Yesterday Rene's grandfather, Roger Aubertin passed away at the age of 83. Grandpa's life the last six months was a very difficult one. The move to Belleville from Mississauga, where he has lived his entire adult life, the discomfort and instabilities of his aging legs and the painful symptoms of multiple strokes and kidney failure. Although we mourn his loss, we are also comforted in knowing Grandpa is free of pain and enjoying his peaceful life now with his wife.

We thank you everyone for your thoughtfulness and kind words.
Krista and Rene

A few random shots of day to day activities at the Aubertin house!

Carson showing off his artistic talents...

All dressed up in thier Easter outfits

We are shocked he actually got this helmet off...

Trying to get a cute picture of cruiser and the kids...no such luck!

"Try this daddy!"

It's so hard to believe May has arrived! May is such a refreshing month. The flowers are blooming, the grass is green and we are able to spend hours outside without bundling up with layers of clothing.

May is also the month that Rene and I orginally wanted to get married because it marks the anniversary of the first day we started to date. We decided not to pick May 7th as our date because we both loved the fall and really wanted to have a cool fall wedding. Funny enough.. on our wedding day September 8th, it was the hottest day with lots of humitity.

If you can believe it...we have been together for 18 YEARS...that's right 18!!!!!!!

We were babies when we started dating and we are in love with each other even more every year!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Shelyn's Hip Hop dance Recital Sunday April 26.
This is a picture from the end of the recital with all 50 dancers and Shelyn's director Brenda in the black. In silver first on the left

This is dance number 2 and I think Shelyns fav! She is in silver

Dance number 1

This is Shelyn in her Choir . She is fourth from the left.

This past Sunday Shelyn had her very first dance recital and it was wonderful! Shelyn dances at the Core School of Arts. This is a wonderful program here in Belleville which really focuses on each childs importance and how each child can help one another rise above. Shelyn really enjoyed her first year of Hip Hop dance and Chior. This amazing Spring Spectacular was held at the famous Empire Theatre here in Belleville. The theatre holds approx 400 people and it was FULL. Shelyn was so excited to be on the stage and loved every minute. Her buddies Eric and Samantha were also in her group.Than kyou to all of our family members, neighbours and Shelyn's teacher for attending the show, you made Shelyn feels so proud of herself! A big THANK YOU to all who helped with every aspect of this performance and through out the year. You touched the life of my child in a positive way and for that I thank you!

I was checking out my photo file today and came across this picture . At the very moment I pulled this photo up, the song" You'll be in my heart"by Phil Collins was on ! Wow, how fitting is that?? This photo is of my two grandmothers. My Nanny McGarvey(my dad's mother) sitting and my Grandma (my mom's mother). They were very good friends for many years, then they parted for some reason that will always be a mystery? I think I may have been around 16 years old when they rekindled their friendship and carried on as travel companions and tea "grannies"like time had never passed.

We lost my Grandma in 2003 and my Nanny in 2006. It saddens me to think that Carson was too young to even remember their positive attitudes and loving hearts. They loved their Great Grandchildren very much and I know are looking down on them as Guardian Angles do. I show pictures of my Nanny and Grandma often to Shelyn and Carson and talk about all the good memories I have of them both in my life. This is one of the reason's why I feel so passionate about Scrapbooking. It's all about preserving our families memories.

Shelyn and Carson love visiting thier Papa Bear and Nana Rose. We are so fortunate to have both sets of grandparents within a 10 min drive of our home. When the kids are at my parents, they look forward to also visiting the little girls that live down the road . They hike in the fields, looking for animal tracks, hang out on the front lawn, play on the trampolene and enjoy a snack on the "juice deck"of the mansion of a tree fort that nana and papa built for them. There is something so refreshing about seeing a smile on the face of a child!

now the few cute things...

Last weekend we headed to Great Wolf Lodge,Niagara Falls ON with four other families. We had a blast! The kids all twelve of them... were very well behaved. They played so well together and actually gave the parents a little time to enjoy each others company. Well, I must say the men did have more"male bonding"time then the ladies so next time it's our turn.LOL!!

Rene and John treated Michelle and myself to a one hour massage at the Aveda Spa for our Valentines gifts. This was a welcome surprise!

The kids enjoyed the arcade, Cub club craft room, face painting, pj time by the big tree and of course the amazing waterpark. It was so great because there were four girls all Shelyns age so we aloud them to go on the waterslides as a group, without us, although we were in the waterpark at the same time! They thought this was great! They did very well and stayed together ...most of the time.

A big THANK YOU to the Camerons, McKeowns, Thompsons and Davidsons for a wonderful weekend. We can't wait to do it again soon!

random thoughts and a few cute things!

There is always a buzz around our house. Kids playing/arguing, dog barking,Guinea pig oinking, washing machine working overtime and the phone ringing. All very similar sounds for you as well I'm sure! Some days I just want peace and quite but most days I feel there is something very comforting about these sounds.I think it's because I know we have a very active,healthy and happy home! I work two jobs, run my own business, volunteer, have an amazing husband who is a shift worker, children in after school and weekend activities and a large network of wonderful family and friends. I would have it no other way! Life is great! Yes, we all have our bumps in the road and our wants and desires in life but I truly believe life could not get any better! I have watched many close friends and family member battle unbelievable odds and I take strength in knowing that if they can do it, so can I. it's funny because in my twenties, I was really self conscious about a lot of things. A few weeks ago, I had a great visit from one of my cousins and we were chatting about this very issue. How we tend to get caught up in what others think of ourselves instead of what we think of ourselves. How empowering our own thoughts can be on our very own self esteem. My cousin is in her late twenties and I can see she is starting to build that confidence and I totally understand where and why her thoughts are what they are. i was there once but now I'm here and I'm proud to say I'm happy with ME!'
Women are powerful human beings. We can do anything we set our mind and heart to do! Be proud yourself and your accomplishments! Be proud to be you!