First day of preschool...

Finn was pumped to start at preschool this year. There wasn't a tear shed and barely a goodbye to be heard. Curious to see if it all goes so smoothly next year!

A boy and his kite....

We enjoyed a lazy afternoon flying kites near our church. Findlay was very focused upon keeping his in the air and he did quite well once it got going. The wind wasn't very strong compared to what it has been lately, but it was enough to keep these little kites flying.

Welcome to my home...

It's been some time since I have used my creative juices for anything other than being a mother, school projects or my part-time flailings called freelance. It was with quite a bit of satisfaction this weekend that I hung this latest creation on my front door to welcome the coming season. Since our home was painted last summer, I was never very thrilled with any of my door decorations, but I think this one was a pretty good first attempt. Some day the home on the other side will be tidy and organized, but for now, at least I am able to control the decor on my door. Baby steps.

The heavy loads...

With the first day of school, comes the expectation of the child to carry a backpack full of supplies that doubles his/her weight! Thankfully Findlay has another year before starting, so he was able to carry some extras in his backpack for Meredith. His first day of preschool will be in another week, and he is so ready to have some peer interaction. I'm not nearly fun enough for him these days!

No sign of first day jitters here...

The girls have been very excited to start school, so if there were any first day nerves, the excitement seemed to override them.

Taking in the news...

Walking past the dining room the other morning, I caught Findlay "reading" the paper. Many may be able to boast of their four year olds being able to read, but Findlay is not quite there yet and still working out the letters....it just seemed so funny to see him entranced by the paper. He's a character in everything that he does!

Most of the crew...

Nanny and her grandchildren. We were missing Samantha, Michael and Mark, but there was still lots of smiles and fun with the others in attendance.

Nanny is nearly dwarfed by them, but thankfully there are still a few smaller than her!

More cousins...

We had a nice gathering of Stevens family members at my brother's very fabulous cottage. The kids and grown ups have so much fun catching up and although we see each other so rarely, we wish we would get together more often.

We managed to catch a photo of some of the senior cousins....Julie, Haley, Mitchell and Erin

Two beautiful girls...

My nieces Haley and Julie. It amazes me to see them and relate to them as adults, when I've seen them grow up. Hard to imagine that they only have one more school year before venturing into the next stage of education!

Axel's perch

This is where Axel likes to view his domain. He loves to sit on top of our mantle in a very relaxed pose. You can tell he rules the roost...even if I haven't fully come to terms with that yet!

Girls' Night in style...

All summer I have looked forward to a special evening that had been planned with some friends from Acadia. We didn't have as many as last year, but we had a great time starting the evening off with the Cirque and then enjoying a great meal at Gio!

It was really great to get some girl time and flash back to our Acadia days.

A visit with Mona

My Aunt Mona who lives in Kingston was in town for a visit and Wendy was able to host a morning coffee session for us to catch up with her. Mona is in the middle with my mother to her left and Wendy is on the far left and Janette is on the far right. How little time we seem to have to get together for such occasions, but it's uncanny how upon reflection, it is these memories that often stay with us!

Proud to be with his cousins...

Findlay was happy to present his older cousin Julie with a drawing he made for her. He was very deliberate about bringing it over during a visit and he later went on to make drawings for Haley and Maggie, unprompted by us!
As with everything Findlay does, he is receiving much praise from his Aunt Wendy.