titus...

meet titus parker!
he's my new great nephew!!
soooo adorable...

i just came from visiting my sweet niece,his momma & got to enjoy some cuddle time with this handsome little man!!

i just had to sew something for him so, the easiest and quickest for me to whip up are these cozy blankets with matching tag blanket & bib.

they're sooo much fun to make!

he told me that he liked it!

he got the number/animal one, not the pink one in the background {i've been busy sewing my little heart out these days for baby gifts as well as our upcoming school bazaar :)}

thanks for having us over cassie!
you & justin have a beautiful gift from God!!

photo shoot!

so we had this photo shoot done at the end of aug.
i had one day to get together what we were supposed to wear...
we headed down to the beach at 7 pm.
it was beautiful out!!
the light was perfect!
one word...
LOVE!
i'd say it all came together quite nicely!

check out the photographer's blog here!

so, if you live in the niagara region & you need any photography work done, this lady does it ALL!
thank you elma...we love them!

basketball season...

we're full out into basketball season here.
as soon as i finish this post, i'm heading to dani's tournament.
she's there now.
her coach, who conveniently lives down the street from us, picked her up at 8am this morning.
it's now 9 and i'm ready to go.

dani's #20...
{sorry for the blurry pics :( }

they won their fist game of the season~woot!
then, last night they played in a big tourny which consists of south eastern ontario high schools.
they really just get in playing experience as these schools are so much bigger than ours.
so, here it starts...
school sports are in full swing!
i. love. it!

they like each other...

ronin...

meet ronin.{r-oh-nin}
ronin is a french bulldog.
he is a funny looking creature, that's for sure.
he looks like 'stitch' from the disney animated movie "lilo & stitch"

he now lives with us.

WHAT????

he LIVES WITH YOU???
remember, you already have a dog!!!
yes.
we have...

                                                 

we are crazy~for sure

this is how it came about...

a customer of wayne's is a breeder and had this puppy shipped here from hungary.
ya. you heard me right~HUNGARY
these pups go for $1600.
and since we have nothing better to do with $1600, let's buy a hungarian bred french bulldog a lady bought this little fellow, but shortly after getting him, she got sick & was unable care for him and asked the breeder to take him back.
so, the breeder came into wayne's work & asked him if he wanted a dog.

"nope! don't need a dog. already have one! thanks anyway!!"

you can have him, we'll give him to you...you pay nothing!

"ok. what's the catch??"

welllllll..... they would have the right to breed him~a lucrative business for sure!
they will pick him up twice a year for stud service.

fine by me.
as long as it's done somewhere ELSE, i don't care.
i was good with just one dog...wayne kinda wanted this one.
wayne did tell him that if he couldn't find a good home for him then yes, we would take him.
that was 2 months ago.

we got him friday night.
his name is ronin...he came with that name.
he's nine months old & is very good natured.
mika tolerates him just fine & he is quite calm around her.
as they are still getting to know each other, they are doing great.
saturday we took them to the beach...

mika totally buried her face in the sand~silly girl

 eryn took them for a little walk...

they do make a cute pair...odd, but cute

he won't get any taller than he is now, just wider in the chest ~like the bulldog he is.
like i said~funny looking dog.
he's quite sweet though.
5 kids and 2 dogs...really???
i know.
crazy.
thankfully, no puppies for us~mika's fixed!

summer vaca...

wow, i can hardly believe that there's only 1 week left before school starts!!
AAHHHH!
i don't want summer to be over so soon...it just began!
this summer flew by!
going up north for a week is always fun, and time flies when you're having fun!!here are some of the highlights of the week...

fri night we head up to visit friends of ours at their cottage...

this kid loses his croc while tubing!!
really, who wears crocs tubing???

 levi goes to rescue the lost croc...

 oh, you are the man...:)!

eryn, dani, & nicole go for a ride...

 eryn's the only one left on the tube when the ride is over...

 trevor, jordyn & levi's turn...

 waiting on the dock with their puppy...

 puppy luv...

the kids did some fishing off the dock...

nice fish levi!

 the water was cold so they all warmed up in the hot tub afterwards

saturday we head to elim, where we meet up with my sister & her kids.

dad & sylvia joined us for a few days...

our days were spent out on the water, on the pontoon boat, fishing, listening to tunes, reading, playing card games & doing water sports.

jordyn's new found 'crush'...josh, my niece leah's boyfriend

tubing fun...

 catching some air...

knee boarding...

wo~ah, hitting some big waves...

 nice recovery!!
it helps when you're strapped in eryn!!

roni gave skiing a try this year...

 we'll  try again next year eh, roni!

dani wanted to slalom this year... 

 ya~hoo!!!

a well deserved smile...slalom~mastered!!

my sis starts off from the pontoon deck,

 fixes her hair & shows us how its done!!

levi's first shot at wake boarding...

 he's up,

 balancing,

 standing...

 got it!

 re~position hands
way to go buddy!!!

dani's turn...

 she gets it after trying left foot forward instead of right foot :)
nicely done dani girl!!

jordyn even gave it a shot this year...

dani helped her in the water, but it wasn't to be this year.

next year, right jordyn?!!

niece, hannah~angler extraordinaire!!

 my handsome hub :)!

niece, leah

 ready for the pool...

 levi helps with the bacon for breakfast~mmmmm

 coffee with dad & sylvia...
you make one good cup of unleaded joe, syl!

after longs days in & on the water, the kids crash & watch movies at night

enjoying lunches together....

these last 2 are from deb,

jordyn hijacks this pic....sorry deb, she gets it from her father you know!

that's enough for today...
it was a bit more than just the 'high lights'...oh well, now you get the whole picture :) !