Fun & busy life!

I can't even begin to tell you how MUCH I am enjoying being at home with Noah! We are having a terrific summer! We are keeping really busy - between doing fun stuff, swimming in the pool, all of his sporting activities and working on projects around the house - but having a BLAST! Well, he may not have said that last week - his behaviour was a little 'off' and he lost out on lots! Guess that's the joy of being 7 years old, right!

Over a week ago, Noah & I (along with Zach, his mom - Autumn and his cousin - Justice) all went strawberry picking. It was perfect weather for the outing - not too hot, not too cold with a nice breeze. Noah & I ended up picking 14 lbs and eating probably 1 lb - Yummy!

The kids all got a Mr. Freeze from the owners as we paid for the strawberries. THIS was apparently the 'highlight' of his day! That was of course, next to meeting Justice (which he told me later he had a crush on!)

Later that day, Noah spent the entire afternoon with Zach's family in their pool! Another highlight! Zach and Noah get along great! We're so thankful to have found a great family to be friends with and the bonus is Zach a super nice & well mannered friend for Noah!

Check out the evidence on Zach's face that he had been eating more than he was picking!!! He was proud of it too...

More activities - swimming lessons.

When we moved here (considering there is NO indoor pool) I wondered where children take swimming lessons. Guess what - they take them in the town's only outdoor public pool. This is how it is - living in a small town! It's very strange to me (& Noah) but I guess we'll have to get used to it, right!

Noah doesn't seem to mind too much! The instructor's are FANTASTIC with the kids. In fact, I just spoke with his instructor's and they told me that Noah is a VERY strong swimmer and is doing great. I was so pleased to hear this because the last week of classes, we will miss because we will be on holidays!

Keep up the great effort Noah, we are really proud of you!


The other day, we were reading "If You Give a Moose a Muffin", [part of his "Mouse Cookies & More" book that includes 4 of the books from this series, lots of activities, music to songs (that are included on a CD that comes with the book) and cookie, muffin, pancake recipes] and Noah decided that he would like to make some muffins - from a recipe included in the book called: Chocolate MUD Muffins - with Moose tracks!!!

So we did! Wednesday's are usually library day (which we were getting ready to go to) - but Noah made a fantastic suggestions. From now on, one Wednesday is BAKING DAY and the next Wednesday is LIBRARY DAY. This works well because we have TOO MANY books, so there is not much need in borrowing too many books!

The muffins turned out GREAT - yummy!!

Noah's favourite part was licking the bowl (which he could do because there were no EGGS - which the recipe actually notes) and spatula!


More activities: Soccer

It's amazing to see the transformation from one year to the next in soccer. I'm not sure if it's because we changed communities or if it is their age - either way, it's really cool watching the little athlete's transform!

Last year, they used the orange pylons for goal posts and this year, they have real nets. Last year, the coaches refereed and this year, there are real "paid" referees. Last year, the kids just ran and chased the balls and this year, they work on plays & strategies. Last year, there were 3 or 4 kids on the 1/6th of the field and this year, there are 6 players plus the goalie on the 1/2 the field. Last year, there was no score counted and this year, the score is counted.

We are so proud of Noah, watching him work hard and taking what the coach teaches and applying it. I think this is the hardest he's ever played in his 4 years of soccer. I am certain (now) that he will always be a very "positional" player. He tends to stay in position rather than chasing after the ball or puck, what ever sport he is playing. It makes us (especially Jacques) so proud and something I've often heard the coach praise him for!


More baking - this time it was MORE strawberry jam. I found a new recipe for strawberry jam - that has less than 1/2 the amount of sugar. So I thought I'd try it out! Only this time, I had a helper.

I am so excited that Noah is showing such an interest in learning how to cook & bake. Not only because it's a great activity to work on together but also for later in life!

For our 2nd batch of strawberry jam, Noah helped to cut strawberries, mash (which he did completely by himself) and measure, pour & stir the sugar. Once the sugar had to sit for 15 minutes, his patience ran out & the novelty wore off. At this point, the XBOX looked more appealing and I lost him to the game! Then, I was left to clean up the mess! I think part of the lessons should be working neatly as well - the floor was covered in strawberry juice!!! As he was working opposite me on the island, I didn't really notice! Oh well, it wiped up!