The strangest thing happened a couple of weeks ago.

I was going to post a quick, little, summer update with one photo, on my blog.
But it wouldn't let me. Imagine that?!

Apparently, I've used up the maximum alottment of photo storage space for my blog. I cannot post one more photo. What a travesty!

What is a girl to do? Everything considered, (It is a free blog - I don't have to pay anything to use the templates and storage space and I've been blogging for over 5 years.) I came to the quick conclusion that I basically have a couple of choices.

I can:
1. Delete the oldest postings (3 years worth) and keep only the current couple of years. Which will free up lots of space, or
2. Pay for more "storage" space and just keep posting away.

Not so keen about that first option.  When I first started blogging, we were living in Western Canada. I started it on a whim as a easy way to keep friends and family updated on our life. But it turned into something more than that. It became a scrapbook/diary/journal of sorts, documenting our family's life.  I know there are companies who will print your blog entries into a nice hardbound journal type book. I could print them off for each year. But ehhhh....just something else to dust and store when I wouldn't really have to if it's on-line at my fingertips. And I don't want to just delete willy/nilly without having it saved somewhere as this is the only type of scrapbook/journalling I do.  So after mulling this over, I ruled out option one.

The second option of simply paying for more storage space? I thought about that one too. It would be simple and easy to do. But ehhhhh...don't really want to.

So I kept thinking about it. A lot. In the end, it seemed the perfect answer had been handed to me. Especially considering the fact that keeping up a blog was something that I've been mulling about for the last couple of years anyway. Ever since our move back to Ontari-ari-ari-oh.  Should I still keep it up now that we're back here? Somehow I could never quite walk away from it....mostly because I wanted to keep a record/scrapbook/journal of us I suppose.

But now...
Now it's the perfect time. Time for me and c'est la vie to say good-bye.
It's a good time to end. After all I can't post anymore photos. (I'm just hoping it will still let me post this entry!)

My plan right now is to keep a private blog for just our little family so we can record our history as we make it.

And you never ever know what life will throw at you... if there should ever be another wild west (or east!) adventure in the winds for the Jantzi family, a new blog might be inspired. ha ha!

Thanks for your comments over the years and sharing this little journey with me. Enjoy the summer, and God Bless!  ....Patti

Randomness

Have you ever seen a sweeter cake than this?

It's mini. From Sobey's. A little "roasting marshmallows campfire cake". Max twisted my rubber arm on Saturday for this one. How could I possibly resist?! Unfortunately, when we got home, we discovered that Max had a fever of 102 (he had been complaining of a pounding headache that afternoon) so all thoughts of enjoying a campfire cake were quickly shelved. He would gaze at it longingly. And ocassionally carry it with him around the house in it's little container. I was worried we might have to "shellac" it to preserve it. But he got over his little fever/headache bout after 24 hours and was able to enjoy the cake. Cuteness for sure. And delicious to boot!

Mmmmmmmmm! Watermelon.

Our fav. We just devour them one after the other.

We tried something new on the weekend for the very first time.

Grilled Pizza. YUM!

Wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. Or if it would even turn out.

It did. A little crispy on the bottom. The crust rose like crazy which surprised me. We'll def be doing this again...tweaking a few things as we go.

Max was at a friend's soccer birthday party the other night. Everyone got their own personalized shirt to wear for the soccer game. Half the kids had red shirts, the other half had black so they would know who was on their team. Great idea. The problem now.....Max wants to wear it all the time, but doesn't want me to wash it, just in case the spraypaint wears off. Um yeah. It's getting washed. He's already "rescued" it out of the laundry bin a couple of times. One of these times I will triumph! ;)

Summer Reading. I'm a fan of the library and requesting books online. You never know when they'll be available. Sometimes you're number 1 on the list. Sometimes you're number 49. I always have a stack on the go. Adding in a few of my own that I like to re-read from time to time.  Without going into too much detail, I would like to make quick mention of the top book "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielsen. It's based on her true life happenings.  Heartwarming and touching - I highly recommend. I couldn't put it down once I started and I cried throughout it. It's available through my local library. I requested it months ago before it was even available. Hopefully you won't be number 49 on the list!

My little bookworm...

I love that he loves to read. :)

The Summer Fun list...

Each year, we compile and come up with a list of fun stuff that we think we might like to do over the course of the summer holidays...

