Life is Good... At the Beach

Here we go....

2008-01-03T20:41:00.000-05:00

My new site is up and running. There are a few little things to update here and there, so don't be surprised if you see a few things change slowly. I have copied the last few posts over, so your comments will remain here for those ones but the posts are there.

Before you head over, I would like to thank Christina over at Red Dirt Road. She was so kind to assist me, ok, set the whole thing up for me. I cannot thank her enough. Although I can get the hang of things computer-wise after a bit, the thought of moving my blog to an entirely new format was a little daunting. My biggest fear of course being that I would lose everything I had ever written. Be sure to drop by and let her know what an awesome job she did.

So without further ado, I would like to introduce the all new "Life is Good... At the Beach". Hope to see you all at the new beach.

"Another Year Over...

2007-12-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

...and a New One Just Begun." (John Lennon - can't think of the name of the song).

As I sit here on New Years Eve, trying to catch up on my blogging. I look back on this past year and realize it was a pretty great one.

After two years of dreaming of another baby, Apple made her appearance and has been a joy for pretty much ever minute she has been here (I can't totally erase her screaming in the car that is pretty much over at this point).

J has grown up and started school. Which he loves and can't wait to get back to. He learned to skate and swim this past year and has also started gymnastics. He is a regular athlete and I hope we can continue to encourage him.

Hubby continues to be a great Husband and surprises and amazes me often. He is talented and gifted and I don't talk of him often enough but, he is the rock in our family and to him I am grateful and love him more everyday.

My family was together again for the holidays. Every year with each additional child, it truly amazes me that we can still get together. Next year won't be much different as my eldest Sister is adding another baby this May (not sure if I mentioned this, as natural pregnancies amongst my Sisters still hurts, but alas it is true another boy will be added to the clan). And Opa was here for Christmas which has been wonderful in itself. Poor J will be shocked in a few days when it is just Apple and I at his disposal.

My youngest Sister headed back Stateside yesterday and not without adventure. Her connection in Chicago was cancelled, so she was put up for the night and given some meal vouchers. Only to arrive for her flight this morning which was overbooked. Being single and not in a rush she accepted the 'first class' tickets home tonight as well as a round trip 'first class' voucher anywhere in the continental US. And additional meal vouchers. Essentially she got three flights for the price of one as she received a voucher on her way here when her flight was delayed and missed her connection and now on her way home. I tell you, you don't get that kind of service from Canadian Airlines.

My eldest Sister heads home tomorrow to Regina. We had a wonderful visit which included our first ever real sleepover here. It was a total blast and J can't wait to have more of them in the future.

And Opa is here until Thursday. Which will round up the visiting and leave our house very quiet. I have about a months worth of cleaning, sorting and organizing so January won't be too boring.

Gah! My quick New Years post turned into a novel. Not the first time that has happened so let me wrap this up.

Wishing all my wonderful readers a fabulous New Year. I look forward to the excitement 2008 brings as much as I look forward to getting back to my regular blog reading. It has been hard for me not to pick up my computer at every spare moment, but I just have had too much on the go.

A BeachMama Christmas

2007-12-26T13:51:00.000-05:00

A Belated Very Merry Christmas to all my readers. The holidays have been very hectic here chez Beachmama, but I assure you the New Year will bring us back to our regularly scheduled programming. In addition to getting back to posting I look forward to the long awaited release of my new site. It is this close (see finger pinching) to launch I was just too busy to finish up the last few things I have to do before going live.

Santa was a huge hit here. He ate all the cookies, took the carrots for the reindeer and left a lovely letter for J who listened intently when it was read to him. He had a few questions like, "the elves didn't make the Lego did they, they just bought them at the store?" My quick response was that toy factories had elves working there to help Santa out.

Having Opa here with us was wonderful. We don't get the opportunity often enough to share holidays with him, so it was truly a wonderful Christmas morning.

