The Braces Are Off!

So the day has FINALLY come! Kaylyn got her braces off! She is one happy girl right now! One of the first things she asked for was a BOX of gum!



I have put some before and after photos of her teeth. The one on the right is from February 1rst, 2005. I forgot she used to be that little! Same sparkling eyes though!



Our morning started rough. Kaylyn was up most of the night sick... but she was ready to go when it was time! I am sure some was nerves.

Before we left I asked for a before and after picture. Kay stood against the wall and obliged with her morning smile. Emma thought she should be in on the fun, so there are Emma's before and pictures posted too. What a silly nut! She is just SO happy Kay is home.

We are very pleased with her teeth. They are nice and straight like we had hoped. She gets her retainer on Thursday. Kaylyn being Kaylyn was talking to the dental hygienist about what color of retainer and what her options are. The poor lady wanted the talk to me about most of the choices, but I still let Kaylyn pick. I figure she is the one who has to wear it!

Here's my silly nut showing her teeth off! Anything to be like Kay!


Before








After!

Now we have hair appointments and last minute shopping for GRADE 7! Wow! Emma is loving the shopping part.... she says we are going for shoes and toys!

This weekend we are heading to the cottage for one last family gathering. It sounds like there will he quite the house full. All the more fun!

The New Dock

So here is the dock story. We went up for a nice family weekend to the cottage. Patti and her kids, Phi & Tanya and their kids, Scott and I with our kids. As Brad steps on the stairs to go to the dock, they collapse. My father in law fixes the problem with some yellow ropes as he has fixed the floating dock problem over the past few years. (We found at least 7 yellow ropes used! hehehe)

So, when my brother in law shows up, he of course is not happy with the situation because his children are up at the cottage most of the summer. So, he decides to rebuild the stairs. Scott and Tyson (Tanya's brother) help Phil take it out and pull nails. My strong hubby of mine breaks the ONLY hammer up there! It was a well seasoned metal hammer that decided Scott's brute force was too much. So off to Schwant (the hardware store) I go with Ryan in tow to buy some supplies and a new hammer. We return proud of our purchases and assume our resting spots on the deck to watch the "men" work. No sooner had I poured myself a drink, then Scott tells me I have to return the hammer. "I broke this one too!" (hehehe) Second nail in and another hammer succumbed to Scott's brute force! Off I drive back to the hardware store and inform them what happened. Max the manager, rattles off some comments about Hercules strength and I giggle! I told him if you seen the man that did this, you wouldn't say that! We return with a re-enforced metal hammer that didn't' break that weekend!

Once the boys started putting the stairs back, Phil noticed that the main dock wasn't in great shape. We all knew this, but he thought we would be able to handle rebuilding one! So back to the hardware store we go before it closes to grab all the wood and supplies we will need. So began our relaxing weekend!

We all did what we could to help out. Tanya was a champ starting to tear the old dock down. I think it was a wonderful way to take out frustrations! If only we could have used an axe!

Even Ms Emma got involved! She thought this was great! She even brought out her family of cows and made Ali (our niece) have a chip and juice picnic!

One of the few shots of brothers working together! And no, neither one hit the others fingers surprisingly!

After a couple of hours of assemble the new dock went into the water. It was much easier than taking the old one out I tell you! Like my Scottie, King of the Nile! We thought about letting him float down the lake, but then we would have to remake the dock!

It looked great once it was in place. We have decided that at another date and time we will redo the floating dock. It is just as rotten, but it should get through the rest of the summer. At this point the kids were in desperate need of a boat ride, so off they went for a tube ride.

Bringing the floating dock was much easier as well. Except the fact that Toby thought it was his own personal floating device! Note: there is still one yellow rope on the dock! Not anymore! We have removed them all!

Tools of our weekend, minus a couple of hammers. Drinks, tools and family! What a way to spend our weekend!

Ta da! The dock is almost done. There always seemed to be more people waiting to do something than working! But the job got done!

All done! Looks great in the end. Hopefully it will last, we plan on the September weekend going back up for one last family weekend. If the floating dock doesn't last, I think we will just burn the old one and wait till next year!

Ta Da!!! All done!

