Friday, August 24, 2012

...R.I.P. Roxy the Hamster

Yesterday was a sad day.  Mackendra's hamster, Roxy, died during the night.  We knew she was coming to her end...she hadn't been moving or eating, or doing much of anything for the last two weeks.

So, we said our goodbyes and then buried her in the woods behind our house.


R.I.P. Roxy, you were a good pet.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

...what a weekend!


So, you might ask, "what did you give the kids to make them fall asleep like that?"
And my answer would have to be..."a great weekend!"

We travelled down to Portland again this weekend.  Aislinn had a 3-on-3 tournament down there.  It was such a great atmosphere.  I'm not sure of the numbers, but there must have been about 250 teams, of all age groups playing outside 3-on-3.  SO MUCH FUN!!!  Aislinn's team was called the Dream Team.  And they were in the Gr. 9 division.  They had 2 games on the Saturday to rank them and won the first game handily, but lost a close one the next game.  They ended up playing 4 games on the Sunday, the second game against the same team they lost to the previous day, and winning the whole gosh darn division!  Yup!  They ended up the Gr. 9 Girls Champions!  Aislinn played amazingly.  She took her team on her shoulders and carried them all the way to the winner's circle.  Not to say that her teammates didn't help...they were fabulous!  They all contributed.  But Aislinn was in a different mindspace...she did not want to lose...she didn't let them lose.  I think it was the best I have ever seen her compete.  It was so great.


This was right after the won the last game.  The girls made their own shirts.  Cute huh?


And these were the shirts they won!  Even cuter!!!

It was Frank's birthday today as well.  When Aislinn asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her that the best present would be a championship...so, Frank was one happy birthday boy.


This was the only picture that I have of Frank this weekend.  It is actually me and him trying to figure out how to use the camera on my tablet.  Haha.


Mackendra figured it out way before us.  Witness one of her self portraits.


So, after 6 games and a great weekend of basketball, this was the girls on the drive home.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

...my baby turned 9 yesterday.




So, my girls are growing up.  Yesterday was Mackendra's 9th birthday.  Yowsa!  9 years old, already!


It was kinda a quiet birthday, it usually is for Mack's birthday, unfortunately, most of her friends were away on their own summer vacations and were unable to come.  Summer birthdays, what can you do?

Anyways, we had cake and presents and decorations...and I think Mack had a great time.


And that cake????  It was delicious!

Happy Birthday, my love.


Friday, August 10, 2012

...Happy Birthday to Me!



So this is a few weeks late, but check out my new toy!!!!

This little baby is called the ASUS Transformer Prime...and oh my goodness, it is like a Transformer!  It doesn't turn into a car that shoots laser and talks, but almost...

Is it a tablet?  Is it a laptop?  Is it AWESOME?

Yes!  Yes!  and double YES!!!

It comes apart and I can tap all over the screen and it does cool stuff, and then, when I need to type something, I just pop it back into its keyboard, and voila!  Its a mini-laptop!!!  No more lugging around my regular laptop (which I must say, I still love and works wonderfully, and I use for homework) while I have to travel.  Nope!  Now I have this super powerful...very high tech (probably more high tech than I will ever need) super sleek device.  I now have access to all this cool, geeky stuff, and I can finally say, "I have an App for that!"  Hehehehe

This was my birthday present, from Mr. Wonderful.


Here he is looking mighty happy about sitting on a beach in San Diego.  That man loves the beach more than Mackendra, I think.

Anyways, I was asking for a Kindle, and Frank said, "why get a Kindle that only does one thing, when you can get an Android tablet that can run all the ebook apps you want plus SO MUCH MORE???"  I said, "uh...I don't know" ('cause I really don't) and then he proceeded to research and find me the best thing out there.

Glad that man never listens to me.

....About Mr. World Peace.


Ace met another NBA basketball star yesterday.  Lucky girl.

The man in the black is Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, of the Los Angeles Lakers.  The other dude in red is Big Gabey (he's pretty much family now).

Big Gabey and Metta have been hanging out quite a bit, every time Metta comes to Vancouver, at least.  Big Gabey sets up workouts and gets guys together for Metta to play with while he's in town.  Pretty cool...and they met through Twitter.

Anyways, yesterday Big Gabey texted us and told us that Ace could come up and meet Metta.  So we all jumped in the car and hung out until he was done his game and then he came over and talked with Ace.

This time, Ace wasn't as star-stuck.  She still smiled like crazy and didn't say much, but she was at least able to answer some of his questions.  Much better than last time with Steve Nash.  I think she was more prepared.

Metta was very nice and told her to keep working hard (she had been shooting around while waiting for him to finish his stuff).

So, now Ace knows two guys on the Lakers (Steve was traded two months ago)...hopefully we have a chance to go watch one of their games in the near future.  How awesome would that be?!?  And now with the signing of Dwight Howard...OMG! they are real contenders for a championship next year.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

...The Summer Blahs.

So, I'm sure many of you can relate, at least the parents out there...

I'm in the midst of the "Summer Blahs".  It is that special time of year in which the kids are not in any summer camps and the vacations, for the moment, are over, and yet school has not resumed.  It is that lovely annual moment in which we hear, on constant rewind, "I'm bored!" and "Why do I have to go outside?"

I hate this time of year.  I am constantly yelling and threatening and shoving my kids outside.  "No! you can't stay in your pajamas all day, and No! you can't lie on the couch and watch TV all day!!  Go outside and DO something!"

I have a saying, and I truly believe it...."Only boring people are bored."  If my kids sit there and refuse to use their imaginations, or engage in any meaningful correspondence with another human being, of course they are going to be bored.

I really don't have the time or energy to entertain them all day, everyday.

 "Yes! you have to brush your teeth!!!   No!  Popsicles are not a major food group!   What?!?  No, you have to wear clean underwear, not your bathing suit from yesterday!"

Grrrrr....the Summer Blahs!

Please, please let these last few weeks go fast!