Onward to the evening. I just had to share some of my favourites from the evening of my first ever Christmas dinner. I decided last minute to let everyone serve themselves as I did not leave room on the table for the dishes and the meat platter alone is 10lbs. Although making the dinner was a tad stressful due to a long breakfast in the morning, I will definitely offer again next year as the lack of stress on my Mom's face was worth it. The line up for food warmed my heart as there was no shortage in willing eaters here.
Here is a photo of my Sister's and my Mom. The two on the right (black and red dresses) are the ones in Regina and Charlotte, the one beside me lives here. Can you tell we are Sisters??
Here is my Christmas table, which I had to make longer with an additional table and the way our family is growing I will want to invest in a larger table at some point. This one is my Grandmother's from many moons ago. It folds up into a little side table if your space is small. Which was my dilema until we moved here. I do pull out the good china, I love using it and decorating the table. Opa and Dad are chatting it up down at the head of the table. They get along so well and we are very pleased about that as it makes holidays together much easier.And last of all little Apple. She did very well all through dinner swinging away in her Retro swing and fancy party dress. Even when it was time to go to bed she would hear Opa playing with her two littlest cousins and her eyes would pop open, but she was truly tired and finally gave up the ghost and fell asleep and went right on through until 2:30am, almost six hours two nights in a row, it was awesome for me.

I hope to post a little this week but fear that the chaos will still reign in BeachMama's house. I may just have to request a little alone time with me and my computer. Another week to go with a full house, could be a little tricky.

Thank you all for stopping by my little place by the beach. I have really enjoyed getting to know a few new readers this year and I am thankful for all of you that stop and leave notes to me. You all have truly helped to keep me sane this past year waiting for Apple to arrive and getting through the first little bit of school.

I look forward to what lays ahead in 2008!

The Aftermath

2007-12-19T15:00:00.001-05:00

Our streets have been cleared since I took this photo on Monday, but it is snowing again and well, I am not hopeful that the plow will come again. I am so thankful our truck is AWD. I never in my life thought I would need it or the snow tires, but even if it is only for this winter, it is so worth it.
The one good thing about the snow not ending is that there is not enough time for the snow to get dirty. Everything is beautiful, clean and white. But, man oh man it is cold today.
Opa arrived last night and the fun has yet to stop. J is happy as a clam and Apple has been giving him lots of smiles. We are thrilled to have him and if it weren't for the snow and cold we might have been able to convince him to stay longer. Note: they are playing in the new room!!! See my treadmill. How I love my treadmill :).

Snowed in Again.

2007-12-16T22:11:00.001-05:00

Take note of the left swing...
The snow started around 6am this morning, but didn't get into high gear until the afternoon. I kept watching the swing in the back yard as it slowly got buried.

Note: buried swing...
My Sister and her family, thankfully, made it in Saturday night, they were delayed by two hours as the storm had already hit Toronto. But, with the storm today, we didn't get to see them. That and the fact that J has been fighting a fever for two days.
He had a break in his fever and we decided he should get some fresh air. He only lasted about five minutes but it was good for him to get out. I really hope that he is his old self tomorrow morning as he will be sad to miss gymnastics and his cousins again tomorrow.

And little Apple spent the day laughing at us all. I think she is the only one that wasn't affected by the snow storm. Being in lockdown here definately wasn't good for us big people, so much to do at this time of year. I think I used the time wisely, I got a few dozen cookies baked for Hubby's employees, finished J's hat that I was knitting and remembered to take photos all day of the snow.

I posted a few more photos on Flickr. Our tree decorating and the ornaments I received from Beanish. They are beautiful and look fabulous on the tree. I am having trouble getting a good photo of the tree as my flash is too bright and without it everything is jiggly, even with the broken tripod.

If it snows anymore we won't have anywhere to throw the snow from the laneway.

Bullets to tie you over

2007-12-11T20:17:00.001-05:00

So much going on and I have only had one hand free for what feels like two days.

