Cookies and Coffee for breakfast

After smallest went off to school, Moo and I rushed off to work for the morning. It rained before we got there and it rained as we arrived. MrsM decided we would have coffee first and of course we had to have a cookie because Jan had made them for us. The rain stopped and we got to do some gardening. We filled four huge planters with Summer displays and weeded and planted some annuals before we got rained on again and we had to move inside for coffee and cookie no2. We did get out again but we also got rained on again. Bloomin' Tuesdays - every time! I came home with a Carolina All Spice (been looking at this plant for a while now) and a Ratibida (which has been on my wish list for ages).

We came home for lunch. Huffle was missing as he had a call in the loft during lunchtime but he had boiled us some eggs. We sat and watched a bit of Pitch Battle but not for too long as we had end of year baking to do for Teachers Gifts. Today we decided to make White Chocolate Muffins (Smallest's choice) and Gingerbread. I had bought mugs earlier in the year and six Gingerbread fit just nicely inside with a muffin sitting on top, all cellophaned together. I know teachers probably get mugs all the time, but I hope they like them. I sorted out Small's teacher first as I don't think he will be there on the last day.

Moo started clearing up the sun room as we had a spill in there and we threw away stuff and tidied it and cleared away in the kitchen before Smallest came home from school. We made meatballs and LentilVeg balls (very yummy) with a tomato and garlic scape sauce and pasta.

Tonight was a football game for Smallest. It was the worst game I have ever seen and we had some terrible ones at our previous club! For some reason they swapped the opposing teams around and we ended up playing the same team we played last week. For ten year olds, they were incredibly tall, some of them twice as tall as our players. We lost about 7-1 though we can't be sure as we lost interest in the second half due to the Coach putting Smallest in goal AGAIN! He is not a goalkeeper, he has never had any goal keeping training. I really hope they don't keep doing this as I won't be able to not say anything! However he did do really well and managed to save some goals but still!!!!!........

This evening we watched so you think you can dance.

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Don't waste space

Yesterday when we were looking for the moon, I checked my planet app which tells me where various planets are in the sky. This made me laugh lots.......

Very childish!

I woke at 7:15am and went to wake Small up. His first words to me were "why didn't you get me up earlier?" EXCUSE ME? Smallest had forgetton to wake him up because he thought he wasn't at school anymore. Today was Small's trip to the Capital Ottawa. He quickly made his breakfast and packed away his last minute things while I made him a packed lunch for the coach. Small said his goodbyes and I drove him to school. We were the last ones there except for one of the teachers. He forgot to kiss me before he got on the bus so I climbed aboard and called him back. I think he knew I would stay until I got one so it was easier just to do it! A couple of us mums stood by the bus and one of the Dads asked if we were staying there until the bus returned on Wednesday. Ha ha. He also told us the kids were not looking at us or taking any notice of us at all. BOOOOO so we left. We gave Small my old phone and Huffle spent most of yesterday getting it ready for him, including holding it under his armpit to get it to recharge. Cool tip if you can't get a gadget to charge after being left for a year or so. It worked. He also installed an app that uses the wifi for calls as there is no data or phone signal on there. We weren't sure if he would call or text but thought it would be good for him to take photos at least. We did get a call this evening but he had to use a friend's phone. He didn't say a lot. His phone wasn't working but the wifi wasn't good. He had got to his room and it was in a college residents building. He had had dinner and that was about all really. He said he would try to call tomorrow. The house is different without him in. It's not quiet because Smallest is our noisy boy but I think even he is missing Small.

I got to stand outside with Smallest while he waited for the bus this morning and so I asked DonNoQuotey why his house wasn't up for sale anymore. He said he got too many calls asking the price and he was fed up so he took the sign down and said if anyone calls in the future he's not telling them how much it is until they have made an appointment to see it! Well that's not going to work. People need to know the price before they look DOH!

I went off to my exercise class at 9:15. It was really good though my arms hurt already as we did a lot of weight and arm work.

ExerciseNic and Smurf (she thought it might help motivate me).

