Greatful!

I have been reading a lot of blogs lately written by wonderful woman who have been listing what they are grateful for in life. This has made me think of how grateful I am for all of the wonderful things in my life.
I am grateful for:
my precious children
my incredible husband
my family
my health
my friends who are near and far
my home
my freedom
my Independence to do what I love
my community
my country
my dog
my car
my support network
Starbucks!!!!
The list could go on and on...

I'm not going to lye, there are days when I make mental "wish" lists as well but my life is very good. Sometimes we get caught up in life's busy ways and forget to be grateful. This is why it is important for me to document the "greatness"in my life. I hope this brings you inspiration to think of the things that you are grateful for and pay it forward!
much love, krista

Halloween haunt in Foxboro

Another fun Halloween evening with a great group of Shelyn and Carsons friends. We started out at our house and traveled into the village of Foxboro. We met up with a lot of freindly face's along the way. My aunt Donna and my "new" cousin Eddie were very kind to come to the house and hand out our candy. They are such great sports to dress up as well.

Our Fall Family pics

A few Sundays ago we were fortunate to get some family pics taken by a great photographer, Jenna Simpson http://www.aboutimagephotography.com/. I know Jenna through my cousin Michelle. She's was very kind to travel to Stirling to meet up with us at one of our favorite conservation areas, Sager Conservation. The day was PERFECT! Although...poor Rene was playing hockey on the Friday night and slipped a disc in his back which he spent the better part of Saturday in the hospital. It was a rough go for him Saturday but once the pain meds kicked in he was able to move around a bit to get some pics. So his smile in these pics is half sincere and half PAIN!! He didn't even complain once! HE'S THE BEST! Thank you honey!

Fall...my favorite time of the year!

I know...I know, I am a very bad blogger. Although I do like checking out all of my fav blogs on a regular basis, I'm really neglecting my own. So this is major catch-up time.

The kids are back in school now and are really enjoying their year so far. Shelyn had a rough go last year(for a number of reasons) but this year she loves school! Shelyn and Carson both have great teachers, which we are very thankful for! We are so lucky to have such a great teaching staff at Foxboro. They are full of school spirit and make the classroom atmosphere a very positive place to learn and grow.

Shelyn is still enjoying her horse back riding. She did a second level jump this past week and of course, I forgot my camera at home. I was so proud of her! I could see it on her face that she was proud of herself! Shelyn was also asked t join her friend Erika, this year, at the Harvest Arts group. They do dance and vocal. Erika's mom and I have been taking turns dropping off the girls and I usually have a few places to run then I come back and pick them up. Last week I decided to stay and watch. They were GREAT!! The dance they study Hip Hop and it's really fun! Shelyn tried to teach me some of the moves but told me to stop because I wasn't doing it right. Ok...Ok...I get the message! They are performing on a float in the Santa Claus parade this year and Shelyn is on cloud nine!

Carson has started his second season of Hockey in Stirling. A great little hockey community that has pumped out a few great NHL players as well...no pressure Carson!LOL Rene was coaching last year but due to scheduling , he can't commit to coaching this year. I think he really enjoys watching Carson now. It's a different perspective as a parent, then on the ice. Carson loves hockey and has come a long way since his first skate last year. He's become a great little skater and loves to go for the net! It's very cute watching a pack of 4, 5 and 6 year old's trying to maneuver their way around a big ice surface. Priceless!

Tomorrow is Halloween and a significant day for a lot of people in our lives. The kids are excited about Trick or treating with their freinds, Rene returns home from being away for a week on training, My cousin Tara turns 27 , our cousin Tessa turns...I think 28 and a good friend, Christine, who has been battling Breast Cancer at the age of 26, is having her first mastectomy. She just got married to an incredible man last week and now she is loosing a part of her body because of this nasty disease. Christine has a wonderful spirit and a very positive attitude on life, which I know had helped a lot of her support network around her. We were joking a few weeks ago about the fact that , after surgery, she can pick any boobie size she would like and she will ever have to wear a bra again! LOL What a girl. Christine is my cousin Tara's best friend and also my business partner, Laura's sister. We all wish her the very best! You go girl!

I thinks that;s enough for now. I hope to have many more pics to post in a few days!

A little Big City fun!

This past week, we ventured to the "BIG"city of Toronto. I love Toronto. i love the hussle and bussle of the streets, I love the variety of restaurants, shops and fun things to do. I think it's a wonderful city to visit! Rene worked at the Royal York Hotel on Front st. for three years BC(before children). So we have spent many...many nights enjoying what Toronto has to offer.

