sum/mer

smiling at dad
lunch at vendome cafe



ice cream stop on a warm summer night

we have pigtails going on at our house. ida's hair is now long enough to wrestle into a hairdo. it's kind of fun and it's kind of cute. lately i find her walking around the house in variety of shoes, the ones in the picture happen to be mine. sometimes it's c.j.'s runners or eli's church shoes or if you are visiting our house it will be your shoes! how fun!

summer is almost at it's 1/2 way point. i feel like it has been a solid summer so far. hit a reunion, some babies were born, plenty of time at the cabin... this second half will be full of good times. the dave and lisa saunders family are coming back to calgary for a visit. it will be fun for the calgary cousins to reunite with audrey, carter and brady. brady?!? the kids don't even know him! he better be ready for some heavy duty play time, OH YAAA.

the end of august is always a bit busy with prepping for school it seems. we have some doctor and dentist appointments booked. ida's 18 month immunizations and eli's teeth need a cleaning so we will get that taken care of. luckily i have alleviated one big fat stressor: school shopping for mr. grade 3. let it be known, IT IS DONE. did it last week, hit a sale, done like dinner. you won't see me rushing around the beginning of september looking for indoor shoes and lunch kits. no way, no how. kind of happy about that. it will be a smooth transition from the lazy days of summer back into the early morning starts of school.

o.k., back to summer, it's not over yet.

ivy

nena had her baby on wednesday. she was 3-ish weeks early. i got to see her today.

her name is ivy ruth scott. she is dainty and darling.

the batch of babies are all here now. little john, shy ronnie, and viv.

hooray for babies!

wood family reunion 2010

ida {you couldn't get her out of this swing. loved it.}
eli & cole

while burns & matt sang a spirited irish tune...
sam did some spontaneous river dancing, major highlight of the evening


us
mom & family
nena & family
chuck & family
the tom saunders family {missing: dave and stacey's families}
grandpa & his children
c.j. & burns prepping for fireside
breakfast saturday morning
token group shot

{{i have a problem. i took 750+ pics at the reunion we just got back from, transferred them onto my computer tonight and as things were "processing" my iphoto quits unexpectedly. when i got things going again, i seemed to have lost 400+ photos {the first half of the reunion}. c.j. says there is a way to retrieve them. will be working on that over the next few days as i down TUMS to ease the pit in my stomach...}}

in the meantime, can i say, we have had so much fun these last few days. on thursday night we packed things up and drove down to taber. the family had secured the taber legion park where everyone was meeting up and pitching their tents. it was wonderful. the weather was amazing. the grounds were perfect. the only times i saw eli was when it was time to eat and at night when he was crawling into his sleeping bag around 11:00pm. the kids played and played and made new cousin friends. the activities were great, the food was delicious. it was different and perfectly delightful to rough it for a few days, wake up tired and stiff, chat with long lost cousins and enjoy the outdoors. on friday night we had a fireside where we did some genealogy, enjoyed hearing a couple of uncle bruce's favourite poems and limericks, was entertained with a marionette show by aunt denise and to top it off, a spirited irish tune sung by matt and burns. during their performance, their brother sam {who is deaf} hopped up onto one of the tables and began to river dance, pulling off his cochlear implant as it bounced around and just danced and danced. we all laughed and hooted and hollered. it was so perfect. like a movie moment. grandpa mentioned to me the next day how he thought it was "just like something his dad, uncle rhett would have done." it was a nice thought and i am sure uncle rhett was smiling down on that little scene. i had a wonderful time. so thankful for all the good times i have had with the wood cousins. such a talented, good group of people.

i guess the only thing lacking was those of you who didn't make it. you certainly missed out. in 2012 it will be grandpas 90th year and i believe there will be plans for another reunion. save the date and do not to miss it. you won't regret it. i promise.

bibbity bobbity sleeping bags

things are fixed.

today i placed a call to my resident outdoor gear guy, AKA brother dave. he gave the goods on sleeping bags. i bought 3. then i took my camera in to the shop. RIP XTi. hellllllllllllllllo T2i. the appletv can shove it this weekend, we are going campin'. it's going to be campolishiously fun. the last time c.j. and i camped and used our tent was in 1996. it was a overnighter with doug and em. i think we used the tent about 4 hours as we got to the site late, set up the tent, went to bed late and woke early. it was hilarious. we also cooked and ate hotdogs over a duraflame log. soooooo, ya, you're pretty much dealing with professionals here.

maybe these new sleeping bags will spur us on to do more "outdoorsy" type things. like... camp more than once every 14 years.

crud

my dslr is broken. she crapped out on me yesterday. i thought it was the battery. charged it, nope. went out and bought a new battery, charged it, nope. maybe it is the little discy one.... bought a new one of those too, nope. my only hope now is to take it down to the camera shop and have them figure it out. this is not good. i have my really old little point and shoot to use if i absolutely have to, but in general it stinks. the results aren't that great and when that happens i would rather not shoot at all than get lousy pictures. i use my camera every day. it is summer, things are going on, places to go, people to see {REUNION thursday, friday, saturday}. what am i going to dooooooo........