This is one funny video! I was using my camera just to capture Emma's reaction to watching the neighbor across the lake take off in his plane over the water. Emma thinks that if the index finger is one, then the middle finger is two! Not only does she think that, but she tries to show Aunt Patti that she is holding up the wrong finger! I think that Patti's laugh helps add to the show! So funny! I almost peed!

Hope the summer is treating everyone just as well. Kaylyn is home for the week then back to Jayme's for the weekend. She is going to participate in Patti's summer dance camp for 2 out of the 3 weeks. She is going to return to Niagara the last week to have her braces removed. She is so excited! Emma was very happy to have Kaylyn home again. Kay tried to sit with me for a while, but Emma wouldn't have it! She wanted Kay to play with her! FOR 2 HOURS!!
Ryan has joined us for this week. It's nice having him here too. We don't get to see them (him and Sami) too much when school is on. We have kept ourselves busy with odds and ends, but I think he just needed a change of scenery. (That and he likes my house! hehe)

Cottage Time With The Family

This past weekend we went journeyed to the cottage. The first day was great! Emma didn't think that the lake was for her in the beginning, so we loaded the baby tub for her again! She FILLED it with all her toys, then was confused as to why there was no room for her!

One of the best things we ALL enjoy (as shown by my niece Sami here) is just relaxing and reading cheesy magazines! Ryan and Sami came up with myself, Emma and Kaylyn on Wednesday night. Thursday we were joined by Tanya and Ali. Gene, Katie and Brad were already there! See, it is quite a family venture!

Well, I have to touch only briefly on the dock. I will follow up with more photos and details of the day adventure of rebuilding it. Brad went to go to the boat when the stairs gave way due to old wood. Well, my loving father in law fixed them temporarily with his version of duct tape.... yellow rope! (more on this later) It worked for the 2 days it needed to. Then the boys arrived Friday night (Scot, Phil and Tyson) They decided that they needed a project. which turned into rebuilding part of the dock! Like I said, that is another post!

Emma had a great time! She was 10 times better than I thought she would be. She loved digging in the sand and did manage to get into the lake for a swim with cousin Ali. We did have the odd temper blowout, but as you can see, time against the wall for a time out works. (hehehe! Great for photos too)

All the kids really enjoy getting together for our little family gathering! We did not get to set off our fireworks this year due to rain, but still had many bonfires to make our smores! Kaylyn managed to change to a nice pinky cream with the sun during the day. Some kids just don't know when to put on the lotion! The fresh air did everyone a world of good! Something about being up there makes you want to snack or sleep all day!

We left to return home on Sunday with everyone else. We do believe that even though we spent most of the weekend building the dock, all of us had a great weekend! Nice weather, good company and cold drinks! Who could ask for anything more!

Our Summer Days

This weekend Scott, Emma and I joined the Pierobon's (minus the Mrs.) at Queenston splash pad and park. It is a great park. Even though it is the July long weekend with 2 large family picnics going on, the splash pad wasn't overflowing with kids. Eli, Ava and Emma thoroughly enjoyed running in and out of the water.

The park has a great slides and running boards. I think the running up the stairs and down the slide a 100 times does it in for every child! Needless to say withing 5 minutes of Emma hitting the pillow, she was out cold!

Emma and I like to pick flowers out of our garden once or twice a day. She loves to smell everyone's flowers as we walk! We have many small vases FULL of lavender. Our house smells WONDERFUL! Emma really likes our back neighbor Sabrina. Every time we pick flowers Emma says "This one is for Sabrina" What a little sweety! She has taken lavender to all the neighbors at least once.

Kaylyn is very happy that school is over! She is having a good time at her dad's. She will be meeting me with Aunt Patti, Sami and Ryan on Tuesday so we can head up to the cottage. We really enjoy getting all the family together. It is "Our Version" of family. It usually is Patti, Sami, Ryan (her kids) with Scott's sister-in-law Tanya, Brad, Katie, Ali (her kids) and me with Kaylyn and Emma. Sometimes the guys come, but we girls really enjoy each others company! I do believe the guys are coming up on Friday for a couple of days with us.

