Our Night in Toronto

This past week we had Mark's mom come into town to spend a few days with us over the holiday. She very much enjoyed spending some time with Kaley and doing all of the things that grandmas enjoy the most. With Karen in town, Mark and I decided to have some "daddy and mommy time" with an evening in Toronto.

Before Kaley was born, many people gave us the advice to put a priority on spending time with one another and nurturing our relationship in the midst of caring for our baby. When we were planning on children, we thought about what we wanted our family to look like and what we wanted for our family as a whole. One of those things was taking time for Mark and I to spend together as a couple even if it was a couple of hours at a time. This has been a little easier said than done this past year, but we have managed to do exactly that. This past week we decided to take a bit more time and see the sights and sounds of Toronto.

Our time was first spent by taking a subway trip to the city. Mark has recently had a particular fascination with the subway since the last time he went to a baseball game with his brother. It is such a different experience from life here in Barrie, that is for sure. All I kept envisioning was Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson sweeping in and saving the day from a bomb threat (yes, I know, too many movies!) Needless to say, none of that happened, it was quite uneventful in that respect.

Mark and I on the subway.




When we got into Toronto, we checked into our hotel and headed out to the Blue Jays game. We were able to get tickets in the VIP section on the second deck between home plate and the dugout. It was fantastic! There were padded seats, shade from the sun AND waitresses that brought us a menu and took our order! We never had to leave our seats. Now THAT is the way to see a baseball game. The best part was that they won and it was a great game.

The V.I.P. entrance!




That night we went out for dinner at a lovely restaurant. Here I thought being down in Toronto for Canada Day would lend itself to some spectacular fireworks for which we could go and see because we didn't have a little one that needed to be in bed. Then we found out that because the city workers were on strike (ugggh), there was NOTHING planned. It was so disappointing. So, we had to settle for hearing fireworks in the distance.

The next morning we got up and headed to lunch and then went to a matinee for The Sound of Music. I hadn't seen the movie for ages, so it was like seeing it for the first time. The musical was amazing! We had great seats and the music was incredible. Mark had never seen it before and he was a great sport about it. I think it helped that during the intermission they came around with Coke and treats much like the baseball game:) After that, we got our bags from the hotel and headed back home.



It was great being able to spend time together, although I must admit, most of our talk was about Kaley:) I was reminded AGAIN just how thankful I am to have a wonderful husband and family. Thanks honey for our evening out, it was great!

Our latest projects

Mark and I always have projects that we are working on around the house. Ever since the good weather has been here, Mark has enjoyed working outside on a few projects. The first one that he tackled was putting in a rain barrel in our back yard. We have always wanted to get one, but the price was always too high. Then Barrie had a special on rain barrels and backyard compost containers. Neither of us were really keen on the idea of having rotting food in our backyard, especially because we are STILL waiting on the city to decide what they are going to do about the piece of land beyond the "creek" in our backyard, and if we did get one, that is where we would put it. Anyways, the other part that doesn't sit well with me is the idea of bugs and yes, worms, that would come along with doing our own composting. Anyways, we did get the rain barrel, and surprisingly, it works great!



Baracus checking out the new contraption!


The next project was this watering system that Mark originally saw on an episode of "This Old House". To make a long story short, he finally found a place where he could order one for our home, and it ended up being from Mark's favourite place...the Home Shopping Channel:) Yes, another infomercial, but oddly enough, it ended up working great. It is a system called Watering Made Easy, and it is a great alternative to an underground sprinkling system (and a WHOLE lot cheaper).

One of the things that I really didn't enjoy about watering the lawn was finding the "perfect" placement of the sprinkler, the "perfect" water pressure, and the MOST frustrating part was whether to choose to have it water just the left side, the right side or the full lawn! Now, I don't have to worry about a thing. You place this system in a strategic place in your lawn, (they even included a diagram on how to do it!!) connect the hose, and voila, your lawn is perfectly watered! No more frustration. Can you tell that I love it? The best part was that it really was a great deal and it was really cheap. Mark is a genius.

Our new watering system! It is as easy as 1...


...2...


...3!


Kaley and Baracus playing together on our "hill" as Mark works.

Our trip to the zoo

On Monday, Kaley and I met up with Wendy, her boys and her two nieces (which are also Mark's cousin's daughters) and we went to the Elmvale Zoo. As far as zoos go, this one is pretty unique. It is quite rugged and you can get really close to the animals, and it is close to Barrie which makes for a nice afternoon. This was Kaley's first trip to the zoo and it was really cute watching her interact with the animals. She was quite enthralled with the goats and tried to hug them like she does Baracus, sooo cute:) I think she was confused with the horns though, she kept trying to touch them and pull at them. Her next favourite animals were the monkeys. I think this was in part because she was trying to figure out how they climbed up things so easily. I just hope that goes right out of her memory! Westin took a stab at reading the signs and did a great job at letting us know what animal we were looking at. Mackenzie had a wealth of knowledge about a lot of the animals, so we all learned something that we didn't know:) The kids enjoyed themselves and had fun seeing the animals.



