"we're on our way..."

...today was a GREAT day!

after a morning cleaning appointment with the dentist for courtney and tyler, and then running a few errands, Gramma Liz came for a visit with us this afternoon for some iced tea, a chat and to give the kids some 'booty' for spending in scotland and ireland!!

thank you to my very sweet and thoughtful MIL! we enjoyed your visit today!

...courtney had her "Dance-A-Thon" workshop tonight at Lynn's...it lasted 2 1/2 hours and the girls were more than spent at the end of the night! this is the four premier dancers going to scotland...Courtney, Robyn, Alex and Caitlin. ( don'tcha LOVE that 'no whining' sign on the wall? ) heeheehee....

we have 2 younger dancers going as well, they are 6 and 8 years old and they are sisters!

a huge THANK YOU again to all our family and friends who sponsored courtney for this last event...you raised her $200 in shopping money to add to her funds for her trip!

( dang, i hope they don't sell Webkinz overseas....) LOL!

...AND a final note of reality check for this blessed trip...

we ordered the dancers track suits, tartan t-shirts, tartan hoodies, shorts and socks (all to be embroidered with a little highland dancer somewhere ) and we got all our goodies TONIGHT for the girls!! talk about excitement!! so, here's a little photo shoot of the new duds!

...yep, we're on our way!!!

ONE week to Scotland!

YIKES!!

( btw...the song playing was a summer request of the kids! )

the final week countdown has begun and we are gonna be super busy this week with finishing getting our butts in gear for our trip next week!

we went to get some money changed over to pounds for Scotland and some euro's for Ireland last friday...thought i'd show you what some of it looks like, kinda cool huh?

seeing it now puts another reality check in my mind that we are in fact going very soon!

there are so many things that need to get done before we go and my lists just keep getting longer and longer! i thought of another one at 2am this morning as i lay there with my brain in high gear...school supplies. need to get that shopping done before we go too as we arrive home the day before school starts. fun stuff.

oh well, i will tackle each days list as it comes!!! hahahhaha!!!

we went for our last weekend at the lake before we go this past long weekend ( sigh ).

i didn't go out until saturday evening as i did a wedding that day ( photography ) and joined Mike and the kids who were already there ( well, tyler came out with me ).

we had a full cabin as our friends Linda and Dave and their kids joined us friday to sunday and then my brother curtis and his girlfriend came out saturday to monday....i stayed an extra day with courtney, tyler and rachel until yesterday ( tuesday )....it was so hard to leave the cabin / lake and come home to the panic and lists waiting here for me!

although the weather wasn't the best, we all had a great time together...good food, good drinks, bonfires, fireworks, lots of swimming and jetskiing / tubing and courtney had her first sleep in a tent with rachel and carson saturday night!!

oh, sweet cabin...how i miss it already!!! ( sniff )

cutris and erith came out in their 'home on wheels' for a couple nights with us...the kids loved popping in and out and checking it all over...tyler has already made it clear that he wants a sleepover in it with them!!! LOL!! ( he LOVES the little bed up over the front seats! )


curt and erith made us bbq pizzas for dinner sunday night and they were awesome...another huge hit with tyler!

...and then yesterday, it was very hard to peel ourselves away from the welcoming fun of the lake and pack up and head for home...

...i am hoping to have a september newsletter done and emailed before we leave next week, some of you have been asking "when kim?? when will we be scrapping again??" heeheehee...glad to know that i am not the only one having summer withdrawl!!

i have been getting some new products in for the fall crops and trying to get septembers KIT together too...hope it all comes in with no delay...grrr.

most of you already know that i will be the lucky vendor at Lora Leigh's hall crops starting in the fall too and I am sooooooooo excited for that new adventure with her!

Lora Leigh's monthly hall crops are at Rossmere Golf and Country Club ( on Watt St ) and my first one with her there is Friday, Sept. 12...6:30pm - midnite. $12 ( includes snack )

and The Scrappin Studio's first fall hall crop is Friday, Sept. 19..6pm - midnite...$10...same location- St. Saviour's church HALL ( includes half time snack ). i will be able to once again offer another year of same price crop fees there and no increase has been made to my rental fee....YAY!!!!

i suppose that's all for now folks!

off to do more laundry and ORGANIZE some of this CHAOS in our home!!

hahahahahaha!!!!

:O)

oh sweet fun!

FOR NIKKI:

yes, that is me in this photo on the jetski...mike didn't want to be in in trouble with you again for no photos of Kim on the toy!!! ( with 'lil cousin Riley...)

...yep, this music playing is for MIKE!!!

