Must Stay Outside

I couldn't even bring myself to go back inside to write a post so this is from my iPhone, sitting on the stoop eating strawberries with my babes.

I say stoop because we don't have a deck, it's literally just a set of stairs but it works for us.

You make do with what you have.

We live right on a major road and I can sit in the backyard and not even hear the cars, planes, helicopters and construction. 

 Instead I see great mature trees all around, the robins nest in our neighbours yard and hear dogs barking from nearby houses.

We have learned to co-exist with the traffic.

We even play "guess the vehicle by ear" at the breakfast table which Fiona kicks butt at.

Sure, we curse the motorcycles when they blast by after 8pm. But it's hard to stay upset when you hear a little "mocycle" from your 2 year old.

I wouldn't change a thing.

Room

I took these pictures this morning and just had to share.

What kind of auto body shop owners would we be if we didn't have a motor themed room for our baby boy, right?

Ok I went a little overboard for a kid who may not even like motors (gasp!) someday.

Fiona, however, loves them (as shown playing with Cedric's trucks).  

So maybe they could trade.

No Turning Back

I really don't know if I'm cut out for business.

Too late!

It's a good thing Jeff was born to do this.

We are taking another leap and hiring another bodyman.

We need to, the work is piling up.

As I've said before, the one thing that stresses Jeff out is a less-than-happy customer.

Well, some of ours are getting a little impatient.

It's the best kind of problem to have in business right?  

Too much business?

We just need to up our manpower so that we can handle it all.

It's a challenge on my end though.  

I'm always working a month behind.

We don't get paid for the jobs in the shop right now for 30 days.  

So, even if our new guy gets more work out the door, I don't see the money for a month.  

Makes it pretty tight on the financial end when we make these changes.

We've been through this before though and it's always paid off.

I know this time is no different.  

It's just scary.

My Other Reason to Hope for a Long Summer

I've registered for a 10K run in September.

When I registered I was still pregnant and September seemed SO far away.

I thought "I'll have no problem running 10 by then".

"I'll be running 5 by May for sure".

Well...

June is half over and I just ran 5K yesterday!

Nothing like a little pressure.  

Really, that's half the reason I signed up for this thing.

I thought I would force myself into working off the baby weight.

Oh yah, did I mention this run is in Banff?

In the treacherous beautiful Rocky Mountains.

Mountain air is much thinner than prairie air, you know.

And those mountains, they have a tendency to have hills, you know.

I think I can, I think I can.

Just wanted to share this pic I took yesterday while running.

It looks like Mill Creek just got a fresh blanket of snow.

Don't fret though {unless you have allergies I suppose} that's just poplar fuzz.

I Didn't See the Sign

We have been operating our autobody shop as Shield for about 2 1/2 years now.

You wouldn't know this if you came to the shop because this is what it looks like.

We were originally only known as Canadian Dent.

We still do our PDR work as Canadian Dent.

But now the collision work {Shield} has really taken off.  

The majority of our customers are looking for Shield.

This means they're either confused as they pull up...

or lost.

Not great for business.

You'll be happy to know though that we have started the process of {finally} getting a new sign!

We have a couple quotes coming in this week.

Anyone know a good sign company in Edmonton?

Some Tough Guys

Have a great Fathers Day everyone!

As I put these pictures up I notice somewhat of a similarity.

Funny how we now use an app to make our pics look like they're from the 80s.

What's that saying?

Everything that's old...is new again?

Cedric is on his way to being just like Daddy.

Jeff's first time holding his baby boy.

A wilderness adventure with my Dad.

Brian and Jeff in the early days.
Who could have predicted what the future held for them?

Something Different

We got to do a little work on this baby this week.

Jeff has always wanted a bike.

Really, he has a indescribable love for anything high-speed with a motor.

Thank goodness his mother has always said that the day he bought a bike would be the last day she spoke to him.

I have a lot to be thankful to my Mother-in-law for.

To say the least Jeff  is  was a handful.

Ok, he still is but in a much more controlled fashion.