HAPPY 65th GRAMPA CLAW!

We were so happy to celebrate Grampa Claw's 65th birthday today.  We love you!  xo k.q.k.d

The boys were very excited to see Jacob and Charlotte

and to introduce their zhu zhu pets to them.  Charlotte is unsure of the appeal...

cute face Charlotte

the boys insisted that Grampa needed a Justin Bieber pinata

We filled it with halloween candy, not the crappy pinata candy!

everyone had a turn

Jacob wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry with each whack!

Even Charlotte had a go!

Tête-à-Tête

Claw Kisses for Ms. C

Happy Birthday Grampa!  We Love You!

Happy J Man

GARAGE FACELIFT

Last weekend, Dave dedicated his entire weekend to giving our garage a facelift.  So long green shingles, hello wood siding and fresh paint!  Thanks to Dave for all of his hard work.  It is a wow worthy improvement.

Before...

After...  Wow!

JUNCTION SHUL 100TH CELEBRATION

A small yet fantastic street festival was set up right before our eyes last Sunday.  We sat on our front porch and watched 5 massive blow up slides, castles and obstacle courses pop up in a matter of minutes.  It was the local synagogue's 100th anniversary and they put on a wonderful display of fun for all of the local kids.  Dave's jaw dropped as a smoked meat truck drove down the street and parked a few houses away.  His greatest disappointment that day was the fact that he went to get himself some smoked meat and they were SOLD OUT!  Ugh! 

A little jousting, just for fun

Here we go...

Uh Oh...

The Big Brother Winner!

The Not So Happy Little Bro

This jousting comp didn't end so well...

Tip A Troll

Spinner Art Work

THE THING TO DO...

The new obsession in our house is setting up a little sale out front our house.  It all started on labour day.  I was on the phone for work purposes, Fitz was out and the boys were in the backyard.  I figured they were fine back there.  I could hear them and glance at them through the window, I could see they had managed to find and put on their rubber boots and I could hear the hose running and all seemed fine. By the time I hung up the phone I saw that Kieran and Quinn had set up a GRAPE sale in front of our house.  They had climbed up to reach the grapes growing in our backyard.  They hosed them down to clean them, came in to grab some bowls and started to make a sign.  Kieran was in the process of carrying our small picnic table out the back gates to the front of the house.  The sale started with selling a bunch of "organic" grapes for 25 cents.  Kids from a few doors down wanted in on the action so they ran and grabbed some of the cucumbers growing in their yard along with some hot peppers.  Shockingly the sale was a great success!  Later that day we baked cookies and sold them for 25 cents a piece.  The obsession continues... 

In the beginning...

... and then the cukes joined in the fun...

... the crowds began...

are you seriously going to give us money for this stuff?

the hot peppers arrived and more people came...

Quinn remained amazed!

HALLOWEEN?

As we puttered through a few stores in early September we noticed Halloween costumes were in stock.  We have learned over the years that if you don't grab the good stuff early, you get nothing!  So, we picked up a few things at Dollarama and Winners recently.  Both of the boys have been happily wearing costumes around the house and hood for weeks now.  Fingers crossed they will get in them on Halloween!

The new sheriff in town

Pirate, skeleton, superhero caped guy

Motorcycle guy and a cute giraffe

Dude

SPOILED ROTTEN!

A long overdue thank you to all of my family for their contributions to an amazingly thoughtful and generous birthday gift!  I celebrated my 36th birthday of August 31st.  I woke up with all of my boys in my bed excited to celebrate the day when a gift bag was handed to me.  This was a gift from all of my parents, siblings and my immediate family.  I am clearly spoiled rotten and am most grateful to all of you.  This little gem will be well used and well loved. Thank you!  xox

SO LONG SUMMER!

The start of school had Fitz away at camp with 88 grade 9 boys for the first week which had me single parenting for the start of grade one for Kieran and JK for Quinn.  I returned the favour and headed off to camp with 44 grade 7 boys for the second week of school leaving the juggle of single parenting for Dave.  The start of the school year is always mayhem with Curriculum Nights and New Parents Receptions, Grad Parent cocktail parties, Grade parties and life!  All that to say, I'm sorry I haven't been posting here as regularly as I do normally.  Post Thanksgiving the routines will be in place and I will be better at getting photos up faster!

These shots were from our final summer cottage weekend, just prior to going back to work.  We likely won't be up again until Thanksgiving which means tubing season and swimming will likely be over.  Cousin Kaitlyn got up on water skis, as did Owen which was great fun to celebrate.  All of the kiddos tubed their hearts out.  Quinn is adamant that it's not a good tube ride unless you go outside of the wake!  Quite hilarious for a little guy who traditionally has not been the risk taker.

Kaitlyn giving skiing a shot!

Owen after his non-wipe out.  He let go because his arms were too tired!

Kieran, Kelly and Maeve with the post tube hair happening

Quinn, Kel and Nora

O and Kaitlyn brave enough to stand up!

Look at that lean!  Look at Kait's face!

Auntie Erin and Q hanging out on the tube, enjoying the sunshine

ALL the Fitz Cousins!  Baby Kaitlyn came for a visit that day.  The kids loved seeing her.

Q sleeping after an exhausting day!  Amazingly, he managed to turn his t-shirt into a straight jacket.  He obviously was chilly in his sleep and pulled his arms inside against his body.  It was a funny image to see when I checked on him before going to bed myself.