Scott had to show them how to get wet under the waterfall, but even then it took some convincing. They all looked at him like he was crazy! We all do from time to time!

Here is an example of birds of a feather, flocking together! Proof that she is more like Scott than I. He is the one who usually ends up in the water with Emma. Scott really enjoys his time with her. She can talk him into almost anything! Here, Scott is trying to get Emma under the waterfall and Emma thinks they should get out of the water! Bossy bossy! (hehehe)

This is Scott's best friend Jason and his two little ones Eli and Ava. We try to get them together as much as possible. They play and share really well with each other.

I hope everyone is enjoying there summer as well!

Patches Visit

My sister Patti is off to show her talented dance kids off at Myrtle Beach, SC. I have become the newest babysitter for Patches! We were worried about how our Toby would react or better yet how Patches would react to Toby! Scott solved that 2 weeks ago when they came for a visit. Patti, the kids and I returned from an outing in the afternoon to find both dogs running around the living room. We both started yelling for anyone to grab one of the dogs! But, Scott came in and said they are fine! They have had it out, now they don't bother with each other. Patches lets Toby know his place every once in a while, but they are ok. Emma thinks that she has a new play toy! You see Toby is great with her, she dresses him in blankets, stands on him, tells him where to go etc etc etc... but he is a 90 pound dog! Patches is just the right size for Emma. Kaylyn spent Friday taking her where ever she went. I am sure if she didn't head to her dad's for 2 weeks, she would have kept Patches forever! Emma and I tricked Patches into thinking Toby's food was treats. She doesn't want to eat, it was our way of tricking her into it! The only problem is Emma decided to SHOW Patches how to eat the dog food! Unbenounced to me, she she swallowed it! Needless to say, the after taste, she won't be eating animal food again any time soon!
Patches is a sad little dog, missing her mom! But, today she is much better. I know this because she ate a piece of red licorice! (secret weapon) By the time Patti returns Emma and I will have adopted Patches without Scott even knowing and Patti not having an option!
Kaylyn has headed to hear dad's for a couple of weeks. She plans on sleepovers, camping in the trailer and hanging out with her London friends. She is REALLY hoping to get to the mall. My little girl has turned into a really girly girl! She loves the sparkle and glamor still. Now that she is making babysitting money and allowance, she likes to go to the mall and buy jewelry. We miss her already, but know that she will be back in time to go to the cottage with us.
Scott has started his training with Investors Group. He really enjoys it. He is trying to handle all the information one step at a time, but if you know Scott, you know that he likes to know what is coming. It is a great experience to go through together though. I think once he gets going on his own, he will be really happy with it. Now if I can get him to keep the computer room clean now that I have organized it for him!

Top 10 Emma Phrases

Being a 2 year old certainly has it's down falls. The temper tantrums, boundary pushing, trying to find out your own identity, but I have a rainbow amongst the storms! I have compiled my top phrases Emma uses daily. I find them quite funny when place at the right time:

1. Come here for a minute!
2. I can't come, I'm busy!
3. I'm beautiful! (Usualy stated while wearing a dress)
4. Snissers (Scissors)

5. That smells like the ocean.

6. I need my Crocs on (not shoes, Crocs)
7. My computer turn, my turn!
8. I lost my baby! (she loves her animal figures and they all have babies. She plays hide and seek with them)
9. I love you forever! (Likes to use this one after she gets in trouble)
10. Mmmm! Delicious! My favrite! (not favorite, favrite!)

I could write many more, but these are the daily phrases that keep me smiling and sometimes are her only defense when getting into trouble! Good thing they are cute or they might find themselves living in the corner!

I've been tagged!

So here are the rules, and if you are one of my lucky 7 below then you need to also do the following:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here they are:

1. Tootsie Rolls and/or red licorice will get you almost anywhere with me!
2. I only deal with even numbers (OCD thing)
3. I am in the longest relationship I have ever had.
4. I hate getting up every morning.
5. My best friend is my sister Patti.
6. I think the Dalai Lama is one of the greatest people alive.
7. I play the piano when I think no one is listening.

Your turn:

Brad, Kim, Patti, Tanya or anyone that has a blog or email they wish to share!