Interesting train of thought

I had an interesting conversation with our 4 year old who was trying very hard to decide between telling the truth or a lie about something she did. She asked me "Will I get in trouble if I tell you the truth?". I answer honestly, and tell her yes, but if she lies she will get two consequences, one for her actions and one for lying. So she looks me in the eye and lies to me. When I call her on it, she promptly tells the truth but then immediately begs against the consequence. I feel a life lesson happening here. . . . .

Catching up. . . .

Ha ha! I sure have a LOT of catching up to do! So much has happened since Shiloh's birthday and Hendrix's birth day :) Almost right after that staff camp started and in the middle of that we had a group from Australia and New Zealand who were touring Canadian camps. The couple taking them around Manitoba were a couple from a nearby camp, Bird River. They have a super cute 4 year old whom Goober had a blast with! Goober and Gibsen played as long and hard as they could and I managed to get a couple of shots of the two of them.

Then the first week of camp happened. It was very different for us this year, because this was the first year Chloe was a camper!! She was so excited she could hardly contain herself. I had also mentally prepared myself to not be involved and to give her space and let her come to us if she wanted. That was different, but I think I did a good job.
Here is Chloe on her way to the cabin

And Goober was so sad that Chloe was leaving and wanted to help her in any way she could, so she helped Chloe haul her luggage over to the cabin

We have done boating and tubing, especially when we've had friends out. Here's the girls tubing with some of their friends and Shiloh just loving the boat!



A bunch of friends hanging out at the beach, good times!

The kids love anything to do with the beach and water! Even Shiloh, although with her, I have to make sure she's not eating the sand, ugh!

We have had a few friends out visiting this summer. Vince and Kendra Hiebert came out for an afternoon. Vince and Trev went for a bike ride while Kendra and I visited with all the kids. Chloe just loves babies and was so happy to hold their adorable little man Jackson.

Chris and Karissa were out for a whole week. Chris was the speaker for the campers and we had so much fun with them all week. It was hard to see them go. We did all sorts of things together. Even reading books together. Goober knows the story well enough to ad lib the entire book and pretty much get the jist of the story right :)


And of course time at the beach and on the boats!




Our staff and summer camp shirts never seem to fit the kids at all, and so I came across this tutorial to upcycle t-shirts into super fun dresses. It's called a "Party in the Back" dress. After I made Goobers, Chloe wanted one, so I made one for her too! You can see why it's called the Party in the Back, eh?


Shiloh has conquered a few milestones, such as, standing alone, WALKING!!!, giving kisses and she has this super funny, goofy, scrunched up kind of smile that is too cute!


We have had a couple of city runs in there too, the girls are so good about being in the vehicle ALL DAY!! (literally)



Chloe learned to ski behind a fishing boat on the superski. First she started out on her tummy, then went on her knees then to standing!! She's so brave and we are so proud of her accomplishments!



Goober can be found coloring all the time. She loves to draw and create and share her pictures with anyone and everyone!

I am loving this long weekend!! It is so nice to have Trev home for more than 1 day and we are able to accomplish so much! For example, I have been wanting to make a box garden for a few years and only this year have we found time to make it happen, so Trev used John Deere to bulldoze and dig out some weedy bush beside the girls playhouse! I am so excited for building this thing!

Ah well, Shiloh's up from her nap and I think I've caught up on everything since then. Hope you enjoyed this! :)

Another June 16 Blessing!!

June 16 will always be a special day in our hearts! This year its specialness increased with the birth of our dear, handsome little nephew, Hendrix Lee Wilson! We were able to visit them in hospital today and he was (and is) such a precious little man. He stole our hearts in an instant! Janelle, my sister-in-law, looks so amazing and is such a relaxed and calm mother, if it weren't for being in hospital, one would never know that she just went thru labour and delivery :) They are a beautiful family and I am just so blessed that we're part of it!
Janelle's sister Christel Nadeau is an aspiring photographer, and is amazing at it! I am using her pictures here because, frankly, hers are WAY better than mine!! (although I am throwing one I took with my girls in there)
This one Christel photoshopped his name on her belly. It looks AWESOME!

