July iPhone Photos - part 2..

So I can't help but laugh at myself. Yesterday I proudly stated that I had managed to keep iPhone photos down last month. I didn't. I just missed seeing the ones that were from earlier in the month. I thought there was a lot missing...a lot of lovely little moments too.

Like Atticus' run in with the floor that resulted in this lovely fat lip. 

Thankfully, he heals fast.

And there was Milayla deciding that our bathroom floor mat would be absolutely ideal for carpet rides. I love her creativeness.

And then there are these two, who think the world of one another.

And Milayla with her love of green smoothies. Though, she likes them best when stirred in with her oats and yogurt. Can't say I'm a fan, but both kids love it.

And Milayla and her love of trying on as many pieces of clothing as she can.

Oh how I love the personality that radiates through this girl's eyes. 

And surprise packages in the post (thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa!).

some classic bath shots of Milayla and her dutch duck (that she got when she was born).

I had a very bittersweet parting with most of my German books. Lots of work went into studying those things. But I'm afraid they won't do me much service in learning french.

Cooler days at the swimming pool.

Atticus "baking" cakes in the play kitchen out of helicopter and airplane pieces and serving it to Milayla and I for dessert. He was so genuinely pleased with his creativity (and so was I!) and it cooked in the oven for hours! Man, I've got to give this boy credit; he was so dedicated to making a fun surprise for us girls for dessert. It was a lot of fun.

Lots of trips to visit the animals.

Jason was gone for the weekend so the kids and I stayed busy with a museum visit in the morning and pizza and a movie in the afternoon.

Milayla is determined to turn out home into an obstacle course.

So we built a fort on a humid rainy day to keep the exploration going.

Atticus seems to have inherited my sleeping habits (sleeping on the far edge of the bed), at least for the moment.

Here's a closer look at that..

And Atticus had his first dentist appointment. Jason took him to that and I had been told that I would get to see at least one picture! I didn't. There were no pictures to be seen. But I did snap this picture of Milayla trying to open the door to the dentist building when we came to meet the boys afterward!

Atticus was pretty concerned about that dentist appointment but with his Berenstain Bears 'Go to the Dentist' book he said that he felt prepared. It was most definitely very cute. Of course, Lion went with him. 

We've sure been loving summer!

5 Years

Celebrating 5 years today! Wow! It feels like we've packed a lot into those 5 years. 

Sure, there have definitely been some stressful moments. Moving between countries (that are also two different languages) with a pretty new baby - twice? Not something I would recommend to anyone. Ever. 

But we did it. And we got stronger. And we laughed. A lot. Mostly at ourselves. We learned to have joy in the moment. To smile through the hard times. To love deeper. And to hold tighter when life gets tough.

In the past 5 years we have done more than finally get some pictures on our shelves (though, that was a mighty accomplishment in itself), 

We've also welcomed two wonderful little people into our family and can scarcely remember what our life was like before them. I'm sure we learn more lessons from them as we try to be the best parents we can than they learn from us. But I suppose that's the way it goes and at the end of the day we're all just grateful to have each other. 

We've felt the power of family. Not only of our own little family that is sealed for the eternities. But also our extended family and a group of incredible friends that may as well be family. It's been a support unit that has aided us in so many ways.

We've learned to embrace the moment. Or rather, we've gotten better at it. Because it's not so easy to embrace those moments that aren't exactly what you expected.

We've made new friends. Whom we could not imagine having not met. They've left their mark on our hearts in so many lovely ways. We're pretty lucky with that.

We've explored a little of our love for traveling and cultures. And we've seen that love grow in unique ways in each of our children. It's been an adventure, an absolute pleasure and a source of many interesting stories like the brilliant idea to take a short cut by carrying our stroller (with child) down the spanish steps. Or the turkish bus ride - that's a family favorite. 

We've moved. A lot. It may not be the most relaxing thing but it certainly reminds us of our priorities to more deeply ingrain in ourselves that the most precious things in life aren't things.

We've learned that home is wherever we are at together. During one of our travels we made a poor hotel choice; it was dirty, run down and in a rather worrisome neighbourhood, but that didn't matter to the kids. At the end of the day we were going "home" because we were all there together and it didn't matter that the hotel wasn't the nicest because there was comfort and security in our family - right where it should be. 

We've grown. As individuals. As a couple. As a family. And learned more about one another in the process. 

But the most important thing? We're together, we're happy and we're grateful; grateful that we made the choice to marry one another, our best friend, in the House of the Lord 5 years ago today. 

Here's to celebrating that wonderful choice and to looking forward to an infinite future together.

Love you, Jason!

July iPhone

Believe it or not, I actually kept things pretty minimal on the iPhone this month - huge right? 

We had Canada Day.

Mommy school days. And if you are wondering what Milayla has on that cute little nose and over her eye; it's whiteboard marker. Thankfully, that comes off pretty easily.

