Canada Day

July 1st 2007







H A P P Y C A N A D A D A Y ! I feel so privileged to live in this fabulous and free country with it's beauty. Today I sang the entire O Canada song and I had forgotten how long it is and how much meaning and truth there is in it. Also I was pleased to bear my testimony during sacrament meeting and my little boy was and angel throughout the whole meeting. Thanks Avalon, I think Marvin has a big crush on you. After church we went to Jericho Beach and met up with Hien and Ha, their children and some of their friends. I have never had a Vietnamese style picnic before. The food was great. Thank-you Pham family for all the efforts you put in to make the picnic a success. Next time we'll bring more bubbles and more cookies and we'll eat more watermelon. Like Marvin's hat? He got it at a birthday party on Friday evening. Maybe he was hoping for some rain. The weather and the location were beautiful! Wow I had forgotten how lovely it is down there. The children had so much fun in the sand and water. That is the reason our little boy is wearing the giant poncho/blanket. He kept getting wet and oh boy do we have a lot of sand in our bathtub!
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land
Glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee;
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada! Where pines and maples grow,
Great prairies spread and Lordly rivers flow!
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western sea!
The land of hope for all who toil,
The true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies,
May Stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise.
To keep thee steadfast thro' the years,
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land,
Our true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion, in thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in thee,
A lasting rich reward.
As waiting for the better day,
We ever stand on guard.
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!


Isn't this cute!
The new Fall~Winter Stampin'Up! Idea Book and Catalogue is here!
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L8R

Last Day of Kindergarden

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Instead of our teacher Miss Tanja Mitchell receiving small gifts from everybody, a couple of parents collected money from all the parents and purchased her a gift from her wish list. Marvin and I die cut some globe shapes at Remember Me and added patterned paper and circles for each child to put his or her name on. Then we added some ribbon and sponging and magnets to the back, so we can stick to the white board. We did a card to match.

Today is the last day of school. Yipee! for Marvin! We'll be frequenting the playground every afternoon and filling our schedule with playdates now that school is out. I know he's been asking and asking and asking me and anyone else who will listen to him to take him to the beach. I suspect he wants to muck around in the sand and the water, exploring and collecting dead animals, rocks and shells.
Blog you Later...

Road Rage

I always hear about road rage but rarely experience it firsthand. Why do people feel the need to get so angry and lash out at others about things that are so small and insignificant. Yesterday afternoon as I approached the exit off Lougheed Highway to enter the #1 westbound I proceeded with caution because I was aware of my left turn signal being out. Thank-you Patrick for changing the bulb last night. I used my arm to signal and the motorcycle a few vehicles behind me may not have seen that. He decided he needed to weave in and out of the traffic to catch up to me at the light to tell me I was a dumb ass and then went on to extole the virtues of my driving and was quite irrate. He was on one of those sporty bikes. The children were in the backseat so I didn't want to set a bad examle. He continued to drive beside me and berate my driving skills. I told him to have a nice day and then he sped off up the freeway along the shoulder passing as many vehicles as he could. Marvin was quite interested as he couldn't hear what the cyclist said but he could see something was going on between us. My first thought at that point was pertaining to sex. It occured to me that he would dare have done that if I had been a man or even if there was a man in the car. I felt bullied. For some reason I keep thinking about it even though I am trying not to let it bother me. As I drove to work this morning I was more aware of motorcycles. It came to my mind yet again and I wondered why I didn't just close my window. Next time that's what I will do instead of tolerating abuse. I can't believe it never occured to me to just close the window. That's funny.

Weekend

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary at Nitobe Gardens near University of British Columbia. It was so beautiful and had been so long since I had been there. I was met by a bunch of very fragrant white lilies and a smiling man in black. The tea ceremony was going on as well. The flowers and trees and company was delightful. A
B I G thank-you to UnteeIris aka Malaya for taking the children all day long, no small feat especially when you don't have toys at your house and have a bunch of errands to run. She said she knows why we're always late for family dinners now and how hard it is to get out the door and remember to feed yourself with two little ones in tow. We so needed that whole day for ourselves to dedicate to each other and walk around like smiling goons holding hands.

