telling us "red light" and "green light". A friend told me she thought it looked like they were singing "Stop in the name of love.". Maybe they were....

Click!

Click!

A snack break in the sun.

Click!

Summit 2010

This past weekend we traveled up north to Camp White Pine for the annual fall retreat (with our organization) called Summit.

It was the coldest I can remember it being. Thank goodness for space heaters. Space heaters FOR THE WIN. For reals.

But it was GORGEOUS, as usual. Jamie looked at me and laughed after we had settled in and then said,

I don't get you. Why do you like to come here? It's cold. It's inconvenient and I work a lot during this weekend.

True. All true. But the pros FAR outweigh the cons.

Usually there are other Moms/Wiveswith their kids at Summit that I can hang out with and get a good fill of social time. This time did not disappoint as I got to hang out with a dear friend, MC and her gorgeous boys who played so well with Noah - he was so thrilled to have some friends his age to run around with, play on the mini golf course and make boy/monster noises with.

Also, the leaves. If you've been up North in the Muskoka area of Ontario, you know exactly what I'm talking about. World class beauty right there.

The kids ADORE spending time outside even if their little fingies are freezing right off!

Noah couldn't get enough of the mini gold course (which was covered in pine needles and sand) and loved the "rope with the tennis ball" (can you guess?) aka the tether ball (and because it was a ball, Jude loved it too!).
We went for a walk (which Jude screamed through because all he wanted to do was GET OUT and CRAWL AROUND in the wet, dirty leaves - which after we got back I let him do and he got completely soaked).

It's really such a privilege to be able to bring our kids and expose them to such great people and places and we realized that with Noah having been to THREE Summits and Jude to TWO, they've been coming longer than a lot of the students!

Sad story

So I think I might cry.

I think the robin has abandoned her nest (aka The Nest) and subsequently her eggs.

I haven't seen her in the last couple days.

Usually she'd fly in and out of The Nest as we would come and go from our front door.

Perhaps there was too much activity. Too many peering eyes and clicking cameras.

If I scared you away Mrs. Robin...I'm so sorry.

Please come back...

The Nest

I am totally obsessed with the robin nest that is so perfectly situated in the empty planter that is attached to the wall right outside our door.

I noticed the makings of a nest starting to form a day or so ago and then all of a sudden - a nest! And then...2 beautiful, blue robin eggs. They are everything you'd imagine them to be. A gorgeous colour of blue. (Hence the colour Robins Egg Blue.) Perfect and smooth.

And then - 3 beautiful eggs!
(And a couple scares where I got home late at night and upon entering the door, the robin flew out of the nest - not at me, but just to get away. Scared the buhjeezies out of me.)

Anyway so Jamie tells me there are 2 robins in there right now. I want to go check. In fact, I want to install a 24 hour birdie cam to watch them. Is that weird? I don't really care. I'm so intrigued! And I can't wait for those eggs to hatch!

I've already taken a bajillion pictures of the eggs, perhaps I'll get a picture of the babies when they're hatched. I just hope I don't get dive bombed by any angry Mama Birdies.

You can count on more pictures and updates on the nest. Perhaps I should capitalize it. The Nest.

Enjoy these pictures of The Nest.

*in this one you can see just how small The Nest is to be tucked away in such a small planter. So tiny. So perfect. I just want to nom on it.