For our little vacation with the kids, we decided to stay at the Delta Chelsea hotel downtown T.O. This is a FAB hotel to stay at with the kids. They have two pools in the hotel. The second floor pool is the "family"pool. Equiped with a family hot tub and water slide. Plus they have an arcade and activity room where the kids can make a craft, read a book, cuddle up with the bunny rabbit or play the ever so popular game of Wii. The second pool is on the 25th floor for adult only enjoyment. A little more peaceful up there.

We enjoyed many of the city sites. CN tower, Eaton Centre, The old Spaggetti Factory, Midevial Times , The CNE, the underground mall(aka the path) . I really was not sure how well I would do at the CN Tower? I'm O.k with hights but the glass floor through me for a loop. i could NOT watch the kids and Rene walk on it. Too much for me thanks! I found it a little on the pricey side as well. It cost us $77.00 and change to go up the tower. That's it, just up the tower. I thought that to be a little much!

Over all we had a great time and even managed to sneek in a visit with our good friends, The Closs Family and check out their beautiful new home.

When we arrived home, we got news that my cousin Tara had just delivered her precious baby boy Sawyer. So we had to meet the new addition to our family the next day. Both Tara and Sawyer are doing well and daddy Jarett is enjoying his new son. Tara and Jarett will make wonderful parents and we are so happy for them both and lucky for us they only live 5 mins away so we can get our "baby fix" whenever I want.

FYI( I am having a problem gettting the pics to come at the end of the post. Sorry!)

summer fun!

We are trying to enjoy our summer here as best we can. That is , if it's not raining! Man, I can't believe that amount of rain we are getting here in Ontario.

Just wanted to share a few pics of our recent summer adventures.

Last week we enjoyed a Friday afternoon in Cobourg, hanging out on the beach. I love Cobourg beach. It's clean, not too big, and FREE. They also have a wonderful splash pad and jungle gym right beside the beach. I helped the kids build their sand castle. We had to have a moat that went around it so away we went! Carson is the digging master. He can dig a hole in such a short period of time and generally the holes are as deep as he is tall. This bring my little man a lot of joy! Shelyn and I were the structure and curb appeal ladies. We were told,by Carson, to build the "building"and make it look nice. So that we did! A few games of Frisbee were played. I must admit, I really suck at Frisbee throwing! Carson was encouraging me to "keep trying". What a cutie! A great day was had by all!

Another beautiful wedding weekend!

This Friday July 18th Rene's (my husband) cousin Tessa, married her sweetheart of eight years, Mike Pascoe. The wedding and reception took place at the Bay of Quinte Counrty club, here in Belleville. This is very fitting as Mike is a BIG TIME golfer and I have heard, a very good one at that! Their colours were chocolate brown and green, great combination! The bridesmaid dressed in adorable lace overlay brown dresses and the groomsmen adorned green button down shirts with light brown dress pants. Tessa's flowers were green spider mumms which is a little funny because Tessa is unbelievably afraid of spiders! It was an evening ceremony and cocktail reception. Tessa is a junk food fanatic so she had a Ben and Jerry's ice cream buffet and a candy bar. Great choice in my books! I think the highlight of the night, other than the wedding itself, was the first dance. Mike and Tess started out with a traditional dance then they broke into a "Rock the Reception"dance. This is when the music switches to some more hip tones and the bride and groom do a choreographed dance routine including the famous "sprinkler", shopping cart, and kung fo fighting to name a few. It was priceless! They did a fantastic job! Did I mention that Tess was a drama teacher! Very fitting for her!

It was a very anjoyable evening!

All the best guys!

I love weddings!

This past weekend, my cousin Michelle and her boyfriend Jeff of nine years got married. I love weddings and what a beautiful wedding it was! It took place at west Zwicks Island, here in Belleville and the sun was shinning! Michelle was a gorgous bride and always had a huge smile on her face. I could tell she was so happy to be marrying the love of her life. Michelle arrived in a horse drawn carrage very Cinderella like. Her colours were chocolate brown and almost a teal blue. The bridesmaid looked wonderful and the groomsman were corodinating perfectly in their brown tuxes. This was the second wedding Shelyn and Carson attended with us. Theor first wedding was Michelle's sister Tara's , three years ago and they were both in it. They really enjoyed getting new outfits and watching Michelle walk down the isle. They only stayed for the ceremony because we told them the party afterwards was only for adults. They didn't mind because their friend Danielle was watching them for the evening and they have a blast with her.

Next weekend is wedding number two of the season. Tessa and Mike and I can't wait. It will be another beauty!

summer time

Wow, it is July 9th already! It seems that summer takes so long to arrive but once it is here, time flys. We have had a busy summer already. Camping with friends, summer BBQ's in our backyard, play dates, birthday parties and beautiful weddings. What a wonderful season! The July long weekend we had the pleasure of camping with our good friends , Shawn, Corrie, Tyler and Caylie Closs. This is an annual adventure for us. Usually we camp at one of Ontario's beautiful provincal parks but we were a little late organizing and didn't get into the parks on our list so we decided to try a private park a little closer to home. We found a FANTASTIC park called Cobourg East Campgrounds located 5mins from the town of Cobourg. A very clean, well maintained park with lots of activities to do. The kids enjoyed swimming in the pool, going for bike rides, playing in the park, walking through the river and taking part in their WONDERFUL Canada Day festivites. I would highly recommend this park. A very enjoyable stay!