Pots and Petals on the Patio

Saying Patio makes our tiny square balcony seem huge. Well with the amount of action it has seen in the last three years I'd say it has a huge history. It is my husband's refuge from the world. Also he has much better luck keeping things alive OUTSIDE. This year we're getting the children in on it too. Marvin planted beans at school and they're doing really well. Also we planted a sunflower in a teacup and it needs something bigger now! His kindergarten class went on a class trip to learn about gardening at Carol's house on Cherry Street. Drive by in the lane and you can see where the whole class planted their sunflowers in a U shape. They will be a sunflower house attached at the top later in the summer. What a great idea. Thank-you Carol and Dylan for generously providing a part of your lovely garden for all to love. Her yard is lovely and it's so much fun for the children to get be outside and just get dirty. Anastasia just tramples everything without noticing, plant wise. This spring on yet another after bedtime run for the elusive fresh french loaf {for sandwhiches} from the 6th Street Safeway{ours doesn't have a bakery, yet}Anastasia and I picked out some flowers to bring home for Daddy. She was thrilled to be invited to help plant them in the window box too. She didn't want to carry the plant in the grocery store but we'll forgive her for that since it was 9pm. Almost every week/school night now Patrick makes 4 delicious sandwiches. Since he's been frequenting Commercial drive for classes and treatments of various types he has fallen in love with an Italian deli and there delicious meats and Italian cheeses. Our favorite right now is the cambozola. Wow these sandwiches are so good. The kids just get cheddar and meat or pb&j Some mornings I eat my sandwich on my 8:30am coffee{only}break when I just can't wait and haven't had breakfast. Back to our gardening adventures. Marvin also planted some johnny jump ups{purple violas}in an old plastic spiderman toy container. It's very deep and he's quite proud of it. My nasturtium is taking over! I had better make some salad. The fresh herbs are always enjoyable as well. We don't have too many this year. My grandma's garden is looking nice with lots of purple and white flowers right now as well. It's not a big beautiful greenhouse like the one Randy and Deana built but it suits us just fine. We are so lucky to have so many friends and relatives with nice yards for us to visit when the weather is good. I am also glad there are so many lovely parks right in our neighborhood and little city of New Westminster. The favorite recently is Sinclair Park {formerly known as Lillian's secret McDonald's park}. We all know it has something to do with the three lovely young Ballard girls, Marvin. This week we've been to Hume Park and Queen's Park as well. Summer's here and we're lovin'it!

MORE about Jessica!

I think her last year of high school was very special. I know she's grateful for all the love and support shown by her family and friends. She is lucky to have you all pulling for her. She sure surprised us by improving her attendance and grades. She worked really hard this past year and had some fun doing it. It has been good to see her having fun with her classmates and exploring new relationships. She is a very special, sensible, beautiful young lady. I know we're all proud of her accomplishments-academic, social, emotional and personal and her development throughout this final year of secondary school. For the digital Scr

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June Fifteenth..

Wow my little girl is 22 months old, Marvin just turned 6 and today my mom is 64 years old. We took her out for shoes and fish last night. This year she didn't order the lobster. My financial self was glad. My holidays have started and Jessica has graduated. Father's day is around the corner. We'll be cooking up a bunchof ribs and using the barbeque sauce Marvin made at school. Also Patrick has requested a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, the ones that are chewy in the middle. I got some milk and dark Callebaut chocolate so they should be good, just have to find the energy now. Sundays can be busy and tiring depending on the CTR 8s and CTR 7s and their energy level and attention span. I am still wearing my CTR ring too. The lesson is on the Atonement and we'll probably play hangman first. I am not sure if the children know the meaning of the word but we'll see. We also enjoyed a visit from Nathalie and Nathan while they came down for Jessica's graduation. It was nice to see everyone at that time. Wow Michelle is so cute! Also I included another mini album I am working on using double lined doodles set from Stampin'Up!

Jessica

Congratulations Jessica! You are out of high school. We knew you could do it!

Lunch with cousins at Eda's house

Boy was it hot up on Sumas mountain yesterday! It was so nice to see everyone again. There was lots of lasagne and Sandra made HAGGIS! Delicous. Pat was at the barbeque with the chicken wings. I don't know how he stood in front of it for so long in the heat. The children enjoyed the trampoline and freezies as usual. This time there was a kiddie pool and sprinkler for added enjoyment. Happy birthday Steven, that's him on the bottom. It was really nice to see the cousins from across the border again too. So much fun was had by all.