ida is potty training herself. for the last 2 weeks she has been pooping on the toilet. she alerts me by saying, "toot, toot" and in general that is just what she means. we hop up on the toilet and she poops. it is kind of cool and kind of weird. i don't think i even thought about training eli until he was 3. she is 18 months.

i bought appletv for c.j. for fathers day. he just installed it yesterday and we are so confused and bugged and bothered. he keeps saying, "this just isn't what i want it to be!?!?!" nothing is jiving, our internet connection is unreliable, it denies our requests. the little wireless remote control speaks to our laptops as well as the t.v.. last night my laptop was closed and it began to play music because i was pushing buttons at the t.v. it's like it is possessed. i thought laptops were asleep when closed and kind of off?!?! appletv, i am ready to take you back. turkey.

last week when i was at the cabin i heard from eli's pediatrician that his EEG results were still abnormal. in other words, it still shows the spikes and responses that indicate he still has epilepsy. i was so hopeful {and still am of course}, but it was a bit of a downer to hear. he has been seizure free for almost 18 months {YES!}. when that happens you start feeling "out of the woods" and confident that the EEG will be clear and normal. but it is not, so the constant monitoring and praying will continue on.

conflicted

the wind is roaring outside. i just woke up when c.j. came to bed and i can't get back to sleep. i think the wind is making me crazy. it is loud and angry. when i look out the window the massive trees behind our house are bending and waving and thrashing around. it makes me feel uncomfortable. as the storm clouds grew black and rolled into calgary today i fought off a headache that eventually had me quit everything i was doing and lay down. it was in my eyebrows and neck. i couldn't function. it was the wind. snow doesn't bother me. rain and sleet are fine, but the wind. it is like it's unstoppable and loud and pushy.

i have been compiling my blog entries by year to publish in a book. i completed 2006 the other day. it had 216 pages in it. lots of pictures. i think i have lost a year and a half of my life when i switched over to iweb. i don't have access now and can not retrieve it. it makes me sick. to lose all that information and memories.

i was thinking about blogging the other day and now tonight again while the wind whips around me. why do i blog? why don't i just make my blog private and really pour my guts out. who is reading this? should people be reading this? will i look back and wished i was more honest or detailed? how do i find the balance between journaling and "keeping in touch". i am just not sure how to do this. am i doing it all wrong? do i stop?

i was looking back through my archives.

july 9, 2009:

july 11, 2010:

pretty much one year apart.

a year ago when that picture was taken, our house we were sitting in was sold and the movers came the next day to take it all away into storage. this year, we are in a new house and still contemplating a move.

will the madness never end?

oh, windy wind. settle down. i need some peace and quiet.

cabinorama with a splash of TIME magazine

cover #6 for c.j.
stacey & aaron head back to california with their new baby boy


eli is allergic to horses... the picture doesn't do it justice...

water gun patrol-force-squad
@ the lake
ida's wink
cleaning up

golf balls for sale
the sellers on hole 17. 6 for a toonie or .25 cents a ball.


a little pony tail
widdlin' wendy
the final product. he holds the table top to the base.
doing a lot of this type of thing...
ida channeling gene wilder

grab yourself a copy! c.j. is gracing the cover of TIME magazine again this week. it looks great and is very cool. this is the 6th time he has been on the cover which is terrific in it's own right. WAY TO GO!

the day after school let out, i left with the kids for invermere, british columbia. mum and dad have a cabin there. it is a place that is relaxing and beautiful. we have been having some real lazy days. i don't care what time it is or what day it is. it is a perfect mental break. the weather has been beautiful and warm. we came home last weekend for a family baby blessing and then headed back out the next day. the kids are loving it. it is fun to wear your swimsuit all day. ice cream? sure! who wants a popsicle? can you pass the sunscreen? bubbles! kiddie pools! super soakers! sewing! catching up on my journal! it is bliss.

eli has had a couple of allergic reaction episodes here, so he has been doped up on benadryl on and off. he has also fallen out of bed twice, he must be having a great time. ida has been a trooper and so far is not sick of having fun all day long. even i am taking care of business. thank goodness my full time job can be done just about anywhere, even here, at the cabin. even though i am here by myself handling the children {as c.j. comes and goes when he can}, the cabin is like my pseudo-partner. the kids love it here. they are not bored or wondering what to do. the cabin helps me out, so my load is light. thank you cabin. you are making my kids summer magically delicious. i hope eli will always remember summers here as next summer we may just be somewhere else and not be able to enjoy it.

o.k., it is late and my eyes are crossing. i am going to fall asleep in this big fluffy bed.

later.