On Canada Day, we usually spend the afternoon with "Silly Papa"(Rene's dad) to celebrate his birthday. Yes he is a Canada Day baby who was born in the USA. But this year Nana and Papa were in Chicago at a friends wedding so we missed our afternoon together but were able to wish him a Happy Birthday when he returned.

feel'n HOT HOT HOT!

What a hot one!
I really hope we have a beautiful summer but I really do not wish for this heat! I'm not one to enjoy a lot of heat . I tend to gravitate to the shade and save my fare skin from the sun.

Today was Carson's class trip and mini Kindergarden graduation celebration. I must explain now why I do not have any pictures to post at the moment of this "special"day. I truly thought that just the Senior Kindergarden class was having a ceremony and the remainder of the day would be a fun class trip. so... I decided to keep my camera at home because it was really hot and I didn't want to be lugging it around the park. So there it sat.. at home on the kitchen counter! To my surprise, Carson was recieveing a certificate for graduating from Jr.K to Sr.K and my good friend's Angela and Erin were very kind to take some pictures of my little man getting is diploma. Thanks ladies! I really do appreciate your kindness and my scrapbook thank's you as well! :) Once I receive the pics I will post them to show you how proud Carson was today!

A little side note!
Spelling has always been a struggle for me. With modern technology I still make the odd mistake when writting. This is why I appoligize to you in advance. I know some of my "teacher"friends are reading my blog right now thinking, man, her spelling is TERRIBLE! Sorry guys! I will try my best to do spell-check at every chance I get! :)

Enjoy your weekend!

catch up!

I just got home from teaching a watercolour card class at my store(Sweet Sentiments scrapbooking and more!) I lover teaching classes! it's so much fun to share a hobby I enjoy so much. I must say... I think I create better scrapbook pages then cards but I have just as much fun doing both. (I will post my card pics in my next blog post.)

This past Sunday was wonderful! I got to enjoy the entire day with my two beautiful children and my husband. Life is really crazy busy in the Aubertin house so spending an entire day doing whatever we want whenever we want to do it was GREAT! We worked outside a bit in the morning then asked the kids what they wanted to do. Carson's first request was Chucky Cheese and Shelyn's was the indoor playground in Kingston. I suggested that maybe we choose an activity to do close to home. So they both said"the beach". it was really overcast and the ground was very wet from our little rain storm the night before so I suggested we do a tour of "the county"(Prince Edward County) and see where we end up.

Everyone was game. We headed across the bay bridge and down Rednersville road. Rene and i love to admire all of the beautiful homes along the water. We stopped at Campbells Orchard. This is one of our favorite places to go in the fall around apple picking time and Thanksgiving weekend. Shelyn and Carson enjoyed some icecream while Rene and I did very well not to have soem for ourselves. After that we head to Wellington and stopped at the Wellington park. This is a great park located right on the shore of Lake Ontario. A great place for the kids to play and a great place to have a picninc, too bad the weather wasn't a little warmer. We all enjoyed a few games of hide and seek and skipping rocks in the water. Then we headed to Bloomfield for dinner then returning to home. We had a great day! I really wish we could have days like this more often.
I am having difficulty posting pics so I will do my best to post when I can figure things out!

We took a mini family vacation to Niagara Falls, Canada a few weeks ago.The kids love Niagara. All of the lights, people and not to mention the beautiful falls. At the end of our mini vacation, we met up with my parents and my mother and father in-law at Great Wolf Lodge for the night. We had a BLAST! It was great in many ways. First, to be able to spend sometime with both our mother and father and our in-laws( i have wonderful in-laws, who are actually friends with my parents. I know, I'm very blessed!)and we loved how catered to families this place really is. We took lots of pictures in the water park...why... I don't really know because they really are not pics that I would care to show the world but it all about the memories! We also love the fact that we could stay in our wonderful country and enjoy Canadian tourisim. We can't untl the next chance we have to go.

My very own blog!

Well... I have finally got my own blog. I am such a blog addict, checking my fav's every time I have the chance. I just love everything about a blog. Sharing stories, pictures and special happenings in your life. It's great! I was reading one of my fav's the other day kerrimacdonalds.dots of life and was thinking how I love the way she captures the everyday pleasures and then asked myself why wasn't I blogging? So I decided to go for it!

Here I am!

I am very excited to share my "Life's little treasures" with you.



Let the journey begin!