Boating at the Cottage

We had use of a a few different kinds of watercraft when we were staying at the cottage.  The kids' favourite was definitely the paddle boat.  Victoria and I took it out first to test it.  What a work out for our legs!  Then we were comfortable letting Victoria and Austin head out on their own as it seemed pretty impossible to tip.  

Everyone wanted a turn with Daddy.  

And he even had two passengers at one point! 

Mike's favourite was more of a quiet and peaceful ride over the water . . . . the kayak.  

He attempted to get me to try it out but I'm much more comfortable with two feet planted firmly on dry ground!   

A week at the cottage

For the last four years, we've taken the kids away for a family vacation during the first week of September and this year was no exception.  This year we headed up to a cottage.  The weather was kind of overcast and gray and we had a bit of rain but it didn't stop us from enjoying our time together.  We drove two vehicles up this year so that we could take the kids' bikes along.  Austin, Samara and Denver went in the back of Daddy's truck and Victoria came in the van to keep me company.  We drove caravan style with Mike and the three kids leading the way.  

Mike had the idea of suggesting the kids bring along their walkie talkies so they could chat while we drove.  I scrounged through boxes and boxes and finally located them just before we were about to leave!   (I still have some unpacking to do!)  Anyway, the kids had a lot fun with that and made the ride go by a lot faster.  

Oh ya, and I better not forget to mention Frodo.  He was also along in the van to help keep me company!  

More cottage posts to follow . . . 

Baseball season wrap up

This was our second year participating in this particular baseball league and it was another great season.  The kids all played well, did their best and had fun.  

It was Denver's first year playing ball - he was on a jr. t-ball team.  He loved it!  Here he is getting his trophy on the last night.  

Victoria and Austin played on a 3-pitch team again this year and were able to be on the same team.  Here they are receiving their trophies on the final night.  

Samara went from playing t-ball last year to being on a 5-pitch team this year.  She missed playing t-ball a little bit but the transition was a good one for her.  She enjoyed it and did really well.  Of course the best part was that Daddy was one of her coaches.  Here she is receiving her trophy on the final evening.  

She specifically requested that she have pictures taken with her favourite coach when we got home.  So cute!   

And thus ends another season of baseball and t-ball.  

To help me remember

Emptying the dishwasher . . . one of the chores the kids take turns doing.  But do you think we can ever remember whose turn it is?  Not a chance. I think I can remember but they always tell me they've JUST done it!  So I came up with a way for us to keep track.  I printed out labels with each kid's name on it . . . stating that they've emptied the dishwasher.  Each one is laminated and has a magnet stuck on the back.  

So the idea is that every time they empty the dishwasher, they take their label and stick it on the outside of the dishwasher.  And because we go in order of age, we'll always know whose turn it is next.  

And what happens if they forget to put their label on?  Well, I guess they do the job again the next time.  I assume they'll only forget once!  ;)  

Organizing 101 - Manuals and Warranty info

Is it just us or does everyone else also have a thousand brochures and pamphlets and booklets - instructions and warranty information for large appliances, small appliances, electronic devices, tools, computer equipment etc.? Over the years, they've piled up in boxes and drawers and cupboards.  Completely unorganized and taking up space.  When we were packing up our previous house, I realized how many we actually had and decided to organize them and store them all in one place.  There's nothing worse than needing some sort of information about a specific appliance and not being able to find the booklet that came with it.  So as we were unpacking at our current house, I gathered them all together.  I wish I had taken a before picture because the pile was quite something!  The first step was to go through them all and decide which ones were still relevant.  There were quite a few that could be thrown right into the recycling bin as we no longer had the item they went with.  That was a good feeling.  The rest of them were sorted and placed into two of these accordion file boxes we had lying around.  

I thought they would all fit into one but I was wrong.  There were too many of them.  Each section was labelled with it's content so it's easy to find.  No more searching everywhere when we need a booklet or brochure.  So nice to have this all together and organized!  

Book Review: Star Wars Folded Flyers

The boys received this book for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa and what a hit!  The book features six different Starfighters, information on each one and detailed instructions on how to make each one.  The back of the book has the paper to make five of each flyer.  It also comes with a sheet of sticky tape which is so handy.  We always seem to be looking for our roll of tape which is always missing so having it right in the book is so great!  

Austin has enjoyed making these flyers and although Denver is a little too young to make them, he has enjoyed flying them when his big brother makes them.  

Here are a few of the different flyers that Austin made the other day:

And then, when they were all ready, the kids went out to the backyard and had a flying contest with the different flyers.  Denver is the announcer - thus the hand in front of the mouth - to make his voice sound more announcer-like.  :)

Some of them went super far and some of them did dips and turns and twists without going very far.  We measured the distance that the farthest flyer flew (say that three times fast!) and the winner was . . . (drum roll please) . . . the BTL-B Y-Wing ship at a whopping 81.25 feet!  So fun!  

Organizing 101 - Recipes

I'm working on organizing our house . . . one area at a time.  So I started with my recipes.  I had a binder going but it was quite unorganized and not efficient so I brought it up a notch . . . and made it pretty of course!  Here it is:

Here you can see the tabs:

All the recipes are in page protectors so that they can be wiped if (when) spills happen.  I have a shelf full of recipe books which I should use more often but just don't.  This recipe binder is more for recipes I tear out of magazines, print from websites/blogs or recipes I use all the time.  If there's a recipe in one of my recipe books that I find myself going back to all the time, instead of getting the book out for that one recipe, I photocopy it and stick it in this binder.  That way I have easier access to it and that specific recipe can be taken right out of the binder to use.  Love it!