Here is a brief bulleted list of how much fun we have been having. Photos will follow in a day or two:

Room number two is ready in the basement and after a summer of construction and a month of drywall dust we moved into it on Sunday. It is supposed to be the workout room, but will temporarily be the family room. Can I say how much I love having a finished room in the basement for J to play? He loves it too!
My ornament from the Ornament Exchange over at An Island Life arrived and it is oh so gorgeous. I say it but I should say they. I took a photo of them on the table but they really should be shown off on the tree, which will be here in minutes and decorated tomorrow night, so stay tuned.
Cookies are feverishly being baked.
Knitting needles are being worked at every odd moment.
And the sewing machine is still in use.
Wrapping needs to start as J is starting to open odd closets and asking questions about bags.
Big Sis and her kidlets arrive on Saturday and Opa arrives on Tuesday. The holidays are upon us!

Yes, BeachMama, there is a Santa Clause

2007-12-07T08:11:00.001-05:00

This morning I am thinking of Virginia O'Hanlon and her letter to Santa.

Yesterday, we had our visit with Santa and it was great. J really truly believes this year and it may just be the only year. We waited our turn and by the time we got to Santa J was so nervous he started saying "I don't think this is such a good idea". So I told him we just needed a photo for Opa and that he didn't even have to talk to Santa. He wanted Apple to go with him and thankfully she woke up for it. You can see the results of the photo below. Not the best one, but alas we still have a photo for the book.
This particular Santa was fantastic. So much so, that I want to go back and Thank him again for being so great. After the photo was done, he took some time to talk to J and make him feel comfortable. Despite the line up behind us. When I expressed my concern over waiting people he just said, " That's ok, that is part of getting to see me, waiting in line". By the time we left, J was so happy that Santa took the time to talk to him, he practically danced his way through the mall for the rest of our shopping trip. I love Santa.

Growing up my parents made it very clear from an early age that there was no Santa. I don't even know for sure if we ever sat on Santa's lap. It was part of being a Christian for my parents, either you believed in Jesus or Santa and that was it. But, my older Sister and I secretly hoped and believed that Santa was real. We would still leave cookies out, we would still wait up in hopes of seeing him. We believed in the spirit of Santa.

Today, I still believe.

Yes folks, I BeachMama, still believe in Santa.

There I said it. I know that a real person does not come down my gas fireplace chimney and leave gifts made by elves. I know that because I do all the work. But, I still believe in the spirit of Santa. I believe that there is a little Santa in all of us and when I tell J the story of Baby Jesus and that we are celebrating his birthday, I also tell him the story of St. Nicolas and how he left gifts for children who didn't have anything. I tell him that Santa will leave a few gifts and that other family members will leave some too, just like the Wise Men brought gifts for the new Baby. I want my son to love the idea of Santa and to look back and remember that he did believe even if it was for just a few years.

We are going to my younger Sister's house today and her son, J2, does not believe. And goes around telling other children that Santa does not exist. I had to have a discussion with J today about this and let him know that we all have different beliefs. Hubby says that if they argue about it I should just leave. But, I told J not to talk about Santa to J2. I feel sad for my little nephew because he will not have the same joy that a lot of other children have about Santa. I only hope that the kids in his class don't go home crying because he keeps telling them that there is no Santa.

Do you believe?

Catching up is hard to do

2007-12-05T21:29:00.001-05:00

Where to begin?

We had so much snow, well 'so much' is a relative term. Since we had so little last year and we like to forget what it is like to have a lot of snow, I feel like we really got dumped on this week.

Hubby's bus didn't even come Monday morning. J had a combined class because teachers couldn't make it in and I pulled him home on a toboggan. That is how much snow we got in one day. And what to do when there is so much snow?

Bake, play in it, and keep the baby in the house. J is dressed for baking in the photo above. I have been working on the cookies that I am baking for Hubby's employees at work. I did this last year, but found out the night we stuffed the boxes that 400 weren't enough. So I baked approximately 400 cookies in one night to fill them. This year I already have 400 in the freezer, with plans for another 400-600 more. We are filling the boxes with cookies and chocolate this year. And I tried out a new recipe, spice cookies drizzled with chocolate. They just sound so yummy, that I had to try them. I am also going to do a Vanilla bean sugar cookie tomorrow and see how they taste too. And you know what if I don't like them, that is ok because they will be baked and out of the house within a few days.
See these guys? Yes, these two furry snow like dogs? Yeah, well they are not so snow loving. They go in and out so many times that it drives me batty. They seem to only stay out when it is 35 degrees above freezing or 35 degrees below freezing. They stand there at the door and knock and knock and knock until you let them back in. J was even out there wanting to play with them but noooo they knocked and knocked until I let them back in. Crazy dogs.
And poor Santa. For a while he was hanging off the side of the roof, but for some reason he got tired and had to lay down for a while. He has been like this for two days now. Hope he will be alright in time for Christmas.