WIPEOUT!!!

heeheehee....

so, this weekend was a huge, huge hit at the cabin with tons of fun on the lake!
our friends, Dave and Linda and their kids came out for the day sunday and also brought their jetski and tube to play with too....also, we had brought my 14 year old cousin, the lovely Marlee, out with us for the weekend too...AND Marlee's mom and brother came out sunday afternoon as well to join us and all our fun activities...SO...you can imagine the FUN and LAUGHS we all had together yesterday!!! it was a perfect day for lake fun and swimming!
and linda, i PROMISE not to tip us next time off the jetski in the middle of the lake!!
moi-ha-ha......
:O)

( dave and linda on their jetski )

( tyler's best friend, Miss Kelly )

( courtney and rachel, lunchtime! )

( courntey and rachel tubing...I WANT OFF! )

( Dave and Carson, looks like mischief to me....)

( tyler bouncing along with daddy...)

( tyler and kelly sharing a ride )

( daddy and courtney, spotting the tube rides...)

( marlee haning on for dear life, i would too with mike driving!!! hahahaha...)

( ahhhhhh, that was a fun day!! )

...yep, what a great weekend! I'm sunburned, bruised and aching all over today, but it was so worth it! I can't remember having so many good laughs and being IN the water swimming and having so much fun at the lake since i was a teenager! we had excellent company of family and friends and i'm so glad we had such a memorable day together!

.....i need to get some photos from my moms camera to share something else with you, but on thursday night ( july 24 ) our family had a special "evening in scotland" with some of our family and friends to have a get-together before we leave for our trip and to say 'thank you ' to all those who have participated in our fundraisers through the dance school for this trip. we wanted to share courtney's dancing with everyone as most of you have heard about and seen photos of her dancing events, but not seen her dance in person. or if you have, it's been at concerts where it's been all group choreography and does not even come close to all her hard work, lessons and practicing through the year required for her individual competitions, which is mostly what the final outcome of highland dance is. so, we had a special evening to share this with everyone and let courtney perform 9 of her competition dances she will be performing while away in Scotland.

i took some photos but NONE of her dancing!!! i was "M.C.-ing" the evening, and was giving history of the dances in between so courtney could catch her breath!! but , i know mom and a few others were taking photos of her dancing, so i am hoping to get some copies ( PRETTY PLEASE! ) from those of you who were taking pic's!!!! ( and i will pay you back for them if you get me copies!!! )

anyway, that was our thrusday and i will share photos with you soon from that!!

well, we are now down to 17 more days until we leave and i had better get my head into that mode or else we will be leaving with empty suitcases!!! hahaha!! so many things to make lists for ( which i am usually good at, but am so lost right now....) so i have to get my thinking cap on!

I have ordered all my supplies i need for the hall crops starting in september and it's all here...at least i have that accomplished!! LOL!

well, off i go to get things done....lots of laundry to do, i guess i'll start there!

ugh.

the lake

...ok, so the new jetski FLIES like a bullet out of a gun!

we had sooo much fun with it this past weekend at the lake! i have never been out ON the lake like that in all my years growing up at the cabin! when my mom was younger they had a fishing boat at the cabin to use for water skiing and stuff, but my brothers and i never had even a canoe to play on the lake with! so for my first time in almost 37 years, i finally got to ride on the lake!

it was so thrilling to crank the machine into high gear and ride into the wind...yelling all my YaHoo's and WooHoo's at the top of my lungs!!!

of course, mike got dibs on first ride to make sure all was in check and in running order, and that 'high speed' was in check too!!! LOL!

...after my turn on the new toy, the kids got their turn to ride with daddy! courtney got to go first and i could hear her squealing from the shore!

( click on this photo to see courtney's big grin )


..."THAT WAS WILD....THAT WAS JUST BRILLIANT" ...
these were tyler's words after his first ride!!!
( click to see HIS big smile too! )


...on saturday we tried out tubing with the jetski...
another score with the kids!

..tyler's first ride...

...and courtney's first ride...

( you have to click to make this next one bigger and see courtney's hilarious expression! )

...yep, so glad mike bought us a new toy! we all will have lots of happy memories during the summer at the lake with it for sure!

ATTN:NIKKI

sorry you didn't get to see any photos of ME on the jetski...you can question mike on why he didn't think to take a couple...i even had the camera right there on the beach for him...i told him he's is big DOG DOO with you now for not taking any pic's of me playing!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

ALSO....we are babysitting ( i say 'baby' and not 'dog' because she loves to be treated like a baby...belly rubs, cuddles, playtime.....

anyway, we are babysitting Maggie for our friends again for almost a couple weeks!

we all love her company and she is such a good pup!!!

