all sorts

We've been up to all sorts of things lately. Nadia loves to help me water the flowers. It's a great thing because it's been really sunny and warm and without her they may not be as healthy. Nadia is also sporting a pony tail here. She's 3 and I can count on 1 hand the times she's actually kept 1 in for more than 10 seconds. This 1 actually lasted all morning until after lunch.
With Nadia I was so eager to try everything, with Colin it's more like, "Oh, I guess we should do that now..." So he's almost 11 months old and I'm finally giving him finger foods. I guess up until now he's been a gager. So I am very pleased that he can eat with his hands and not choke, for the most part.
Strawberry pieces where the first finger foods he ate without choking. Good pick Colin.
Lately, Nadia always wants Colin to sit in her lap while she strangles, I mean hugs, him. Mostly, he doesn't really want to be restrained so this is usually a short lived event. But, Colin does giggle and love to play with Nadia so he tolerates it. It's a good thing he's easy going.

before & after

Before

Above is the before picture. Colin was born with lots of hair, which all fell out and then came right back and has been growing furiously ever since. I always thought it was cute....kind of emo style. But in the past few days people have been calling him a girl and scoffing at his long hair. So that was the clincher. As I'm an impulsive person, I got out the sewing scissors, put on a DVD and went at it. The picture below is the first round cut, where I just got the bulk off. The last photo is the final product. This is my first boy cut ever, so it was a learning experience.

Tim went to church early for music practice so I had to get us all ready and out the door by 10am. You should have seen me this morning. I was finishing up Colin's hair, behind ears and the back, thinking we had lots of time. At 10 to 10 I realized I had little tiny baby hairs all over me and so did Colin and only I was dressed and ready. Ahhh!!! You might say we were late to church because of Colin's hair....but really, I can't get anywhere on time.

After

day 2...

....of roofing. It was a very long day for the guys, who put in a 10 hour day in the heat on Saturday of a long weekend. But as you can see the new shingles look very sleek. I just can't get over the difference. After 2 days, well I guess 1 1/2, the one side is finished. I think they'll take another 2 days for the other side, our roof is a tricky one with the 2 dormers. They are doing a fabulous job, and I'm so please with the way it's turning out. Thanks guys!

day 1...

...day 1 of our new roof! Above is the before picture of the old cedar shakes that are curled and falling off, and oh....about 5 years past due. So, today the shingles came off in a shingle slide. It was very noisy. As the guys pried and pushed them off.
Here's our friend Jerry putting on the new shingles. He's the brains of the operation. The good news is that we only had minimal patching so far and things are going smoothly.
And Steve and Travis....don't you have school Travis? Anyway, we're glad he came to help.
And while the guys were working on the roof, the girls were working in the yard. Maybe I was the only girl really working...putting more leaves into bags. But boy is our sandbox getting used. Above is Ashlyn our little neighbour girl. Her and Nadia just love to play together. It is so great to have someone for Nadia to play with.

And Colin...showing off the leaf that he found. If I wasn't supervising, he would have eaten a lot of leaves and grass.

where we're at

You've probably noticed a lack of blogging lately. There's a good reason...well a few of them. The weather is finally warm. We have a cool back yard. Nadia just got a swing set. And I can't keep her inside. And lets face it...I have a hard time coming inside too. I love it out there. We have tons of work to do on our yard, but it's really fun. And now that I've decided what to do about it, the hardest part for me is done. Now just the brute labour.
Here's Nadia on her swing set.
She can get on and off the rocket and make it go all by herself. I'm pretty impressed.
She always wants to help in the yard. She chose to use the garden rake for the grass, so I'm not too sure how that leaf raking was going for her.
And about the neighbours. Our yard backs onto a farmers field. And just across the "highway" is another field. They decided to burn their fields this year. You can see how close this was to our property, maybe 150' away. Yikes! I'm not sure I was okay with this, but they did keep a close eye on it and it turned out okay. Not to mention the burning, we also have hundreds of sea gulls. They are hanging out in the freshly cultivated land and eating worms, I guess. They fly over our house and the noise is horrific. ...the good news is I think they've moved on now!