I came home and grabbed Moo and we went off looking for towels. We took some sheets back to Costco that I bought wrongly. I had discarded the packaging and lost the receipt but my membership card had all the information they needed and they just credited my card. Solutions was the next place where we purchased a Bath Caddy (sorry UK'ers I have no idea what these are called over there) and a funky shower squeegee. We left the car in the middle of the car park and walked (very uncanadian of us) to Winners/Homesense. I have now discounted orange as the colour for the towels as there are so many different tones that I don't like. I chose purple, greenyblue and dark grey and bought flannels (wash cloths) to test out the colour in our bathroom. We all decided we didn't like the greenyblue and probably like the purple most though it's a very dark unassuming purple. We are going to Ikea on Friday so will have a look there too. I also bought a couple of presents whilst there. We rewarded ourselves with a coffee and a piece of cake/cookie before coming home.

Quite a dark purple. What do you think?

All morning we have been chasing a storm. The Hamlet had a weather warning and we saw the huge dark clouds and came to roads that had definitely had a heavy rainfall but we seemed to miss it all, until we got back to the Hamlet and we encountered heavy rain, winds and thunder and lightning. Huffle was in the basement and had been in there some time I think. Moo and I were invited to the Volunteer Tea at the school and we were planning on walking there but the rain was so heavy, we struggled to get to the car. We waited for a lull and drove a street away from the school and just missed the heavy stuff.

Smallest had called me earlier in the day to ask if I could bring his music in as he was playing piano for the tea so we actually got there earlier. We had food of cheese and crackers and veggies and dip and cake and punch (non alcoholic). It was very nice and we had the kindergarten kids singing songs for us and several piano players playing tunes and a violinist playing too. I normally hate these things as I don't know anyone and I was glad Moo was there at first. However it seems I know more people now than I think and I had a nice chat and was very sociable. Moo and I stayed through two brief power cuts, incredibly heavy rain and thunder and lightning so bad, the kids were told not to leave the building. Eventually we braved the outside and ran through puddles to get back to the car avoiding the lightning.

Back home Smallest arrived not long after us and we made dinner when we realised his football practice was called off, also due to the bad weather. He did a chore and played on his tablet. After dinner we all played table tennis which was a very funny and loud affair. Moo and I left the boys to play FIFA and we played SkipBo. Latest score is Moo 4 -1 Me. I told her I wouldn't play if she kept winning. JammyBugger!

I think it has stopped raining now but because it is Tuesday tomorrow and it always rains on a Tuesday, it will no doubt be horrible tomorrow too! BOOOO!

Wet blooms today

Tonight a thought to my lovely friend MrsElderflowerMeadow who had to go back in to hospital today. Hoping all is well. <3

 

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Storm Chasing

I had a dream that Huffle had made a huge jug of waffle mix and when I came downstairs, it was all ready for me to make. However, in reality, I woke up to Huffle snoring ha! Of course, it was sign and I had to make them. Yummy breakfast.

Smallest's football practice was cancelled due to all the activity yesterday, however he wasn't going to go anyway as he had a party. At 11:15 Huffle dropped him off at his friend's house in the Hamlet and they went Paintballing. He had a fabulous time but has come home with a huge bruise on his arm and one on his forehead, plus he had a headache where the paintballs hit him on the back of his head. He made the birthday boy cry by hitting him with paint. Whoops.

Lovely lily

We all went into the garden to do some weeding and cutting back. We probably got about an hour in before there were the biggest splodges of rain falling which turned into hail and thunder. Just as I was starting to wonder if we could go for a lakeside walk too!

Weird bobbly clouds

We decided instead to go out for dinner at a place about half an hour away but when we got there we were told it was brunch buffet until 2pm and we didn't fancy the brunch so we went to a shop to bide some time and then went back. Small is still struggling with his stye so we picked up some expensive eye stuff for him in throw away capsules so it's easy for him to apply while he is away. We got the pharmacist to check it too.

We took our SkipBo game with us but didn't get time to finish it before our dinner came. Yum yum. We tried another shop on the way home. I've been looking for my No7 moisturizser which is sold here (cheaper too but they always seem to have trouble getting it). That's three different branches I tried too.

