Charles Abbott Conway Jr. July 9, 1940-August 26, 2007

It is with such a heavy heart that I write this post. In fact I really don't even know where to begin. My father passed away very suddenly in England on Sunday. He was a wonderful father, and a wonderful grandfather! I can safely say that he touched the lives of everyone he met. He was one of the kindest, smartest, caring, non-judgemental people I have ever met in my life. He was always there for me no matter what, and quite literally went to the ends of the earth for me.

I know that you are here with us in spirit; and you will live on in your children, and your grandchildren. I love you more than I can ever say.
xxooxxoo

Bike riding

As promised here is Morgan on her bike without training wheels, although it got cut short because a car was coming. At least this time I hit record!!!!!

Baby's got "crocs"

Little Miss Ella spends most of her time in the house walking around with one of Paige's crocs on. Well in our search for new sandals for her today (a very difficult task in August apparently), we found Ella her very own pair. As soon as we got home and I took them off, she put them right back on again! What a chick!
;)

Do you see what I see????

Paige just did this afternoon, all by herself!!!! Now if you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would have told you that I was going to send Mrs. O another child who refused to write her name. She did this on her own too while I was doing the floor! I'm one proud Mama!!!!

We also went to the park yesterday, and Ella discovered the slide with her big sister!!!

Swimming!

Yesterday we went swimming at a friend's pool:










Great fun was had by all!!!!

Earrings

Miss Morgan got her ears pierced!!!! She was very brave and didn't even flinch a bit. I think Mummy was more nervous than she was ;)
There was a whole display case to choose from and Morgan chose these beautiful pink and white sparkly flowers!! Quite a change from when I first got mine pierced!!

Last spring the dogs trampled this poor lily, so I was really pleased when it reappeared this spring!!!


The butterflies have really been enjoying the enchinacea this year; and they are really gorgeous!

A walk in the woods

Last week we went for a lovely walk in a nearby conservation area.



It was a beautiful day, and we all had a great time!

One year ago today

One year ago today we said goodbye to an important member of this family. The girls mention Fury almost daily in conversation; Paige especially. Not a day goes by when I don't think of him. I found this picture the other day and just wanted to mark his one year anniversary.

Last week we took the kids to Bronte Creek for the day. My camera battery died because I didn't think to charge it, so these are the only pictures that I got. We all had a great day though. :)

Bike riding

Morgan has learned to ride her bike without her training wheels!!!! This is the only picture that I have though because I thought I had taken a video of her on the camera, when in fact I had failed to press the record button!

While we were in Montreal we had a lovely visit with Grannie. We had a lovely visit, and the girls cannot wait to go back again.

Happy Fourth Birthday Paige!!

We spent Paige's birthday in Montreal again this year. This meant that she had three cakes again :)

The first cake was at Uncle Brian and Aunt Rohini's.


The second cake was homemade by Lori.


Her third cake was at home where we had a little party after we got back.

Well I still seem to have no time to get photos posted, but I received this in an email, and rather than forwarding it off to people I thought that I would just post it here.

Love to everyone!



For All Mothers:


This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at soccer games instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see my goal?" They could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick children in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Meyer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."

This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night and can't find their children. This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see and for the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes and for all the mothers who don't.

What makes a good mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that takes you from sleeping to dread, from bed to crib at 2 a.m. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

Is it the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying? I think so.

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.

This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then reading it again, "Just one more time".

This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired two year old who wants ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school and for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who bite their lips (sometimes until they bleed) when their 14 year olds dyed their hair green.

This is for all the mothers who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.

This is for all mothers who show at work with spit-up in their hair and milkstains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

This is for mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home or are grown.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves.

This is for all the mothers whose children have gone astray and who can't find words to reach them.

This is for all the mothers who sent their child to school with a stomach ache, assuring that they would be just FINE once they got there, only to get a call from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working moms and stay-at-home moms. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money and mothers without.
This is for you, so hang in there. The world would be a terrible place without the love of mothers everywhere. You make it a more civil, caring and safe place for the precious children in our world. You're a fantastic mother!!!!

Dancing Baby

I haven't had any time to post in ages, but here is a little video of Ella dancing. This was taken at the end of June. I have a ton of new pics to post; just have to find some time to get them up. This is to tide you over in the meantime :)

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Happy Birthday Dad! We hope that you have a great day! I was just sitting here with my coffee remembering the birthday that we spent with you in England. The memory that sticks out the most is you blowing bubbles with the girls. ;)

xxooxxoo
:)

More life lessons

Morgan learned another difficult life lesson this week. For the first time (that she knew of; I'm sure there have been other instances) she was excluded from a classmates birthday party. Although she wasn't devastated by this, she was certainly upset!
The problem is that Morgan spends the majority of her social time at school with kids who aren't in her class. Morgan is camping right now with Kev, Devin, and Mark so couldn't have gone to this birthday anyways, but I know that she felt her to be excluded, especially I think since this person came to her party. Its hard when the kids that you socialize with aren't in your class.
These lessons are character building I suppose, but I wish I could shield her from these bruised feelings!!!! I'm so proud of the fact that Morgan isn't a sheep, and that she plays with the people that she wants to be with and isn't pressured to follow the crowd!

Roses

The roses are so pretty that I just had to share them! This is my new rose bush; it reminds me of England, and the Vicarage garden!

Here is Ella's climbing rose. It is really a beautiful colour this year. The blooms last year were a really pale pink, but the flowers this year are so vibrant!!!

My beautiful family!