...and lookie what my MIL bought for me to take to Scotland!!

a new hand bag / cosmetic bag set...all in the right "color for Kim"!!!

hahaha..

thanks again Liz...i love it!!!

our trip is now 22 days away and it's really time to start planning for packing and changing money, buying travellers cheques, buying gifts for friends and family out there, getting pictures printed for them too...all these little jobs that cause so many errands and running around....

courtney will be competing in 5 competitions throughout Scotland so we've been doing lots of extra practising and soon be starting extra workshop lessons with her dance teacher starting in a week....

now you know why i've been escaping to the cabin as much as possible NOW!!!

LOL!!!

well, i better be off...got some baking to do for our little family get-together thursday night, a 'scottish shin-dig' before we leave!! courtney will be dancing for them all as well!! lookin' forward to a fun family night!!!

:O)

home and gone...again!

happy 4th anniversary to my sweetie!!!

yesterday was our anniversary and the kids and i came home ( after SIX glorious days at the cabin ) in the afternoon to shower up, do some laundry, visit at grandmas and pack up again to go back to the cabin for the weekend!!

mike and i got to enjoy ourselves with a nice, quiet dinner alone ( THAT doesn't happen very often! hahahaha! ) to celebrate our special day and then we picked up the kids from mom's and came home.

( i love you honey! )

while we were driving to go out for dinner i managed to snap this sunset last night ( awwww...an anniversary sunset too! ) while going over the Nairn Ave overpass...almost missed it as it set so fast!
last saturday, we had a fun visit from our friend dave who brought out the kids for a swim too ( Rachel, Carson and Kelly Belly )
the kids had fun going for dips in the lake and 'fishing' for minnows!
( courtney and rachel are experts with lots of practise from last year!! )

...the lovely little miss kelly...

( hi squirt! )

....AND...

now the four of us are going back to the lake in a few hours to launch and play with our new toy!!

yep, mike bought us a Sea Doo jetski...this just made our summers at the cabin much more interesting! he bought it this week while i was at the cabin with the kids...we have been talking about getting one for a couple years now, BUT since dave went and bought one ( you evil tempter you...) mike finally couldn't resist anymore and, well, the rest as they say is history!!

so, i'm hoping to have some fun photos for you when we come home sunday night!!

( dave says that mike made him buy a Ski doo when mike got his last winter so this was payback with the purchase of the jetski! )

HA.

you boys and your toys....

i hope you all have been having a fun summer so far...i can't believe that it's already the middle of july!! time is just going so fast. too fast.

our trip to scotland is only 26 days away and all the extra dance lessons and things that HAVE to get done before we leave will come so quickly...i wanted to take the kids out to the lake as much as possible and enjoy before we go.

what have you been up to so far??

i hope enjoying you time with your children while school is out and making lots of memories!

( and scrapbooking!! )

:O)

...see ya in a couple days...

be back soon!

well, i am off to our little family cabin with courtney and tyler until thursday and we are so excited to go!

the kids have been bugging 'when are we going to the lake' almost everyday since the last day of school, and with our overseas trip next month, we won't have a lot of time to go out there until the fall...soooooo....we are making sure to get out as much as possible before Scotland is on our doorstep!

i am planning to take some scrapbooking goodies out to play with in the evenings while the kids are playing and making their own craft projects i am bringing for them to do....wish me luck on getting something done!

the weather forecast is HOT for the whole week so we should get lots of swimming in and i can hardly wait!!

( trust me, the cabin looks a lot smaller from the outside! )

AND.....GUESS WHAT????

grandma and grandpa have a moving date of sept.13 for their new apartment!

we are so excited for them, although grandma is still hesitant and anxious about the move, they are so ready for their own home again! this will be like starting over in a new home for them, with lots of new friends to make in their building ( which is almost completely finished constuction now ) and already know a few people going in there too!

it will be so good for them to get back into the swing of things with their friends and all kinds of senior activities that are planned in the building for them all.

who knows? maybe one day courntey can come and dance for them all?

and maybe some of her dance pals may be interested in coming too and put on a little show???

heeheehee....

anyway, i just thought i'd give you a little update on their exciting news!

i will be back thursday but if you feel like giving mike a call or email so he's not completely bored with NO WIFE and NO KIDS for 5 days, then you just go ahead!!

hahahaha!!

:O)

chillaxin'

...sigh...

a peaceful, no appointments, no 'gotta do' list

P.J and CROCKS

kinda day!!!

i'm luvin' it.