This year, I wrote up the entire list on our kitchen chalkboard....it'll be staring us in the face with little fun reminders all summer long. :) Some of the things listed are activities that we would be doing regardless...like swimming lessons, soccer and camping. Others are things we don't want to forget to do....like making homemade icecream and sleeping in a tent in the backyard. (I personally wouldn't mind forgetting about sleeping in a tent. ahem!)  And then we've included things that we've never tried or done before....like going to a drive-in movie and making a delicious dirt cake. We all look forward to stroking things off the list once the summer gets started. :)

School report cards came home today...

Max was quite excited and confident that he had passed grade three.

I am so done with the school year. It has just seemed to drag on for forever. I can totally tell I'm slacking off....Max has been enjoying quite a few 10:00pm bedtimes on school nights...(ahhhh....it's a bit light outside still!) and lunches....hmmm...there seems to be more special treats included on a daily basis. Sandwiches? Who needs 'em?! I'm probably a teachers dream nightmare parent these days.

Three more days left.

Well. Maybe just two.

I think we might pull an "early" camping trip.  :)

Nascar

A random selection of Nascar photos from Father's Day weekend...

Saturday's Nationwide Race:

(Max and I were cheering for Danica Patrick in the Nationwide Race - She was one of two female drivers.)

(The flagmen are surrounded by smoke from the winning driver's victory burnout.)

Sunday's Race:

(Lots of traffic....there is only one way to get to the race.)

It started pouring cats and dogs as soon as we arrived. That is not good news for a race. It means a delay....So we found a semi-dry spot under the grandstands and waited it out. Just when it looked like the rain wasn't going to stop and we'd have to head back home....it magically stopped!

They were able to dry the track and get the race started within an hour.

We are Junior fans and were cheering for the 88.

Always seems to be a few exciting moments.... 

Junior won the race.....very very exciting for us!

 

After watching Junior's victory burnout, we headed out on the long walk back to our vehicle and then onward. 12:30am we arrived back home. (That would be our home home, not our tent trailer home!)

Beating the heat

Eating watermelon for breakfast? Yes please!

I've been watering the plants morning and night. (While trying to dodge/escape wasps that have decided to make their nest nearby.)

Mmmmmm...my basil is doing awesome. It must like these temps.

Here come the tomatoes...:)

This is our pet wild bunny. She nibbles on clover in our lawn in the early morning and late evening, after the sun is down. I say she is a "she" because there is a little baby bunny hopping around as well....so just assuming they belong together. :)

Sports are not exactly a way to beat the heat....but...life goes on. Thankful for those evening breezes and winds that seem to appear each night he's on the field.

Stay cool!

And so it begins...

Camping season is here and we're officially in business. We usually kick off camping season on the July long weekend. This year we're a bit early. Although with all the awesome weather we've had this spring, it does feel like we're a bit late getting out.

We did something a bit different and a little bit extra-special for Father's Day this year. We tied in a camping weekend with a Nascar race in Michigan.

We stayed at Hayes State Park. It was absolutely lovely. (We're big fans of State Parks (USA) and Provincial Parks (Canada) because you are pretty safe in knowing what you're getting. We've found that private campgrounds can be more of a hit or miss type of thing...when you hit it, they're really good. When you don't...well....it's not that pleasant of a stay. ;)

Our campsite had the perfect playground equipment for the Maxter....TREES. BIG TREES! He loves climbing trees...

It was the three of us, along with a good friend of ours Gerry, who we don't get to see too often. He would also be the one who originally introduced Keith to the (wonderful?) world of Nascar.

Mmmmmm! Roasted marshmallows...(The tutti frutti variety discovered at Canadian Tire of all places.)

Max was all boy this weekend....from wanting to play with fire around the campsite, to climbing trees to rolling around in the dirt to being obsessed with playing with the hatchet....it was unending. And that was just at the campground!

It was a wonderful weekend to kick off camping. The weather was hot hot hot and no rain (during the camping part). Bugs were minimal. Showers were hot, bathrooms were clean. Food was sooooo good - grilled steaks (for the boys) and yummy salads (me).  We'd like to go back again..there was lots of good fishing, but we just didn't have time. Nascar photos will be coming shortly, they probably deserve a post all of their own. ;)