this and that

Summer Summer Summer...

We're in the thick of it.

Summer is sunflowers. I love them.

We're growing some in our flowerbed at the side of our house. Max and I randomly planted some seeds this spring. They haven't started blooming yet. But they're getting taller every day. In the meantime, we're getting our sunflower fix at the market. 3 for $1.00. Can't beat that.

I'm trying something new.

Pickles.

Pickling pickles to be precise.

Never done it before.

I got the recipe from my mother-in-law.

It takes 9 days to make them.

9 days.

But soooooo worth it.

If they turn out, that is.

Two more days left on this little project.

I can't say I'll be sad to have them finished.

Keith and Max sneak taste-tested a few last night and said they were awesome.

Just what my little ears wanted to hear! :-)

My house looks like this...

And has looked like this for the past week.

Everywhere you look there are...

 "science projects" being monitored

crafts

stacks of books

legos

cars

and a plethora of toys.

(What you don't see is the super sticky floor. And cupboards. And counters. From the pickles. And it will stay that way until Thursday when they are safely in jars and I'm done pickling them.)

Max has been busy tending his tomato plant.

Bumper crop of tomatoes for him to munch on.

Keith was in Vancouver last week on business.

Max wrote a welcome home note and attached it to the front door.

When he got home around 8:30 on Saturday morning (red-eye flight), this little sign was there to greet him.

Max and I were still sleeping when he got home. ;-)

My two most favouritest people hanging out on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

All our plans involved the great outdoors that day.

So it ended up being a rather quiet day at home.

New school shoes.

Max and I actually did the majority of his back-to-school shopping today.

Sick, I know.

We went to the market after swimming lessons.

Bought lots of summer.

(Peaches, plums, apricots, yellow beans, sunflowers...don't they scream summer to you?!)

A quick stop at Walmart for a couple of things, found us stocking up on his supplies he'll need.

And then a quick stop at the mall for lunch in the food court.

As we were leaving we passed Softmoc.

I spied "Kids Shoes" at the back of the store so in we went.

And amazingly they were stocked with Geox.

Glory Hallelujia!

Let me explain.

Max has an extremely narrow foot. We have to be super careful when we buy him shoes.

We learned this the hard way.

A few years back, he started complaining that his feet hurt. And his legs hurt. Whenever we had walked for a short period of time.

I took him into Kiddie Kobbler (remember that store? They still have it in Vancouver.) to get his foot measured. The awesome lady helping us told us that's what was going on. His running shoes were too wide for his feet and so his toes were clenching each time he took a step which led to the sore feet/legs. She told us that basically 1 in 10 shoes on the store shelves will be a good match for him. And she also pointed us towards Geox which is known to have a more narrow fit (vs. Stride Rite which is known for their wide fit.)

And we've been buying Geox ever since. No more complaints from the Maxter. :-)

But it's hard to find them. Not just any store stocks them.

Last year I ended up ordering them online and it worked out.

But today. Oh yes today. We actually found a small selection of them. We had actual choices!

So we came home with one pair (to be used as his outdoor pair). They were out of his size for his indoor choice. So we ordered it online and it will be delivered to the store for us to pick up in a week or so.

That is one huge check off my "to do" list.

Whew!

Now my next big check is to try and find the three of us a family doctor in Ontario.

Ugh.

This one is a bit more challenging. You can't just order one on-line.

If you are aware of any doctors who are accepting new patients or have a recomendation of a great doctor that I could try, could you please let me know? Muchly appreciated. :-)

Tomorrow I think Max and I are going to "GO WILD" and take a bit of a road-trip.

Any ideas where we're headed?!