the party

On the morning of the big party I was ready to throw in the towel ... seemed like an ungrateful 5 year old didn't need a party. Thank goodness for second chances ... maybe third chances ... to turn a grumpy face into a smile so the party could go on! He wanted a car cake at one point, but then picked out a truck he wanted on the cake ... so it turned into a car-show cake! The boys in the crowd were so excited to pick which car they wanted to take home - and there were no disputes!! We played a few rounds of "car, car, race" otherwise known as "duck, duck, goose", some balloon volley-ball, some balloon popping games and I can't remember what else! Oh yes, we had a guessing game of how many cars/trucks were in the bucket. We had guesses from 6 to 100, but the correct answer was 56 - with the closest coming in at 53! As you can see, Mr. Cooperation wasn't present for picture taking and was fighting the smile, as usual. The highlight for Rhett was that HIS friend Sam came - his best buddy from music class and his true friend by his own acquaintance and not friends of his siblings! He is so ready for school now ... or maybe it is me that is so ready for him to go to school!!

rhett's real birthday

Rhett was not convinced he turned 5 on the 7th until we had some candles for him to blow out. With a party planned for the 11th I didn't want to make 2 cakes so he had some candles in ice-cream!! There were no complaints from anyone about that! I really don't know how to best describe Rhett at this stage in life: inquisitive and entertaining for his positive traits; argumentative and persistent for the other side of his personality!

music recital

I think I filled you in on the music recital, but here are a few blurry shots of the event. Of course I didn't check my battery before leaving home so it was a struggle to get these few photos.

where did the last month go?

Some how from my last post until today - pretty much a whole month disappeared and I don't remember where it went! Was nice to have some company over the Remembrance Day extended weekend. Grandpa and Grandma O came and went too quickly. Because of that there are precious few photos to share! We enjoyed swimming with Grandpa while Grandma did some shopping. Then we had a houseful of people (some of Rob's family) for a pizza party and some more overnight company ... with kids ... much to the excitement of the kids in this house! Now the next event to look forward to is some visitors for Christmas Holidays. Beds are almost made and ready folks! Just phone ahead to confirm!
I guess we do have a special day in between!! Rhett is 5 tomorrow - not sure where all those months went either. He is getting very bored at home, so he's looking forward to going to school. Might be a long few months to wait! The party is planned for Saturday so you can look for pictures later!
Friday night was the kids music recital - Rhett was the first up in the family and he was hoping the piano stool would open up and swallow him whole. So, he didn't play for a bit until his class showed him it wasn't that painful! He did well in the end. Keithan played a great song called Banana .. and pulled it off with no mistakes. Samara played Canon in D - just a few minor mistakes that I'm sure nobody noticed!
On another note, we had one special meeting yesterday and another one this Sunday. We're looking forward to our company this week. Tracy S is coming here so that will be extra special. Wonder if she'll change her opinion of Rhett ... she used to call him a little angel! He better be in his best, better than ever, behavior!
p.s. the last picture is what happens if you fall asleep in this house during meeting and your siblings are having fun! Rhett was the victim of "Where's Waldo?"!

Great Grandma time etc.

Our two weeks with Grandma came and went in a blink ... for us anyway! We kept busy but Grandma didn't seem to get played out at all! She took over a few jobs like drying dishes and folding laundry and took on new jobs of baking bread and buns on a regular basis! The house smelled just like I remember Grandpa and Grandma's house smelling ... with fresh buns waiting when we would go there after school. I brushed up on my crochet skills again and Samara and Keithan tried to learn how. Samara has big plans to make Auntie's baby a blanket. She started with pink yarn and Keithan started with blue, so we should be covered! We also had the workers stay with us for a few nights so the extra helping hands were appreciated. It snowed a bit when she was here and the kids, along with the neighbors, made a great snowman. We went boot shopping and were eventually successful but thankfully we didn't need boots for long. The weather could really not have been better for this time of year. On Thursday we took Grandma to meet a very excited Tenielle! We had some pizza together with Grandma, Shane and Tenielle and then headed back home to a quiet house. Phil had left on Thursday as well to finish combining and eventually did finish on Friday afternoon. So we are back to normal now, or normal for our family anyway. Now we're looking forward to some company coming for the Remembrance Day "sort of long weekend".

thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving celebrations took place in the field. It was cold out and the turnips tipped over on the ride over but I think everyone enjoyed the turkey, potatoes, squash, turnips (most survived), garlic bread, broccoli salad and the best part - pumpkin dessert! Was a bit late for taking pictures, but you get the idea! One of the hired men told me he can't believe he gets paid to do this job!! I think that is the sign of a satisfied employee. Wonder if he would really work for free?!! Oh, I understand that the combines are covering the ground at a good pace and we are over half done. Projections - done in 2 weeks or less if the weather holds. Lots to be thankful for! Happy belated thanksgiving to all.

still farming

I think we are about 1/3 done now ... seems like we are just getting started! Thankfully the weather is cooperating. Samara didn't join us for this trip. She was invited by a friend to go to the Smokey Lake Pumpkin Festival. Guess it was a blast - they dropped the prize winning 970lb pumpkin on a car! They also had a farmers market and Samara came back with some jam for mom, a scarecrow magnet for dad and a painted pysanka for Auntie Carla! Was very sweet. Oh, I went to Winners again but this trip burst my Winners bubble. The radio station was there and it was so crowded and not much stock had changed since last week. I should be thankful for the cure!