Busy Days

Thank goodness the day was so much warmer today!  The kids had so much fun playing outside with Landon and Nash.  After playing for a while, they came in to get popsicles and then decided (for some strange reason) that it would be fun to smear popsicles all over their faces!  Emma came in with grape popsicle all over... and it wouldn't come off!  Then Ben came in... and he was covered even more than Emma!  He had it all over his face and his legs.  I love my purple kids!

After another day at swim club - where they both did really well - we raced to get Ben to T-ball.  He was about 15 minutes late, but he had fun playing.  Last year he batted right handed the whole time, but Lennard asked for him to try batting left this year and it's been amazing how much better he's hitting!

Swim Club

We decided to put the kids in to Swim Club this year.  It's a four week program that goes Monday to Thursday each week.  The kids were excited to go swimming, but the day ended up being SO cold!  They ended up having to end the lesson a bit early as kids were almost getting hypothermia!  Emma doesn't think it's very fun - especially when Ben got a life vest and she didn't.  She doesn't think it's very fair.  Should be an interesting four weeks!

Deck Project

As soon as I got home from my girls weekend, and Lennard got home with the kids from soccer, we got started installing deck boards.  After a while, we got into a good rhythm and it went pretty fast cutting four boards at a time.  We cut everything and then started screwing the deck boards down.  Wow - that was a lot of screws to put in!  By the time we finished... we were 'finished'!  Ouch! 

 Even before we got everything screwed down, Lennard and Ben had to test out the deck!

 We couldn't wait to put the swing up onto the deck and try it out.  It is going to be SO nice this summer.  The deck is in the shade all afternoon/evening.  I think I may just live out there!

Webster Gals Getaway

I went to our annual Webster gals getaway this weekend.  It was quite a small gathering this time.  We ended up at a home in Leavitt.  The views were beautiful and the house was pretty - but it was disappointingly dirty when we got there.  The fridge wasn't working properly either.  Despite the house, we had a fun time visiting with each other and playing games.  Shauna came out for the evening and then had to head home.  My mom and all her sisters were there and a few of my cousins.

It was a short get together as we all left shortly after breakfast, but it was good to see everyone that came.

Mud Cupcakes

After another rainy day, Emma thought it would be a great idea to make mud cupcakes!  I let her use one of my muffin tins and she requested flour and sugar to add to her cupcakes.  She was completely shocked when I pulled out the requested ingredients.  lol.  She was so excited and got quite involved in mixing and would smell it every so often.  In her words, "It smells like your bread, mom!"  I'm not sure what that says about my bread, but I'll take it as a compliment from her!

 She was SO covered with mud!  We had to spray her down in the tub afterwards!

 She makes me laugh.  She is such a girly-girl sometimes - and then digs into the mud!

A Day Off Work... to Work at Home!

It was such a beautiful day that Lennard came home from work so we could work on the deck!  Lennard got to take the kids to school and they were SO excited!  Since the kids were both in school, we worked all morning without interruption.  We got the end board put on and everything squared up and hurricane straps put on to secure the joists to the beam.  We also cut and installed boards in between the joists to keep them nice and secure.

We had to pick the kids up from school and I think Emma had told the entire school that her daddy had the day off (lol).  She was pretty excited that 'her whole family' came to pick her up!  They played with friends all afternoon while we worked and then got to go to another friend's home when she got off school!  We got so much done as they played!

We got the border put on and the first row of decking started when we decided to call it a day.  I didn't realize it at that point, but later in the evening I was pretty much glowing from the sunburn I got.  Oops!  Guess sunscreen would have been a good idea.

Deck Joists

After a long weekend where it poured the entire time, we were happy to get to work on the deck again!  We got all the joist hangers screwed on and then all the joists set in place.  Then we marked them all for length... and pulled them off to cut each one!  At least they are all ready to go now.  It was lots of work crouched down underneath the deck.

Cleaning the Chapel

It's been our month to help clean the chapel, so each week we've gone early enough to get it done before soccer starts at 9:30.  The kids have been pretty good about helping out... for a few minutes at least.  Ben wiped down the cupboards today while Emma "swept" the floors.  lol

Preschool Field Trip

Ben has been asking for weeks when I could come be the parent helper at his class.  Preschool doesn't ask parents to come in very often, so when the field trip came up, I invited myself!  Ben was so excited to get to sit beside me on the bus.  

 We went out to one of the Hutterite colonies for the kids to see all the different animals.  Ben (and most other kids) thought it was pretty stinky!

 The kids had so much fun petting the calves and ducks and then getting to feed the lambs.

It was such a fun morning hanging out with Ben.  I know the day will come when he won't want me to come on field trips with him, so I enjoyed every minute today.

Deck Project

We had left over laminated posts from when we built our hangar, so we decided to use them for our deck.  We had to join two posts together to make it long enough (they were 20' and we needed 24').

 We cut the ends off and made the posts.

 With the help of another friend, James, we lifted the crazy heavy beams into place!

Deck - Part Deux

Lennard called a friend and arranged to get our post holes dug!  The kids were pretty intrigued watching the drill.

We got the sono tubes put in and then another friend, Lloyd, came by with his cement mixer and helped Lennard mix the cement and get it poured into the holes while I got the kids in bed.

 The brackets are all in and now we get to sit and watch the cement dry...

Another '20 Minute' Project...

 What would life be like without a project?  I don't think I'll ever find out.  We had planned on putting a concrete apron onto the front of our hangar this year.  We put the money aside and were just waiting for good weather to start on it... then we started talking about a deck (again).  We've wanted to put a deck on ever since we added on to our house, but it's always got pushed aside for another project.  After some discussion, we decided to use the money for a deck and do the apron next year.  Hooray!

After a crazy busy morning/afternoon of cleaning the chapel, taking the kids to soccer, attending my cousin's wedding reception - we managed to fit in laying out the deck and getting it squared up.

We went in to Lethbridge yesterday evening for my nephew, Bryan's baptism and managed to get all the wood for the deck ahead of time.

We marked out the holes for posts and then got the main board attached to the house.  It's actually going to happen!!  We obviously need to restack our firewood... the kids think it's building blocks for forts when their friends come over...