Treats

When I was a child, my mother used to take my brothers and I to the bakery every once in a while, and let us pick a treat for ourselves. I thought this was great. However, it's something that I never, ever do with my children. Probably because they have soooo many "treats" that it would be more accurate to refer to them as "staples".

The other day, we took them to The Cake Shop, and let them pick out their own treats.

Bethie chose a fish cookie

Sarah chose a cookie of some sort, I don't know what it was...but it was colourful and that was all that mattered to her.

Katie chose a "Catherine and William" cookie...because the name of the new duchess is actually Catherine Elizabeth, which THRILLS the twinnies.

Pretty fancy, eh? Unfortunately, it was made from gingerbread. Katie doesn't like gingerbread. I, however, just LOVE gingerbread so it didn't go to waste (but don't tell Katie!)

Bethie also made me buy 6 cupcakes for $14. They were Harry Potter themed. Not that special though, especially for that price!

Sarah and Bethie wanted another run through The Cake Shop.

All in all, it was a successful trip to the bakery. However, it was expensive, and I won't make the trip out there again. I'll stick to the free cookie at Loblaws. I'm fancy like that.

A Dip In The Pool

It was incredibly hot today. I thought about taking the children to the pool at the local park, but that seemed like a lot of effort.

Instead, we made do with a $6 plastic tub from Home Depot.

Hours of fun!

The End of The Stress

One of my rose bushes was "stressed".

The leaves turned yellow and fell off, leaving a big empty spot. Google suggested that I water the roses more deeply, and create shade around the bush.

Google didn't have any helpful advice to get rid of the Japanese Beetles that have attacked my bushes year after year. They aren't particularly harmful to the plant, but the beetles drive me crazy! So crazy that I even have nightmares about them during the winter months.

Many people don't notice the beetles. In fact, my neighbours came over just the other day and went on and on about how much they enjoy looking at my roses. I thanked them. It was kind of them to compliment me on my garden. But it was too late. I already had a plan.

My neighbours left, and I called Dan outside. I told him how I wanted him to deal with my "stressed" roses.

He was shocked, but did what he was told.

And that was the end of that rose bush.

I hope the other four bushes have taken noticed. I don't handle "stress" well.

Chillin'

I used to hand my arm out of the car window. Thank goodness for the 5-point harness because I'm quite sure that Sarah would hang more than just her foot out of the window if given the opportunity.

Beans

Back in May, Mum, Sarah and I were in Canadian Tire. And this caught Sarah's eye:

Sarah carried it around the store, and told us over and over that it was her "purse". When it was time to leave, Mum broke down and bought it for Sarah (after Sarah broke down when I told her that I was not buying it for her).

When we got home, we discovered that it came with seeds...which Sarah wanted to plant.

But there were quite a few seeds (beans and pumpkins), so we decided that the twinnies should plant some, too.

After the planting was completed, I told the children that the seeds had to be watered.

Which they did. For about an hour. Until I thought that every single seed would definitely drown.

And then they never watered them again.

I watered all the little pots. Every night. I even (briefly) contemplated planting the pumpkins in my gardens to give them a fighting chance. But I decided not to because they take up too much space, and Bethie had already suckered me in to planting a watermelon that I am sure won't thrive. Most of the beans made it into the garden though.

There were some beans still remaining in the little pots. I stopped watering them. They were a nuisance, and a hassle, and an eye sore. Finally, I decided to throw them out. And that's when I saw that they had produced beans.

Once informed, the children rushed out to pick the beans.

And then they got to eat them for dinner.

At first, I was happy. My little urbanites got to experience planting, caring for, growing, harvesting, and eating the fruits of their labour.

And then it occurred to me: I did the vast majority of the work.

This is sort of like the story of The Little Red Hen...but with a socialist twist.

Enid Blyton's Lives!

As I mentioned earlier, Dan had failed me by purchasing the wrong hats for the children. Mum came through...

My grandmother would have loved this!

 

And the obligatory shot of them dancing.

Sarah started to lose interest in the hat. Apparently, she does not accessorize for my amusement. 

After Mum and I took these photos, we wanted to see what the hats would look like with the sea as a backdrop. The sea is a bit far away. We settled for the Ottawa River.

And let me tell you, the hats looked GORGEOUS!

See!?!

The group shot.

And Sarah's hat?

Heaved onto the beach.

Sigh. Two out of three ain't bad.

Stress

The leaves on my roses are turning yellow and falling off. I googled this. Google, in it's sanctimonious manner, responded by telling me that my roses are "stressed".

I'm not kidding.

I can't tell you how much this "diagnosis" increased my own stress levels ... until I realised that I don't care. The roses can sit out back, firing off their yellow leaves one by one. Mama has bigger problems. And Mama is taking the night off!