Lots of sunny summer walks!

Sunday afternoon naps. Love those.

And mid-week afternoon naps.

Play dates at the park.

exploration of our dress up box.

Atticus deciding to try out being a massage therapist.

Summer crafts with the kiddos.

And lots of bike rides.

I love summer.

We're moving...

So, I feel pretty forgetful. It wasn't until I posted a question on Facebook about moving details that I even realized I had never put a notice on the blog about the big news on our end.

We're moving.

In 2 weeks.

I think I've already gone through all the weird stages of acceptance. Like refusing to tell people because I wasn't quite ready to accept it. Or deciding not to go because we have such a lovely circle of friends here or because the kids and I have developed such a great routine. But the idea of moving continuously pressed on our minds until it over rode all of my reasons not to and now that it has all sunk in, it feels good. There is a lot of change in store for us and still a lot of unknowns, but it feels like the right move and we're excited to see how things develop.

It's really allowed us to focus in on tightening our family bond as everything starts to shift. It's been great to see it affect our family in a lot of positive ways (though I could do with out all those late nights looking for a place to live...). At this point I wish there was a magic wand to wave away all the logistical things - insurances, identifications, document translation etc, but I suppose it's just all part of the course.

We're headed for Montreal. It sure will be a little strange to be back in Canada but nice all at the same time. Atticus has begun making up songs with the few french words that he knows and Milayla cannot get enough of a french music cd that we picked up from the library.

It shall certainly be a new adventure for our family!

June Date Night

We're not super creative people when it comes to date nights, add to that that June is already a pretty busy month for us we just did not seem able to come up with an idea of what to do. So when our proposed date night came up we still had no idea what to do. So we went for a walk. Yep, a walk. Funny how it ended up being one great date night. We talked, a lot. Discovered places in our own neighbourhood that we didn't know where there before and enjoyed a nice, long, warm, sunny, summer evening. Jason was even a great sport and went down a playground slide for Atticus because apparently when one goes walking they should always stop to play and he requested photo evidence (because he knows that Mommy takes photos of everything). It was a fun evening topped off with sorbet at our favorite gelateria.

love the old brick buildings around here. this one is a school

what a great sport

a bunker from the war turned into apartment living

monuments outside a nursing home. I'm sure there is something more to it than what we were understanding.

And just to further prove my point of what a good sport Jason is I would like to include this photo:

That's Jason smiling about the fact that this quirky wife of his picked Candyland as her game of choice for game night; complete with gummy bears as the playing pieces - winner ate the losing gummy bear (and the winning one). Jason won. Maybe that's why he is smiling.


Great times with this best friend of mine.

Mommy School lately

 Just a small look into some of our mommy mornings lately and how they always seem to be a little bit silly :).

making shields turned into making silly faces...

making crackers and making jokes.

 admiring the greenery turns into...

planting our own.

and making playdough flowers which turns into...

eating playdough flowers...

so we read books instead. We tend not to try to eat those :).

I'm continually amazed by the questions these little ones ask and their curiosity about the world.

Service Opportunity - Ruby Lous for Ruby Jane

Remember the Stickers for Christmas that our family did back here?

Well, Sharee, the incredibly thoughtful woman behind the organization of the Sticker Project is at it again. This time it is all about Ruby Lous for Ruby Jane. If you want to know the background story, please head on over here to get all the background information on why Sharee felt the need to organize this service opportunity. This really is a great (and easy!) opportunity to serve.

How it works is simple: you purchase a Ruby Lou doll pattern from Sew Much Ado (here) in the month of August and all the profits of the pattern will be donated to the Ruby Jane Foundation (which is a beautiful organization set up by little Ruby Jane's parents). 

Want to do more? You can. You can donate your finished doll to the Ruby Jane Foundation and it will be given to a little girl who is waiting for an organ donor. What a great way to spread a little joy before the holiday season. The address for sending donations is:

RJF
PO Box 505
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92678

Not a sewer? That's okay. Neither am I. 

For myself, I plan on purchasing the pattern and giving it my best efforts (making a doll for Milayla and one to donate). Not ready to try your hand at sewing? Well, then there are still a couple of options for you. One, please spread the word! The more people that know about this, the better. Or two, purchase the pattern to give to someone who is a sewer. This is such a great pattern that I am sure would be happily received. Lastly, you can always donate directly to the Ruby Jane Foundation. 

Any way you decide is best for you- thank you! Your support is incredible. And, of course, Thanks to Sharee for organizing yet another great opportunity for us all to give a little more this year!

Have fun! And if you should make the doll, please do send pictures! Also, if anyone should have any ideas on how to spread a little love and joy to the little boys who are awaiting organ transplants, your ideas would be welcome as I can't help but feel that they and their families need a little pre-holiday brightening as well!

Can't wait to hear about everyone's experiences!