Back home Moo ironed Small's shirt for tomorrow's trip and the boys watched the Blue Jays until it was time to collect Smallest who had a bath once home to ease his aches and bruises.

Boys went to bed and we finished our film from last night and tried to look at th tiny sliver of moon through the telescope. We saw it but it moved so fast we lost it quickly.

 

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Englands No1

I was the first one up this morning, followed by Moo who went to wake up Smallest. Today we went to Smallest's Football Festival. We packed some breakfast, coffee and snacks and drove off to some very boggy fields for five hours of football. The recent rain had made huge puddles everywhere but luckily it was a beautiful day today so it didn't matter too much that our feet got a bit wet. Our camp was at the top of a hill under the shade of trees with a nice breeze around us. We were asked to get there at 9am for a 10am game but I think that was so they could make sure everyone was there and not rushing. We got there around 9:15am and the team were milling around before their team talk and some passing practice.

At just before 10am we all moved our chairs, picnic boxes etc down the hill, through the long grass, into the bogginess and down to the pitch. The team played well and won 3-0. Our referee was a woman and she missed a few tackles much to the disdain of the other teams' coach! Smallest played well but not so hard that he was exhausted. The pitch wasn't full size and the goal was nice and low. Everyone then marched back through long grass and the bogginess, up the hill and back to camp for some relaxation. Huffle, Small and I went off to get lunch for our campers and found a tiny little TimHortons where we purchased bagels and donuts and drinks which we took back and ate in the sunshine. While we were gone the kids had been playing with our Wind Cricket Ball and it had somehow got stuck up a tree. To try and get it down they threw their own footballs up there. Consequently there were three footballs and our cricket ball up there and they were throwing a huge piece of wood above their heads. A man climbed up in the end and got their footballs down but our Ball is still up there, too high to get down. I tried to talk to one of the Dads about it but he was so rude........... I can't even write about it he made me sooooo very mad. Every time I saw him after that I said RUDE MAN. He was French apparently. IDIOT!

The Team

We had reading, playing, eating and relaxing and a bit of time playing with Angels baby. At 1pm there was a parade. Not really sure why but all the teams congregated on the fields and a bagpiper piped them round while they held various flags of their teams. Then there was a long speech about.......... wish I could say but Small and I watched while the kids paraded and then walked back up the hill to camp. Smallest said it was very boring and they had to sit on the wet muddy grass. He was not impressed.

The Piper

Charge!

Camp

Parading

His next game was at 2pm and this time we trudged to a different pitch but still though bog and long grass. This game we won 6-1. We were on fire! Our referee was a short, bow legged, kid-counting man. Every time the subs came on he counted everyone. EVERYTIME. And he made them come on and off into middle of the pitch in a straight line. REALLY? 10 year olds at a FESTIVAL!? Since we were winning easily, the coaches switched the team round and Smallest ended up in goal. He kept waving at us from goal. Huffle called him Dodgy Hodge a couple of times but he didn't let any in and the first thing he said as he came off was 'I didn't concede any goals'. He enjoyed it but he said he wouldn't want to do it too often.

No43 and DodgeHodge

Back up the hill we trudged (starting to feel like 'we're going on a bear hunt'), a quick word with the coach and we were able to come home. Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic but we got home eventually. While Smallest showered and had a play we sat on the porch. Huffle even managed or get a few plants in the garden while I watered them and pulled a few weeds.

Geranium. Allium. Gaillardia. Stocks. Penstemon

We all went out for dinner of a burger at our favourite local place. Fabulous chips and mine and Moo's burger was delicious. On the way we picked up some new eye drops for Smallest. Smallest and I went in and left everyone else in the car. We had to wait for ages so we were messing about taking photos and waiting for our buzzer to go off to let us know it was ready. When it did go off, Smallest laughed so much he trumped. Smelly rat!

