Checking In

There is so much to catch up on that it feels a bit overwhelming. Today, is my official back to "real" life start. My David went back to work after a wonderful summer off and we all miss him already. Thankfully it's going well so far and the adjustment isn't as harsh as previous first days back at work. Of course, it is only noon, but I'm going to stay optimistic. Let's get to it:

• David and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last month. August 14th has become my favourite day as David and I have been celebrating annually with a HOT date! We don't do big dates often, but we always try to celebrate in a memorable way. This year we went for dinner to Carnaval. It was sooooo good. If you've never been to a brazilian barbecue style restaurant and you like meat, then I highly recommend it. After dinner we went to Rainbow Stage to see Mary Poppins. We both loved it! It is more true to the books than the movie and there are some new scenes that were a lot of fun. It was so good to see tap dance live. It seems to be less popular, but as fans of the "oldies" like Fred Astaire, it was a treat.

• We made really good progress on our summer list this year. We've included some new items like the Planetarium and the Museum plus the farmer's market. It was a great summer!

• Because we "spend the wad" on our date, David and I don't typically buy each other anniversary gifts. We do try to make something for each other. This year I made him a leather cuff bracelet and he wrote me some more of a story that he's been writing for me since our first year of marriage. I love the simplicity and thought put into these kinds of gifts.

• We didn't make a whole lot of time for crafting, partly because my office is a disaster and partly because there a whole lot of other things to do in the summer. I did, however, give our cube freezer a $4 makeover (just like our old dishwasher). I looks so much nicer.

• David did some building with Abby, too. A bird feeder has been keeping us quite entertained this summer. Not many birds actually eat at it, but there are squirrels and rabbits who quite enjoy the treasures they've found. This drove David crazy and he'd look out the window mumbling "stinkin' squirrels". Well, one day Malachi calls out to me "Stinky Girls!". I asked him who told him that girls were stinky and he said "No, Mama. Look." I didn't at the time. I assumed he saw some of the neighbour girls out on the front sidewalk. It wasn't until later that I realized that he meant "stinkin' squirrels". We had a good laugh over that one. Since then, we bought a bird feeder that's squirrel proof and it hangs in the back yard and David fills the front one just for my entertainment. He's sweet that way.

• My parents came for a 5 day visit. It went by so quickly. There was so much we could've done and so little time, but it was good to see them. They are planning to retire in Manitoba and after a visit to Morden are hoping that they've found their future home. It's only a couple of years away and then we'll be closer. It will be nice to have some family near by.

Grandpa sporting his new hat from the Haberdashery with the littles in their hats

• So much crafting I want to get to, so I need to clean my office. I hope to be back at my sewing machine this week. I do have a baby shower to attend soon. I also desperately need to re-cover my couch. It's been patched several times and now the arm is just shredding to bits. It's a big project, but I'm hoping my nesting instinct will return to help me through it.

• I can hardly wait for Mom's Group to begin again. I think it's going to be a great year and I miss the girls like crazy!

• Abby starts pre-school this year. I wasn't going to put her into pre-school until The King's School announced that they were adding the program this year. The convenience of David being able to take her with him to work and bring her home, won me over. In her pre-school interview, she was asked if she was looking forward to going to school. Her response was "It's pretty crazy, but it will be great!"