Fresh Picked: Teacher Gifts

My sister sent me a super cute idea for Teacher Gifts.  They were easy and inexpensive, which was perfect because I needed four altogether and had little time to prepare them.

First, I made some fruit themed card sets: 

Next, I picked up some "Fresh Picked" Soap from Bath & Body Works.  I got them on sale for $3.00 each:

Saved some strawberry baskets from berries we bought recently:

Then I printed these tags and made them into cards:

Nathan's message to his teacher:

Added some cellophane wrap and ribbon and they're all done:

Total Cost: $3.00 each (plus wrapping / card supplies which I already had on hand)  

Who needs Pinterest when I have my sisters!?  Thanks, Jordana :)

Summer Is Here

It's the last week of school, the last weekend of our 8-week event season, the last week of 3 on 3 hockey for the boys, last week of cubs and youth activities, and tonight is the last piano lesson until September.

It feels like things should be winding down a little bit, but really it's just on to the next set of activities... 

Soccer, the cottage, girls camp, weddings, family activities / visits / trips and... one more little thing, what was it again?  

Oh, right.  Six kids home all day with no school for 9 weeks.  

No big deal.  

I just moved bedtime up to 1:30 PM so I think we are all set.

I'm really going to miss my Mom when she disappears to Alberta for a month.  

Here are a few photos with some things we've been up to lately.

Clayton's first hockey game (Brett & JD's 3 on 3).  Clara was yelling so loud, cheering for her brothers, that the people in front of us decided to move seats.  Thank goodness they don't sell out at Novice Boys Rec. League hockey games.

JD had a school performance - he was one of three circus clowns.  Here he is afterwards showing off his brother to all his friends.  Poor little Clayton was so hot.  Their school doesn't have AC (crazy!) and this day it was nearly 40 degrees out!  

The play was super cute... only I couldn't understand 99.9% of it because it was in French.  

Samantha's class performed Macbeth.  In English.  

I understood most of it.  Just not the lines that were in iambic pentameter.  

Samantha played the part of the doctor that pronounced Lady Macbeth dead.  

We planned to do outdoor cooking for our last day of Cubs.  We had prepped five different foods to cook - so the boys could earn their cooking badges.  

Approximately 1 hour before the activity, we started getting torrential downpours, thunder, and lighting.  So we moved the whole thing into the Church kitchen at the last minute.  It was a little chaotic, but the boys still had fun.  

Baked apples...  stuffed and ready for the oven. 

Saturday our kids had a total of 4 soccer games and one hockey game between them.  

Clara got sick last week with a terrible cough, stuffy nose, and slight fever.  

I wanted to feel bad for her, but I was too busy enjoying the peace and quiet while she was sleeping 18 hours a day.  

This little snowman attached to a square of soft and silky blanket fabric was Nathan's favourite when he was a baby.  About 4 months ago he decided he would give it to the new baby when he was born.  So whenever he sees Clayton sleeping he insists on making sure he has his snuggle toy.  

And don't forget the neck support cushion stuck on his head like a hat.  

Clayton had to get used to his carseat really quickly and has already spent a lot of time in it going from one activity to the next.  

Don't worry, we have Clara to make sure he does't get bored... 

My sweet boys.  

Looking forward to a fun and busy summer! 

Samantha's Play On! Weekend

The first weekend of Play On! this season we had 3 events, one of which was in Hamilton.  Scott and I were going down and we decided to take Samantha with us.  

A few days before the event, we found out there was a girls team that wanted to play in the tournament, but they didn't have a goalie.  The local operator called and asked if Samantha would be willing to fill in as goalie so the team could play.  She agreed.  

She drew up a practice schedule for her and Scott so that he could take shots on her and give her some tips in the final days leading up to the big day.  She was nervous about being goalie, and also about playing with a group of girls she had never met before. 

There were only 2 teams in this girls division, so it was the first to win 3 out of 5 games on the Saturday.  

Samantha did awesome.  They lost their first game, but won the next three.  And in the final game she got her first shut out as goalie!  

She was so excited to win her first Play On! Champion ship t-shirt and trophy.

She got to spend a lot of time with her two friends who had also come to the event, but didn't play on the team with her.  (Although one of them played against her!)

Here they were having fun inventing new flavours of Jelly Bellies.  Heaven help the poor souls who got duped into trying them.  I was not that brave, and not at all worried about offending the girls after all their work...   Let's be honest.   You can get away with pretty much anything when you're 9 months pregnant.

I was so glad to have Samantha at this event.  Not only did she have fun playing hockey on Saturday, but she spent the Friday working at Check In, and a lot of the weekend working as a rink monitor and scoreboard helper.  

Our hotel was right on site.  Literally.  But when I tried to get her to sleep in, she insisted on coming down with Scott and I at 6:00 AM.  She even wrote me reminder notes asking me to please wake her up so she could come down early.  And for those of you who know Samantha very well, that is saying a LOT!  

AND... when I went into labour on Sunday she helped time my contractions all the way home.  I love this girl!  She is so amazing and I don't know what I would do without her!  

JD's Theory Exam

JD wrote the Preliminary Rudiments Royal Conservatory Exam for Music Theory last month.

He studied really hard for this exam.  The morning of the exam he was so nervous!  

He was the first one into the exam room and I watched him through the window in the door while the rest of the 75 or so students were admitted into the exam room. He was super anxious.  

When he came out after it was over, I asked him if there was anything he didn't know and he said, "I didn't know one of the vocabulary words because it was in cursive and I can't read cursive very well yet."  

That made me laugh because it's such a typical JD thing to say, and also made me think about how young he is and what a huge accomplishment this was.  

Here he is celebrating afterwards with a Tim Horton's egg sandwich and a donut.  

I couldn't be prouder!

Baby Clayton

Clayton Alexander Scott Hill was born on May 14, 2012 at 12:49 AM, weighing in at 9 lbs 6 oz.

We came home from the hospital on May 15, which was also our 13th wedding anniversary.

His two older sisters and three big brothers have spent the last 3 weeks doting on him, racing to be the first one home from school to hold him, and being amazed at every little thing he does. Everything from sucking on his hands, yawning, and stretching, to holding onto fingers, going cross-eyed, and losing his umbilical stump - all are huge events around here.

Pretty sure no other baby ever born has been this loved...

League Champs

A while ago I posted about our boys' hockey team and the playoffs.  Against all odds, their team came back and won Game 4 and Game 5, which tied us up with Strathroy.  I'm proud to say that the first goal in Game 4 was scored by Jesse, and the whole team just got fired up after that.  Game 5 we won 4-0.

The two teams met yesterday to play in the Championship Game.  We scored early in the game, and held on to the 1-0 lead until the last 2 minutes of the third period when Strathroy scored a goal to tie it up.  I thought for sure we would see some overtime.  But with 11 seconds to go, we managed to get the puck over the line (barely) and win the series and the League Championships!  

Jesse won the Award for Most Sportsmanlike Player and Brett won the Award for Most Improved Player.

The coaches were very emotional when they presented Brett's Medal, and the whole dressing room exploded in applause and cheering.  Hard to believe that only a few months ago he could barely stand up in ice skates...

We were so happy to have Grandma, Nana & Papa and our good friends all come out to the game to support the boys.

What a great season!