Hendrix Lee


The Family (just missing the eldest Paxton)

And then Chloe and Natasha meeting their new cousin!

Shiloh Is 1!!

It's been a long time coming, a whole year in fact and it happened in the blink of eye. Shiloh is now 1 year old. As I look back it seems surreal that it was a whole year ago that she entered the world! The many changes and development that happens in a year is so amazing, it just flies by and each day brings new changes and joys and is not without its challenges as well. Shiloh has brought so much sunshine to our lives. Her big sisters adore her, help her, mother her, teach her and play with her. They love being big sisters to a little one. I have seen a lot of growth in them as they 'take care' of their baby sister. :)
I have to admit I have mixed feelings about her turning one. It feels like she should still be my baby, and in many ways she is, but she is her own little person now, she has her own opinions and voices them, loves getting her hands dirty (but doesn't like touching grass), she loves being wherever her sisters are, is a very good eater, has a favorite stuffed unicorn that she needs to go to sleep, she scooches around on her bum (no crawling), stands up on almost everything, climbs on anything she can go up on. . . . Life is so full and is so fun with our three girls. We can't imagine life without any of them!! Here is a look at Shiloh's 1st year
The day Shiloh entered our world

6 weeks old and already changed so much!

Here she is almost 3 months old with her sisters at the Brandon Farm!

A super-cute pumpkin at Halloween

Meeting her Great-Great Grandmother

Our little snow baby at 8 months

Swinging for the first time and loving it!

And now 1 year old!! Our precious little girla!

My Little Girl is Growing Up

For a few months, Chloe has been talking about doing the Red Rock Cyclathon. To be honest, I felt a little skepticism, she's still so young. . . . but she really wanted to do it!! So we decided to let our little bird jump out of the nest and try to fly. And she flew. We told her what the cyclathon was all about and she knew she was raising money to help kids come to camp and was stoked about that! Trev and Chloe planned to do the half cyclathon.
Goober didn't want to be left out and wanted to go, so Trev decided to pull her in our chariot. She was loaded down with a blanket, pillow, tag books, toys and a water bottle all cozied up in the chariot. Here they are leaving the lunch stop (their starting point)

Goober all decked out in the chariot :)

The first stop was the town of Elma, which was a little over 15kms past the starting point. Chloe still going strong!!

My heart nearly burst with joy at her success! She made it the whole way, and nothing beats the ginormous smile on her face at what she accomplished! Not only did she ride 52kms, but because of how much she raised, (a HUGE THANK YOU to all who sponsored her!) she is able to put money towards her cousin coming to camp for a week!! And get a gift cert as well. It was a beautiful day, my little girl is growing up!



As parents I believe our job is to plant our kids roots, but allow them to use the wings God gave them. My heart burst with joy at watching her fly and disbelief that this girl has come so far since the first day we met. But as the Robert Munsch book "Love you Forever" says;
'I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be'. . . . . and so she will be

Sunshine and Lemonade Party!!

Just this last sunday we had a birthday party for Shiloh and, another adorable camp kid, Kaylia! Kendra and I had so much fun planning, and making, and baking and putting it all together! Ben came up with some crazy games for the kids!! Our theme for the girls was Sunshine and Lemonade, pinks and yellows, and it turned out FANTASTIC!!
These were just some of the decorations. The lemonade stand has been such a big hit with the kids! They have played Lemonade Stand so much, using pretend money to buy their goods :)



Here are the camp kids playing at the lemonade stand while waiting for the party to start.

Let the games begin!!






And then there's the food table. It was so much fun!



Then of course it's cake time!! Here we are with the birthday girls! And it was officially Kaylia's birthday!!