fall work

This year, Asha wanted to learn how to mow the lawn.

She's picked it up really quickly, although she stops at the corners occassionally to get the "thumbs up" that she is doing a great job.

We have a lot of lawn here on the farm so the more kids helping, the better.

She's still only mowing the open spaces (no edging work yet), but next year she will be good to go.

And.......she won't need the heavy rock on the seat with her to keep the mower running (she's too light in weight to keep the engine going). 

 

photo editting: pixlr-o-matic

keep creating,

jill

moving day

I took Daria off to MCI yesterday -- a private, Christian school about 2 hours east of home.  My husband & I both attended this school and lived in residence at a young age of 15, so this is not foreign to us at all.  Our van was packed full of all the great things we purchased earlier in Grand Forks for Daria's dorm room (only half is her's -- the other half is her cousin, Brianna's).

The girls....waving "good-bye" to the farm.

A little glimpse into Daria's dorm room.

She'll be sharing the room with another grade 10 student, whom she just met for the first time yesterday.  Her name is Lily and she & her family are incredibly nice.  I'm sure her & Daria will find out they have a lot in common and they will share their space quite easily.

We spent the afternoon registering Daria for all her classes, signing up for sports & choir auditions, meeting teachers & new friends, etc.  We then went to the res and found out where her room was.  We spent until supper organizing all Daria's stuff -- making her bed, organizing her school uniforms in her closet (guess I should have ironed them...oops!), filling her drawers with clothes, setting up her bathroom stuff, etc.

At the end of the evening, I drove down the road, leaving my "little girl" there........confident she is going to have an amazing year!!

Looking forward to these great changes and the excitement of starting years of travelling to MCI for sports, musical & choir events.  I already found myself connecting with past alumni & teachers yesterday -- very cool.

We are so proud of Daria and what this year will bring for her!

 

keep creating your own new memories,

jill

8:05 a.m.

First day of school today.

The bus came up the lane this morning & routine for another year was instantly set in motion again.

Carter procrastinating on the couch, trying to catch the last highlights on SportsCentre.

Asha waiting at the door with her jacket & shoes on, excited & ready for another year (her last year in the Early Years School).

The only change this year -- Daria is not on the bus.  She's off to private school 2 hours away, living in residence & coming home on weekends.

Big changes!

 

(Carter - grade 8)

 

 

(Asha - grade 4)

 

 

Have a great day!

- jill

Mom....look what we built!

Carter & his friend have been busy for 3 days creating zip-lines in the trees.

Yes....you read that correctly.....actual zip-lines with harnesses & ladder & platforms & wires.  But helmets?  No.......not helmets.  Why would there be helmets?

The zip-lines are over 12 feet off the ground.  Way too high for a mother to ride........besides, I surpass the weight restrictions on a "built-on-the-farm" zip-line (lol).

Oh well -- everyone's having fun here on the last week of summer vacation.  And who am I to spoil the fun?!!

 

Remember:

"What happens on the farm, stays on the farm."

 

 

keep creating (zip-lines too),

jill

no. 36

Last weekend we watched Carter in the AAA PeeWee Provincial Qualifying Tournament.

Although Pembina Hills ended up 4th (top 3 teams go to Provincials), we were so proud of the way he played.  He was one of three minors on the team this year and definitely had his share of playing time.......

 

in center field

pitching

batting

& stealing bases

 

What a great season for baseball!

(........ & hockey starts next week)

 

come back soon,

- jill

summer adventures // so far

Carter mowed a dirt bike track just west of the yard.

We hired someone to come remove this old shed.......

To make room for this new one.

(finished photos to follow soon)

We reconfigured the play-structure to make some new fun.

Dare was picked up by another ball team and became "the pitcher".

We discovered 4 of these new cuties under the deck.

We've had a few campfires in the backyard, complete with sparkler shows by the kids.

Lots of wonderful, hot days spent in the pool.

Fun times spent family camping, kayaking.........

......and fun, competitive games.

 

back soon with more summer fun!

- jill

graduation photo shoot

two weekends ago i spent the saturday taking graduation photos of my niece.  she graduates this coming Sunday. 

she is stunningly beautiful and so incredibly easy to photograph.

her boyfriend was a hoot and such a great sport as it took us 

THREE HOURS with multiple changes of location!!

soph had purchased these 3 giant balloons, so we had fun with some creative photos in a meadow.

they are so funny......with their glasses, a vintage afghan & zach's big shoes.  how cute!  at one point they were chucking grapes up into the air & trying to catch them.  so many giggles.

i have these two vintage chalkboards, so i told them to write anything they wanted about "graduation" on them (but they couldn't show each other until after the photo was taken).  zach had graduated 2 years ago already.......so that explains what he wrote on his chalkboard (lol).

soph created a little digital "adventure" album for zach and it was a great prop for these fun photos!!  look how their fingers are linked -- love it.

happy graduation, soph!! 

love you.

 

 

keep creating memories,

jill