Flu, anyone?

Last week, I took Nate to see our family doctor in Winkler for his routine/scheduled visit. We're now alternating our regular visits with seeing a pediatrician and our family doctor.

All heart issues aside, Nate is doing pretty well. His weight and height are within normal ranges. His hemoglobin is low, so she put him on an iron supplement 3X/day.

On our way out, she warned me about a very bad flu that is going around. She, herself, had been out of commission the previous week with a bad case of it. She was very adamant that I keep Nate (if at all possible) away from any social activities, the hospital, church, family gatherings, urgent care, etc. because guaranteed, someone will be coughing. She does not want to see him getting any bit of this nastiness that is going around.

So how are things in your neck of the woods? Have you heard about people coming down with a bad flu? We've been very healthy in our house....maybe it's in the genes....Don hasn't had a 'sick day' in 12 years!!!

I Love You, Lennox...

....in a superficial, shallow, only-if-you-keep-me-cool, kind of way.

To celebrate my return to regulated temperatures in the house, I'll share two of my favorite recipes for staying cool! These are my favorite slush recipes, which are great to have on hand. All you need to do is scoop out and fill about 3/4 of your glass and then add Sprite or 7Up to fill each glass, and you've got a really special treat. It's nice to serve to friends who stop by!

Rhubarb Slush

5 cups rhubarb

6 cups water

Boil until the rhubarb is mushy. Then strain, saving all the liquid, into an empty ice cream pail. Throw out what's left of the rhubarb mush.

Add:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 can of frozen concentrate orange juice (or you can choose a different flavor if you like)

1 can of frozen lemonade

Mix all together in the ice cream pail, and store in the freezer.

Sunshine Slush

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

Bring to a boil and let cool.

Add:

48 oz. pineapple juice

1 can frozen concentrate orange juice

1 can frozen concentrate lemonade

6 or more ripe bananas, smashed

Mix all together and freeze in an ice cream pail.

Remember to always serve with a straw....you need some type of 'poking/stirring device' to mix the slush as you drink, and it's a lot easier to drink with a straw too!

Now just scoop out the frozen slush, and add 7Up to the glass, raise your glass and toast to my favorite new friend, Lennox!!

Beauty

Today, this little cutie is graduating from high school. It's so hard to believe that 17 years have gone by so quickly!! I remember the day she was born, I was only 13 years old and had become an auntie for the first time!! I was thrilled!!!

She's grown up right in front of our eyes... a beautiful, intelligent, genuine and compassionate woman. I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of so many of the little and big events in her life.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.

On the Fritz!

I am so glad that summer has finally arrived. Finally some heat and sun! I'm not complaining!!!

However, trying to get babies to sleep when your house heats up isn't so fun. So last week, when it started warming to slightly uncomfortable temps inside, I decided to turn our central air on.

But it was a no go! No cool air and no relief! Last summer started off the same way, too, with a hefty bill to fix the air conditioning. So, I was slightly surprised and annoyed to find out the fix this time around would either be an even bigger repair or a total replacement. You kinda start to debate whether it really is a 'need' as opposed to a 'want'.

And then, I go to work this afternoon, and wouldn't you know, the A/C for our office is toast! At least that's one bill I won't have to pay!!

Saturday Snapshot

My oldest niece is graduating this week!! Her parents hosted a family grad party this weekend, which was a ton of fun. We even got a sneak peek of the grad dress....she's a beauty!! Here's a shot from the evening.

Quote of the Day

Brady started his first ever swimming lessons last week! He has LOVED it!! After the first lesson, as we were walking to the van, he asked me:

"Mommy, why didn't they give me swimming lessons?

Why did we just play games?"

Too cute! Here are just a few pics....

Brady and his buddy on the 'magic carpet ride'!

On the 4th lesson, the kids were given the opportunity to jump

off the low diving board. Can you sense Brady's uncertainty?

Well, at least he jumped in the deep end, if not off the board!!

It was such a nice day on Friday, even Nate did some splashing

in the wading pool. He enjoyed it much more than it appears here!!

Oh Brother!!

This is my brother.

Don't you love it? He's 6' 4", and I'm pretty sure this water wasn't much deeper!! But I'll give him a 10 for form!!

Well, my brother had a birthday last week. And I've been trying to think of the perfect birthday gift for the last two weeks. Now it's crunch time. Mom and Dad are flying to TO on Wednesday and I'd like them to deliver his gift!

What do you get the guy??? A 30-something police officer (I like to call him a CSI of the 401 sort), father of 3, and husband to his beautiful bride. This is a guy who goes and buys whatever he wants when he wants it. Or, like me, researches something to death in order to find the best of whatever it is he's looking for.

So, brother, if you're reading this. Send some ideas my way. I've got about 24 hours left to find that perfect something!!!

I Spy!

See anything? Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Here's a closer look. Hmmmm.......I see one clue popping up over the cedars.

OK, something is definitely going on. There's no mistaking that yellow dump truck....

Do you want the whole picture?

Yep, it's a construction zone in our front yard. The boys spend a lot of time out here - digging and dumping and all the other things that boys like doing with dirt! It's quite hilarious that they are totally hidden from the street view. Although, seeing as I'm not quite as invisible, anyone driving by might wonder what I'm doing just sitting at the end of our porch.

Yep, that's me. And that's life with boys! Gotta love it. I get to go and get my toes painted all pretty, and then promptly get down and dirty in the 'work zone'!

I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Friday Photo

Camping......Almost

Well....really not close at all, but a fun day none the less!  And when you break it down, we did a lot of camping"ish" things!

Pretty much spent the whole day outside.  Really nice of summer to finally show up.  Even nicer for the mosquitoes to arrive, right on time.  Grrr.

BBQ'd hot dogs for our picnic lunch....did some work on the yard....playtime with our neighbors....a walk.....out for a nice supper.....a bike ride.....DQ ice cream.....more playtime with Brady's cousin.....and finally a "camp" fire complete with some toasty marshmallows.

A fun day and a late night.  Brady went to bed at 10:30 and Nate finally fell asleep at 11:00!   Let's hope there are some solid sleeps tonight!

The week that was to be...and the week that is!

It's been a real treat having Don at home this week.  He took a week of holidays this week, knowing that July wouldn't be an option for time off.  I felt it would be a loooong stretch to wait until August or September for holidays, so here we are with a week off together!

The plan was to go camping for a few nights this week.  But yesterday, after checking the forecast, plans became a bit more uncertain.  We wanted to go to Lilac Campground which has a pretty amazing water park, especially for the little guys.  But seeing that the 'high' for our swimming day was 11 degrees....and 40% chance of rain, we decided to bail.  I mean seriously....11 degrees???  11 very small, little degrees above FREEZING?!?!  I don't think so.  And since we didn't want to lose our whole camp site fee, we cancelled while the penalty was minimal.

So, on to other things!  The forecast has changed.  Of course.  But there's still a 60% chance of rain.  We'll stick around here and have fun in the process!  Maybe head out to the beach one afternoon if it does heat up, or into Winnipeg if the day looks too rainy!  Whatever we do, it's just nice to have days together as a family!

Here's a little snuggle time Brady and I had right after he got out of the bath tub.  Love that boy!!!