Kaley checking out the horns!








Looking on with wonder...




A couple pictures of the animals, I couldn't believe how close we could get to them!

God is good!

I'm sitting here on our deck on the most gorgeous night with my dog, listening to Kaley play with her feet through the monitor, and I am feeling a mixture of happiness, contentment and an overwhelming feeling of being incredibly blessed.

I was going to write something on being organized and some new techniques that I am trying, but I had to write this down, if not for anything else than to remind me of how good God is. Sometimes we have the privilege of seeing our prayers being answered and this is one of those times. In response to those answered prayers, I want to praise God for His goodness and His presence in our lives.

We are so blessed because:
1) I am married to a Godly, loving, perfect-for-me husband & wonderful father to Kaley.
2) A beautiful, healthy and loving daughter who has brought even more joy to our family than we ever thought possible.
3) A home that is warm and cozy and a safe haven.
4) A church family that allows us to be who we are and who we love so much.
5) Family who love and support us (and like to get together).
6) Parents who taught us what it means to live like Christ and who pray for us daily, which is by far the greatest gift they could ever give.
7) Friends who accept us for who we are, who help us grow and change and who walk along side us in our journey.
8) A family dog who brings much comfort and laughter to our family. (I couldn't leave him out, now could I? ;)
9) And most of all, a Heavenly Father who hears our prayers, comforts us in times of struggle, rejoices in our successes and who guides us along in this journey called life.

Thank you God for everything! We are grateful:)

Happy Father's Day Mark!!!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who has also become a fantastic father to Kaley. The very first time that Mark held Kaley in his arms, I knew that those two were going to have a very special relationship. I always knew that he would be a great father and prayed for his relationship with our baby when I was pregnant, but it is quite a gift to actually see it happening! Even when Kaley was an infant, whenever she heard Mark's voice, she would strain to see where he was at. When she got a bit older and could interact with him, her eyes would light up when he came near. It was almost as if she was thinking "Oh boy, here comes my daddy, I wonder what fun we are going to have now!" Now that she is older, whenever she hears that garage door opening, she will stop what she is doing, scramble to head towards the door and has the cutest twinkle in her eyes...her daddy is home:)

I love watching the two of them interact with each other. He is intentional about spending time with her and it usually ends up in playing a great game of chase or make believe. He will give her his undivided attention and truly have fun with her. He also has a unique ability to sense just what it is that she needs, and is right most of the time. He encourages Kaley to figure things out on her own and will help her only when she asks. He is caring, loving, patient, understanding and respectful with Kaley. She is quickly becoming a daddy's little girl and the two of them have their own special and unique relationship.

To Mark who is a great dad!
Thank you for:
-trusting, obeying and loving God with all of his heart.
-teaching your family about the amazing love of our Heavenly Father.
-praying for your family and instilling the importance of being part of a healthy church community.
-cherishing your daughter for the precious gift that she is.
-having the wisdom to look for the teachable moments to guide and inspire.
-having fun with your daughter being silly and laughing together.
-creating happy memories like singing silly songs in the car at the top of your lungs, no matter who might be looking!
-always taking the opportunity to let your daughter how much you love and appreciate her.
-taking time to listen to your little girl talk to you even when you can't understand what she is saying.
-making our home feel safe and providing for our family.
-being an encourager and a personal cheerleader.

Thank you Mark for being a great dad and an amazing husband. We love you so very much! Love always, Bren, Kaley & Baracus

Mark's find of the month

When we were at the Holly Community Center for Kaley's swimming lessons, they had this vending machine that we saw that was nothing like one I had ever seen. It was a hotdog vending machine -yes- a place where you put in money, and it makes a warm hotdog and bun for you! No matter what the cost, we just had to try it. It actually tasted very good. There was a sign on the front that read about 10 different things that it didn't have in it, so I was thinking about how not-so-good it was going to taste, but it was very good! I think we found Mark's new favourite toy:)...and no, we are NOT getting one for the house!!!

Whoo-hoo, a hotdog stand!


Soooo happy!


Hmmm, how can this be good? Oh wait, could it actually be made with JUST meat?!!


Mark enjoying his hotdog, but not too happy I'm taking the picture of him eating:)

Kaley's First Swimming Lesson

Kaley was given 10 weeks of swimming lessons from Carrie for her first birthday. Each week they had a half an hour swimming lesson where she learned many useful things! At first she was quite unsure of the whole experience and mainly watched the others instead of joining in. But as the weeks went by, the more comfortable she became and at the end, really loved being in the water. The things she learned were getting into the water, floating on her back and front and kicking in the water. The cutest thing was when she wore a life jacket for a couple of the lessons. She looked so adorable and it was so tiny! She did fantastic though, we are so proud of her. Here is what her teacher had to say:

"Excellent effort Kaley! It was a pleasure having you in my class this spring. You have demonstrated a lot more confidence in the water, way to go:) Continue blowing your bubbles during the summer!"

On the last class, we were able to take pictures and videos of the session. Here is our little swimmer hard at work!





Daddy & Kaley showing off her report card:)


A thrill seeker in the making