Three kids in the back

Smiley faces

Back home Moo and Smallest played badminton, Small played on his tablet, I cleaned out PeterCrouch (he was starting to get algae on his glass and we think it might be from the direct sunshine he's getting. Need to keep an eye on that. Might have to move him. I helped Small pack his bag for his big Graduate Trip to Ottawa on Monday. He is tired and has the beginnings of a sty on his eye. Moo says it's because he's run down. I say he's run down because he's tired! I made him go to bed earlier than usual but now he has a TV in his room, who knows what time he turns it off!!!!!

Smallest went to bed and us grown ups watched Now you see me. We only watched half of it but do far it is really good.

 

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Small's 2015 award*

We had loud storms from around 12midnight until about 3pm and Smallest was the only one who slept through it all. Huffle spent most of the night in the basement. Moo was up a couple of times and I sat up in bed, browsing Facebook and found some coupons to allow us free children admission for various places in the summer. Super.

Small had a fabulous time at his pool party and later at the sleepover but didn't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning when they went back to the pool and ate two breakfasts. He walked home (after I picked up his sleeping bag and pillow) around midday.

Smallest went to school in the bucketing down rain. It was a weird weather day once again. Extremely heavy rain resulting in a river running down our road, followed by intense thick fog which cleared very suddenly on our journey to collect new bathroom paint. We went on to knitting and sat and chatted and knit and crocheted for a couple of hours with a strong black coffee (sooo tired). Huffle worked in the loft and painted some of the bathroom when we got back with some nice grey (definitely grey this time) paint.

Moo and I rushed home so we could pack some lunch to get to Smallest and take his class to the golf club for lessons. However it had been cancelled and it seems no one thought to let me know. NICE! So instead we had a nice leisurely lunch.

This afternoon we went to Homesense and another home shop looking for bathroom accessories and bought a basket/bag for under the shelves to store old towels, a basket for the toilet rolls (every bathroom should have one) and a slimline bin that's fits nicely beside the vanity unit. I didn't see any towels I liked so I'm still on the lookout for those. We also popped to the Charity Shop but there wasn't anything we wanted there so we came home.

Small was still on his iPad where we had left him so I made him get up and do something and when Smallest came home, they played badminton for a while. After dinner we all played MarioKart. It was just us four but after some persuading and intense coaching from Huffle, Moo was playing and doing quite well.

Today's new Blooms

Smallest's football practice was cancelled thank goodness so we had no pressure to do anything this evening. Tomorrow he has a tournament and we have to get out early BOOOO!

*we noticed that one of Small's trophies for last night had on the wrong date. It said 2015-2016 - tut tut!

Thank you for all our lovely comments on Small's Graduation. He says thank you too.

 

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Demamerma Sugar

Smallest woke up Small at 7am only to be told he wasn't going to school today. Small went back to sleep. Smallest went off to school by himself which is what he will be doing for the next four years. Awwwww. Mid morning we got an automated call from school saying that someone in our household had missed the morning attendance call. (We actually got the message on our landline, mine and Huffle's mobile and then on email - at least we know if they never get to school we will definitely be informed, no chance of ever skipping school these days). I made a call to the Secretary who said "aww your baby is graduating, I remember when you first arrived here..........."

Huffle helped me to upload the photos for the year end assembly and worked in the loft. Moo advised me about ironing and I ironed everyone's outfit for tonight while Moo swiffed and sorted the dishwasher and kitchen. Small finished his homework and biked to school to hand in his asssignment and empty his desk. His teacher pretended he didn't see him. There was only one boy there today and he was grumpy that Small was allowed to stay off.

Moo and I had a couple of games of Skip-Bo (3-0 to her so far). This afternoon Small made some flapjack for his party snack later. He had a list of things he needed to do like clean his shoes, shower and get his overnight stuff together.

When it came time for getting ready this evening it was a big kerfuffle of shining shoes, tying ties, defluffing suits. Everyone looked lovely.

We had to get to the ceremony for 6pm in order for the Graduates to be photographed as a group. There was an awful lot of just standing around but as I knew most of the parents and teachers it wasn't too bad. I got plenty of photos. They had to make a procession to walk up to their seats while the band played though they were missing their Tuba player (Small is their only one till next year). There was a speech by the Principal and then each student was called up to recieve their graduation certificate.

