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Our time has come to an end with our "AT THE MORIN'S" blog :(

I've seem to outgrow the need for 2 blogs - one for family life and one for thankfulness!

Because I AM thankful for my family! So now, I will combine the two blogs into ONE 'thankful for my family and life' blog!

Activities - PLAY BALL

I am pretty sure we have enrolled Noah in too many activities this year but we can't do anything now because we want to teach him to follow through with things/sports you start.

When we first moved, our main objective was to get him involved to mingle and meet other children. So we enrolled him to baseball & Frolic (a M-F afternoon camp for 7-10 year olds). Then, after finding out that the baseball & soccer schedules are coordinated - I convinced him to take soccer as well. THEN, when we got the pool and saw how deep it was - I told him he had no choice but to take swimming lessons (which was coordinated as well - but only 30 minutes 2X's per week).

As it turns out, YES baseball and soccer are coordinated but on the SAME DAY. PLUS swimming does coordinate as well but for his age/level is scheduled for the same days - at a different time as soccer & baseball. Tuesdays & Thursdays are very tiring days. We've both agreed that Noah will no longer 'have' to go to Frolic on Tuesdays & Thursdays - only if he wants to.

So, yesterday was the day I decided to bring my camera to capture the excitement on Tuesday & Thursday activities. BUT in the morning we met our new family doctor (so he missed swimming) and Jacques took Noah to soccer alone (I needed a break) so I only got photos of our little ball player.

When he really tries, he is AMAZINGLY good...but he is getting really frustrated that they ONLY do practices so far. In 4-5 practices they will begin to play games, but for now they are learning techniques. Noah is SO into baseball this year - that I hope he remains patient for the games to begin because I KNOW he will love it so much more when playing a full game!


Check out our little 'joker' - he's asking the coach if he wants to play catch (with his glove on his head and his hat to catch with. Noah thought he was pretty funny - but the coach didn't!!! LOL

He'll learn - one day!!

Our new house

So finally we have it - photos of our new house (before renovations).

Renovations to be completed are listed below (before and after photos will follow):

With the renovations, all doors (including bi-fold closet doors & door to garage) will be replaced with new colonial doors and all knobs will be replaced also.

Outside: changes to the cement step, stairs and possibly the retaining wall (depending what the concrete company says for fixing this)

Front entrance: no changes to be made

Kitchen: counter, kitchen sink, (possibly) refacing cabinets, new handles on all cabinets, kitchen table chandelier, (possibly) lighting over island and (eventually) replacing the hood range with a microwave that includes a hood range.


Bathroom: lots of changes in bathroom that include pulling all that wood panelling down , replacing it with ceramic (around tub), new paint, new towel & paper racks, new faucets for the tub & sink, new light fixtures, new mirror, new counter top. Presently we can not use this shower.

Spare room: no changes to be made (I already painted).


Noah's Room: I've already made the changes in his room. Newly decorating includes: quilt from Pottery Barn Kids, paint on walls, computer desk armoire (painted it white), poster at head of bed, football curtain tiebacks & curtains, basketball pillow on bed. We will continue to purchase the sports banners as we go to different events that will (hopefully) fill all around the top of his room. Note: excellent birthday / Christmas ideas for those of you always looking!


Master Bedroom: new paint, ensuite will get a new counter top, new light fixtures, new taps and possibly a new medicine cabinet (note the view from our bedroom window - ahhhh)

Family Room in basement: new PVC windows in family room (these are the only two left in house to change)

Bathroom in basement: we are currently looking to see if we can bring the washer & dryer into the basement bathroom (waiting to see what plumber has to say - whether it's possible or not)


There you have it - next time, come and see for yourself we'd love the visitors!

P-Mate - have you heard of them?

Oh my goodness...I just discovered the funniest thing (on a blog I linked to from someone else's blog). P-MATE's - are portable urinating devices for women. NOW woman around the world can stand to pee too!!! LOL

They are even 100% guaranteed money back. So, my first thought was okay, do you send in the device 'after' you used it or what? Nope, all you have to do is send in an 'unused' portion of the device and they will refund you 100%.

So all you women out there - we can finally experience peeing like a man!!!

Okay - you wouldn't believe how many giggles I'm having about this. But honestly though, what a great invention!

Check out some of the photos for an example of how it works (and how it doesn't work!!!).

How it works:
Step 1: Simply pop open the P-Mate, move your underwear aside, and place the cupped opening against your body under the flow area between your legs.
Step 2: Tilt hips so funnel faces slightly downwards. Relax and pee!

You can remove any drops left behind by slowly moving the P-mate to the front, and catching them with the back of the P-mate.

Step 3: Dispose of in garbage or even better, recycle. Do not flush.

The P-mate has a fold line down the middle, which allows it to fit into an average pocket. We suggest putting it into a zip lock bag for easy transport and disposal. THEY CAN ALSO BE BURNED IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT.
How it does NOT work:

Pool time fun with the ZACK 'attack'

What a PERFECT weekend! The weather was HOT plus we had NOTHING to do this weekend. So Saturday and Sunday - we played, swam and took in all the sun we could get (Including Mimi, check her out on the pool lounger with Jacques. She loves floating with someone)

Sunday, Zack came over to join us in the pool then we had a sleep over. Zack especially loved to have a sleep over because he told us it was his first sleep over with a friend! Stefan (Zack's dad) joined us later for pizza and some pool time - which was really nice for Jacques (you know the male bonding thingy)!!

Love, Love, Love having a pool! Thank you 'mother nature' for the perfect weekend (and the hot, hot, hot temps on the way this week)!!!

What NOT to do in a jetted bathtub?

Okay - so Noah asked if he could have some bubbles in his bath tonight? I said: SURE!

Either, I put too much or possibly you should not put bubble bath in a jetted bath???

To think, he was yelling for my help (in a fun manner) and I thought he was role playing while in the tub - which he often does. When I got into the bathroom, the bubbles were 'over-flowing' onto the floor - whooops!!! I giggled and said 'what happened here'. His response was, 'well I tried to call you to tell you'. That he did - I guess Mommy will listen next time (or maybe I just won't put bubbles when the jets are on)!! LOL