Day 363

I took the kids out to a near by hill to do some sledding today. I knew the knew few days were going to be really cold so I made sure we got out today to take advantage of the fresh air and sunshine.

Day 353

This morning everything was covered in frost. The sun was out an the whole world just sparkled. I wish I could have gotten some better pictures of it, but the camera just doesn't capture what the eye can see.

Day 350

The moon out tonight had a really funky rainbow halo around it. The kids loved it. I tried to take a picture of it, but after I did my batteries died. Once I changed them and got back out, some cloud had already moved in, so all I have is this slightly blurry pic.

Day 334

"Let me in! It's cold out here!"

You shouldn't have escaped in the first place stupid cat!

Day 326

While Wally and Ryan waited for the bus they heard a strange noise coming from the rock garden. I saw them going over to the side of the house and wondered what was going on, so when Wally came back in I asked him what was up. He told me that there is a strange animal in the rocks making a weird noise. So I went to go look with him, and there was nothing to see. I asked him if he was trying to fool me, and just as he tapped his foot on a rock, this thing popped his head out and screamed at us. Hello heart attack! I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures and a little video as well. I got out my North American Mamal Guide and was able to ID him as a mink. Isn't he cute?

Day 306

When I let the dogs in this morning, I noticed that one of them had left this body print in the frost.

The boys spent the evening wrestling. I didn't mind this time because they were both actually having fun. Usually Ryan is too rough with Alex and I end up having to yell and seperate them.

Day 285

This farmer was spreading what I'm assuming was fertilizer. I don't know how much of it he actually got on his field though. It made such a mess that from far it looked like there was a bad fire going on.

Day 276

Wally and I had a kid free day so we decided to take a walk in the woods again and explore. It's just beautiful this time of the year...

The leaves this year are so much more colourful than the last few years. Check out the beautiful colouring on this one...

Day 261

On the way home from picking Ryan up from a play date, I stopped on the side of the road to pick some wild flowers. These are the last ones of the season before everything goes brown and dead.

Day 249

Two bees getting kinky in my garden. Bow chicka wow wow!

Day 248

The birds are getting ready to head south. In the woods today we saw a huge flock of grackles fly into the trees above us. I took some pictures, but they all turned out blurry. This was the best of the bunch and I don't even think you can spot a single bird in it. Oh well!

Day 247

On and off showers gave us this beautiful rainbow today. No pot of gold to be found anywhere. Bummer.

Day 235

Today we spent a few hours de-stickering Wally's van to get it ready for sale.

As we picked and peeled, Wally decided to let the boys play inside the van. Bad move. They started fighting over the window controls. Alex was pressing the button on one door to get the window to go down, and the Ryan was using the master controls on the drivers door to bring it back up. Suddenly the whole van shut down and Wally couldn't even get it started anymore. Not really what you want to happen the day before it goes up for sale. He was really pissed and kicked the kids out to their rooms. Ryan never really sees Wally mad so he was a bit worried as to how much trouble he was in. I went inside with them while Wally tried to fix the car and Ryan asked me with great worry "Am I going to jail?" I reassured him that he would not but that maybe he should do something nice for Dad to show him that he was sorry. So he ended up making him a card with an apology and a picture inside. Thankfully all the van needed was a boost and it was good to go again.

After all the drama, I was out around the yard when I almost stepped on this guy. He's a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar, and he is huge!

Day 230

I was sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet today as the kids were at daycare playing with their friends, when I heard this tremendous buzzing noise outside. It sounded like some kind of model airplane was about to land on my roof, so I popped my head out the door, and saw this guy cruising by...

Bye dude! Have a nice trip!

Day 229

I was sitting in the yard when this freaky bug landed on the sunflower beside me. I have never seen anything like it. It folded up its wings and I swear it looked like a Transformer. It was totally weird.

Look at the choppers on this guy!

Day 223

A dragonfly takes a rest by my pond

One heck of an ugly spider snacking on an ant. I hate ants in the house, so this guy is doing me a favour.

Day 218

Another beautiful day spent outside. Along with 2 snakes, I also spotted this spider in the garden.

I even let my old girl Chloe out so she could eat some grass and sit in the shade in the backyard.

I also decided it was high time to give the boys a hair cut, Ryan will be starting school soon and Alex's hair is so shaggy and he gets so sweaty. I buzzed off all of Alex's hair, much to his screaming protests, and when it was Ryan's turn, I asked him if he wanted me to keep a strip in the middle long because he likes to make his hair spikey sometimes. He said yes, and then I asked him if he wanted me to colour it for him, to which he also said yes. I got out my cake food dyes and he choose blue, he is now rocking a blue mohawk and says "I look like a rock star, mom!"

and the side view:

Day 212

If a kid is bored, just shove him in a sandbox with a hose. It's messy but effective.

Day 192

I feel bad for all the farmers out there who have to be out in this heat to do the hay.

This evening the kids'sitter messaged me on MSN and said she had hopefully caught the raccoon that was killing her chickens and asked if I wanted to come and get it. Cindy's wildlife relocation services to the rescue! LOL He's extremely cute, but he was scared and growled. He almost sounded like a mad barking dog. I brought him to the woods behind my house and let him go. I had my camera ready to take a picture of him wobbling off, but the second he saw the door open, he was a blur of fur. I never even saw him, the only clue was the rattling of the bushes. I never knew raccoons were so fast!

Day 177

Today I brought the kids to a few parks thinking that I'd tire them out so that I wouldn't have to endure more of their fighting and screaming once we got home. It didn't work. We were out for about 4 hours, and when we got home, they still had enough energy to pester each other. And here I thought they'd just veg in front of the tv while I made supper.

Julian helping me make supper

Trying to tire out the boys