Next they had the award ceremony where Small picked up awards for Science, French and Music. Considering there were only fourteen graduates, he did really well. Three of them picked up most of the awards and for once I was pleased they didn't give them out to everyone in a very inclusive way. He also got $150 and that was what he was most pleased about. Huffle and I were very proud of him, Moo had to wipe away a tear as he walked to his seat and Smallest whooped when he got his awards.

After we had a bit of food, we had to dance with our graduate. So that was me and Small. It was nice because we had a chat and a laugh and although it started quite awkwardly, it was okay once we got started. We were asked to leave so the students could enjoy their party. I know that Small just wanted to get on to the next party which involved a pool and pizza.

Back home we put Smallest to bed who was a little star this evening. Good as gold, supportive of his brother and looking very smart too. What a lovely pair of kids we have.

Huffle picked up Small at 10pm and brought him home to change and then took him to his pool and pizza party and sleepover. Have fun Big Bear, you deserve it. See you tomorrow.

 

 

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ShaunSewit*

Small went off for his last official full day of elementary school and came home with homework and a bag full of 'recycling' (school work). The rest of his class are not going in to school tomorrow but he has decided he will finish his homework and walk to school, hand it in, empty his desk and walk back. Smallest said there weren't many people in his class today as they were at the ultimate frisbee tournament. He came home with pumpkin stamps on his face!!

Moo and I went off to aerobics and worked hard. I pulled something in my lower abdominal when I was doing a last set of sit ups. I'm hoping it's not too bad! We worked hard and did lots of squats OUCH for tomorrow. When we got home we picked up the paint from yesterday and our shopping bags and headed out.

We tried to paint on the bathroom wall yesterday and it looked like rice pudding, not at all grey as we wanted. Huffle tried a couple of coats and we left it and kept looking at it but it definitely was not the colour we wanted so we took it back today. At first the lady who served us and advised us (who definitely knew we wanted a bluey grey rather than a taupe grey) kind of shrugged and didn't really want to help us. Funny how different people can be when they are selling to you! The main man came to help and painted our paint on the swatch to prove it WAS the correct colour and then added some blue to try and make it greyer. It didn't work so he added some yellow, which also didn't work and added another colour. None of these he showed me. In the end he decided he would give me one of the paint tins back (unchanged) and gave me a credit note for two new tins of my choice. He then helped to find a better colour and gave me three colour swatches that matched the tile (after he scanned the tile to get a colour match). We went food shopping and came home for lunch. The swatches were left stuck to the bathroom wall and by early evening we had all decided on the one we thought was right. Hopefully I can get it on Friday and we can try again. I may get a call from the company but I am to tell them the coverage was bad.

Another lunchtime spent watching a Gotham, poor Moo, each one is worse than the one before. Moo made us a Rhubarb and strawberry crumble and I made sausage, mash and veg for dinner. We got to sit in the garden in the sunshine until the boys came home. Smallest's chore was to pull out the thistles in and around the jungle gym. Moo and I pruned the forsythia and lilac, picked up Smallest's thistles and weeded part of the veg garden.

After dinner Moo and I took small to his football practice and walked until my step counter got to 14,000 steps (obviously that was the day's steps too. I think we walked just over 4,000 while he was practising and we got to sit and watch too). Smallest and Huffle played badminton, Sorry Revenge, Robot Lego and FIFA.

I had an email from one of the teachers today asking if we had any baby photos of Small for the end of year assembley. He doesn't know but these are the ones I sent in. I hope he's not too annoyed!

In Grandad Ic's cap

Dippy Egg in Weymouth

Pirate boy

Potty training with Monkey

 

* we are trying to teach Moo the names of singers she hears on the radio when we are travelling. We did this with Grandad and it was hilarious. The clue we gave to Moo for one was 'a famous sheep who's button fell off'. ShaunMendes. She got the Shaun but but then said 'sew it'. Yes Moo Shaun sewIt! Another one we tried was TheWeekendfeaturingDaftPunk. We told her it was a Saturday or Sunday and one of our fish's names! She came up TheSaturdays and PeterCrouch. Small would like to see Grandad and Moo challenge each other. It would be very funny!

 

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