Where We're At...

Well, we're 10 days from school starting up for the 2007/08 season! Does anyone else think that the time has absolutely flown by?! I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. I'm so thankful to finally have a dry and hot week. It's been such a wet summer - which is great for Rob's business, but not necessarily wonderful when you have 4 kids stuck in the house because everything's too wet and muddy!

Evan starts school this year. He's my baby. He'll be 4 on September 16. He'll be joining the JK/SK class, and couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's 3 days a week. What will I do with 3 days a week to myself?!?! lol ... I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find SOMETHING! ;-)

Noah starts grade 1 this September. He'll be 6 on September 30. This will be a big adjustment for him, having to go every day. But I think he's going to do just fine! He's starting to get excited about spelling and numbers and he absolutely loves to draw and colour and be creative!

Courtney will be in grade 4 this year. Already! My baby girl is practically half done her grade school experience! It pretty much seems impossible! She loves school, though. Although, I'm pretty sure her love of it stems from her love of being a social butterfly! She really misses her friends over the summer holidays. She has a best friend, Erin, that she can't wait to spend every day with again! Courtney has also been involved in ballet for 5 or so years, and absolutely loves music and singing and dancing to it!

Then there's Justin. My oldest. He's 10.5 years old and in Grade 5 this year! He's getting SO tall, and his feet are nearly the same size as mine already! He's a crazy guy, who loves to make people laugh, and he has this creative side to him - his imagination is fantastic! His love is playing with Lego Bionicles and sitting in front of the t.v. and computer! But he quite enjoys soccer, too. He's played for the past 6 summers and is really getting quite good at it!

Rob's business is really going very well. We are in our 4th season of being self-employed. His business is called "Five Points Lawn & Landscape". This year he had 5 employees, but I think next year he'll be downsizing that number a wee bit. He really does like to be at all the jobs personally, instead of leaving others to do the work without him. Of course, nobody will ever do the job as well as he does, right? Therefore, if he's at each job, he can control how well each job gets completed! He really does love his work, though, so it's all worth it.

Then there's me... I took over doing the bookwork for Rob's business, last year. I quite enjoy it, but find it difficult to look after it and 4 kids at the same time. It will be good for me this year to have 3 days a week to get things like that looked after without having to ship my kids to a babysitter or have them running around like animals while I'm trying to get work accomplished

Outside of working at the bookwork, though, I have many other things I enjoy. I love to take pictures. I currently own a Canon Digital SLR Rebel XTi and have 3 lenses and an external flash and a few other toys that I'm absolutely loving playing with! I was doing wedding photography for a couple of years, but that has slowed down considerably. (I do have a friends' wedding that I'll be photographing in 2 weeks from now, though, so I'm quite excited about that!!) I have been trying to get into it a bit more, but am mostly focusing on the fun of it all. I have MANY albums full of pictures, and many more pictures that still need to be scrapbooked!

Which leads to another one of my favourite things to do... scrapbooking! I don't get much time to do it, but I really love it when I DO get the chance. We actually book a day away at our church every couple of months where there are no telephones, children or husbands around, so that we can scrap to our hearts' content! It's great!

I also love to sing. Music is a passion of mine! I may not be good enough to be a professional, but I most certainly can hold my own! And when I'm singing, I feel like I'm a little bit more "complete"! I love country music, but am very fussy about which "sounds" I like, and I get pretty fussy about the language in the songs. There are a lot of catchy tunes out there, but if I can't sing along because there's swearing or inappropriate subject matter, then forget it! And my children need to see my living by that "code" because I fully expect them to be able to make that decision without worrying about what others will say. Standing up for what they believe in, even in what music they choose to listen to, is SO important! ANYWAY! My favourite artist is Paul Brandt. I love his music, his lyrics, and his Christian attitude that is so wonderfully displayed in his music and his lifestyle! I keep telling Rob that I will one day meet him and tell him how much I love his music and message, and tell him how proud I am of him for standing up for what he believes in, even in the music scene!

Okay, I could go on and on about music and Paul Brandt and all of that, but I will wrap that up for now!!! LOL!

So, now you know a little bit more about us.