A Birthday party - take 2

When we had to cancel Sophie's birthday party in March because she was too sick, we were so sad for her.  We knew that Sophie would have loved having all her friends to our house for an afternoon of fun to celebrate her birthday.  After a month of waiting for her to get healthy and then a month to find the right date, it finally happened on the long weekend.  On Monday afternoon Sophie was able to celebrate her 7th birthday with her friends.  It was all kinds of awesome.

We had a birds and butterflies theme, so all the girls painted birdhouses which was a definite hit.

 

 Each of Sophie's friends helped her open her presents.  They were all very excited to show her what they had chosen for her.  Sophie received some amazing gifts and she has been having lots of fun playing with them and reading all her new books.  It isn't easy finding toys and gifts for Sophie, but each of these girls chose really special items for her.

 

 Sophie and all the girls had a blast running under the parachute.  There is something about a parachute that just exudes fun, I have not met a kid who doesn't love it.

Five of her friends from school were able to make it and they had so much fun.  I wish I could put a photo of the group of them but I haven't received permission to post the photos of two of the girls yet, so that will have to wait.

 

 It was such a great day and I know that Sophie felt the love that was showered on her by her friends.  She is truly a very lucky seven year old.

The long weekend

We had a fantastic, busy, fun Victoria Day long weekend.  On Sunday night we went to fireworks at a friends house which we have gone to for a few years now.  They put on the most amazing show and this year there was probably over a hundred people in their back yard.  This was the first year that we took Sophie and we were a little nervous about how she was going to handle it. 

As we expected she jumped at the sound of every single one, but she didn't cry.  Unfortunately she didn't get used to the explosions and she was surprised by every bang through the evening.  It did seem like she could see them in the sky though so I hope she enjoyed the display at least.

Luckily a couple of Sophie's closest friends from school were there and they held her hand through the entire night.  They didn't leave her side for more than a few seconds at a time and I think that they really helped Sophie deal with the noise as they talked to her and told her about each firework that went off.   They concluded that Sophie liked the colourful ones that didn't make any noise, I think they were absolutely right.
 

It made my heart happy to see Sophie with her friends at a neighbourhood gathering like this.  It made me thankful once again for having her at our home school and I was reminded that all the difficult times we have dealt with in her first school year were worth it for times just like these.

I basically didn't see Lucas all night.  He was with his friends having a wonderful time enjoying the show and running around hyped up on pop and candy.  His perfect night. :)

 

It was a really great start to the summer, lots more adventures await.

A purple spring

True to my word I set out with camera in hand again today, instead of sitting at my desk at work surfing.  It was another beautiful day and the flowers have continued to bloom and grow.

 I haven't been so great at taking photos of the kids recently.  Last night we all headed out to Lucas' soccer practice and I forgot my camera.  It was a shame because Sophie was full of smiles, she had so much fun watching the boys run around.  I will remember it in a few days for his first game for sure!  For now, nature shots will have to suffice.

I decided to do something different and just have some fun editing.  Some beauty from campus today....

New blooms

Today I decided that I would not sit at my desk and surf during my lunch break at work.  It was so beautiful outside and I wanted to make sure that I enjoyed it as much as I could so I brought my camera to work.  I am so glad I did.  The sunshine felt glorious and I was able to take some photos of some beautiful new blooms on my walk around campus.

As usual I didn't edit anything, but what you see is what you get.  :)