Happy Last Day of School!

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Oh, what a beautiful day . . .

Nothing like starting the day off with some tunes from Oklahoma!

I don't know about you, but I am excited!  It's finally here: the LAST day of school!

My pooch, Scout, is so excited that he decided to wake up at 4:45am to announce to all the critters on our lawn that he was back on duty. Thankfully, he is cute!

Scout gets pretty ticked off at me in the morning.  He loves the fact that I am now getting up early to do my

 blog because that means he can assert his dominion over the yard that much earlier, but he does not like the fact that once he is out, he stays out until Derrick wakes up to feed him.  It almost looks like he is trying to channel the force here: woman, you will put down the computer and do as I command. 

Sorry, Scout, Jedi mind tricks do not work on this mama!

At this point, you probably realize that I have nothing to say today.  Well, you are correct!  With all the whirlwind that surrounds the end of the school year like making presents, organizing school memorabilia, home/school BBQ's, Year-End ceremonies, plus everything else that goes into making Shenanigans Inc. the well-oiled machine it is, I have nothing left in me.  In fact, my lack of brain power made me a pathetic companion for my friend, whom I had a lunch date with on Wednesday afternoon.  It was so much fun to sit down and talk with another mom without the distraction of soccer balls whizzing by our heads and in front of a meal that neither one of us had to cook.  Heaven!   I am still dreaming about the BBQ chicken sandwich I had.  If you live in the area, you must head over to Holly's and try it. It is well worth the additional 2 pounds you will gain afterwards!  I did have a salad with it, though. Does that count? Then, as if it couldn't get any better, we got on to my most favourite topic of all time - BOOKS!  Perhaps I really had died and gone to heaven!  But, my brain, starving for some quiet time to process all that has happened this week, went flat-line, and my sentences sounded something like this: "you know that book . . . it takes place in England . . . it as a brown cover . . . yeah, well it was awesome!"

Embarrassing!

Thankfully, she either didn't notice or is too kind to judge because we have agreed to do it again. 

So in lieu of a well-thought and well-written post today (don't you love how this sentence presumes  that this is what I typically provide you with . .  tee hee!), I am going to share with you some random photos that were taken throughout the week. I promise you will enjoy them!

Here is one of my early morning editing sessions. 

Each morning my boys come waddling out of their rooms barely conscious and squeeze onto the chair with me.  Bliss!

Here is Elliot in his thoughtful spot! 

I don't know what he is looking at, or why he chose to sit on the tin of muffins I had just baked, but doesn't he look comfortable?  I love this picture!

Here is Avery showing off his "Hardest Worker" award (it says hard worker, but he is adamant that it is hardest)  



    And just because I knew no one would believe me, I took a picture of his award:

His actions may not always be for good, but no matter what he is working on, Avery gives 110%. Way to go, buddy!

Here are the boys showing off their End-of-the-Year Lunchables.  I am one of those mean moms who, in spite of her kids' constant begging, only buys this treat for the last lunch of the year.  I think it's a fair compromise.  I send healthy lunches each day, they don't eat them, and then on the last day they get what they want.  It works! 

Zoe got one too but, in middle school, it is uncool to eat unhealthy food for lunch so she saved it for

 after school.  Boy, have times changed!  I guess it is even more uncool to have your picture taken with unhealthy food . . . tee hee!

And finally, an update on our School Memorabilia boxes.  Yesterday, after Avery's award ceremonies, he was free to leave school early so I brought him home and we started tackling his pile.  I thought I had all of his school work stored in my closet, but no!  So, we went on the search, and found a couple of boxes in the storage room that were filled with previous years' treasures.  Why didn't I come across this idea sooner?  Avery's wasn't so bad to sort because he has only been in school for 3 years, but Elliot and Zoe are a whole other story.  I am happy to report, though, the boys' boxes are all done, and it was a lot of fun going through the piles with them.  I loved hearing the stories behind each picture, and hearing the emphatic "pitch it" to all of their least favourite subjects.

Here is our "bonfire" pile:

Here is the boys' neat, well-organized closet, proudly displaying their new file boxes:

They really do have more clothes than this but in all the hustle and bustle of this week,
 I kind of got behind on putting the laundry away!

And here is Zoe's stuff (still void of this year's work) waiting for her to squeeze some time in between all of her pool parties and sleepovers to be sorted:

Thanks to all of you who stuck with this post.  I hope it wasn't too painful for you! 

Well, I am off to yet another ceremony.  I am really excited because I heard that Zoe is getting an award for sports this morning.   Hooray!! 

Happy Last Day of School, everyone!





Snippets from Our Not-So-Great, but Not-So-Bad Week

I am so glad to see this week end!

I really should not complain because nothing bad happened.   It was just one of those weeks where things did not flow as smoothly as they normally do.  Why?  Who knows!  Perhaps we are still reeling from our sleepless Saturday at the Relay, or perhaps we, like marathon runners who are nearing the end of their journey, are just worn out from a long school year and are longing for those lazy, crazy days of summer.  Whatever it is, I am glad it is almost done, and we are just three packed lunches and one school concert away from the weekend. 

Now, this week was not an entire right-off.  In fact, lots of fun things happened, and just to help me keep it all in perspective, here are a few of the highlights.

See this scruffy looking bunch:

Well, they got haircuts!  Woo hoo!  Zoe was particularly excited because she has been asking, no make that begging, to get her hair cut since about March.  I know, negligent mom here, but making hair appointments is not one of my specialties.  It is not hard!  It is just something I can never get around to doing.  I need a personal assistant.  Derrick, I need people!  I believe I said this a couple times during the week, and yet, nothing is being done about it . . . tee hee!

This haircut makes her look too old.  Perhaps this is why I put it off!

Tee hee!  Poor Elliot does not like to get his picture taken so we had to plan a sneak attack for this one!  He didn't even see it coming!  Now my kids are all coiffed and looking splendid in their new summer do's.

Oh, and we can't forget our visit with the Memorial Cup:

Oh, and there was our lovely afternoon at the barn, where Avery rode Honey for the first time, but that did not last long because she was cranky and kept trying to bite Karlee.  I guess we all have our bad days!

 I work so hard!

 And, how can we forget soccer!  We LOVE soccer, and spent three of our evenings this week on the field.  There truly is no better place to be on a summer evening than the soccer field!

Yes, a repeat photo, but one of my faves!

There was a hose down of the boys room, where I found a birds' nest (?) and a ton of rocks!  There were countless forts and inventions built:

Lots of begging:

Lots of uncooperative-ness (on a certain young lady's part, but I won't mention any names)

Lots of tooth-wiggling (and half naked boys.  Sheesh!  I promise they do have clothes)

And lots of shenanigans (and bad photos . . . eek!)

All wrapped up with one spectacular thunder and lightning show:

See, it really wasn't a bad week.  It just didn't feel right, and I guess when this happens, all you can do is change how you look at things and focus on what did go right!

Have a super, shenanigan-filled weekend! 


p.s. Don't you just love my new header?!