I posted a few more photos in flickr. I have been busy trying to finish all the handmade presents. I am almost done all the sewing ones. But, had to stop so I could put together the Christmas cards. They are almost ready to be mailed. Then I have a few things to make together with J, so I need to do them on the weekend when Hubby can watch Apple for me, so I don't have to pick her up while working with glue. It's a busy time here chez BeachMama, but I love every minute of it.

Pay It Forward

2007-12-02T21:10:00.001-05:00

I saw this over at Bethany Actually's place and I just fell in love with the idea. I love the idea of paying it forward and doing so with handmade gifts is very fun. I missed signing up on Bethany's blog, but was able to join in over at Maura's Paper Bluebird.

I have copied the directions from Maura, so here is how it works: I will send handmade gifts to the first three people who leave a comment and tell me they are interested in playing. In order to play, you must have your own blog and you must continue to pay it forward by promising the same thing to your readers.

Now, as far as the handmade gifts go, I don’t know yet what they will be. I also don’t know when I’ll get them sent. You may not receive the gift tomorrow or next week, but I do promise that it will get to you within the next 365 days! Sound good? I think it sounds great!

Remember, I will be choosing the first three people who respond by leaving a comment on this blog post. The requirements are that you have your own blog and are willing to send out three of your own homemade gifts (whatever you want to make, no rules or limitations here).

So go ahead; leave a comment. Move this forward again. If I don’t know you, please leave your email address or some way to contact you

How expensive is a bag of milk?

2007-11-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

When you add in the car repairs from Hubby getting side swiped. Very, very expensive.

I could take the blame because I forgot to get milk today when I was out. But, actually going out these days is becoming so difficult that I am lucky to make it home at all. And no, it isn't only Apple. J too is now adding fuel to the fire of going out in the car. Even though Apple has been much much better she still has her moments. But, J, my faithful traveler never wants to go out anymore. Even though I have explained that it is Christmas and we are doing things for others, nope he does not want to go anywhere. Argh.

So, I forgot milk. Dinner was ready and Hubby got home. J ran to tell him we forgot milk so he decided to go. I actually pleaded for him not to go and I would go after supper. But, he really really wanted his milk with supper so off he went. The snow started coming down really hard and Hubby pulled out of the grocery store, thinking he had lots of room. Which he did, if the roads were dry. He fishtailed (this is not making me feel good about the new car/truck) and spun sideways, with nothing he could do the guy that was coming around the corner slid into him. Hit mostly the back passenger door, with a small ding in the drivers door and the back hubcap. Nice.

Hubby actually said it didn't make him feel good to not have control and that left me feeling less confident about our new purchase too. If he had been driving the actual car with the stick shift he could have braked and shifted his way out of the spin, but in this case, there was no shifting, just the locking of the brakes and the automatic switch into AWD. I guess I have more reasons not to go out in the snowy weather now.

Ahhh... off I go to pour a glass of milk.

edited to add: Yes, Hubby was not hurt it was just a minor accident. So minor none of the side airbags deployed. I am just thankful it is only a few irritating dings, but had to make light of the situation by posting about it. It took Hubby longer to get to the police station in the bad weather than it did to get the milk. They got there just in time though because the line up behind them was ridiculous. And I was also thankful that the guy that hit Hubby was a nice friendly guy. The two of them had a little too much in common, it is scary.

Just a few more days until December

2007-11-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

I hadn't realized how much the writing a post every day was sucking the life out of me. Not that I don't love writing every day, but forcing myself to write a post every day was a lot harder than I thought. It wasn't until I was sick and missed my post that I got my time back. And truthfuly we haven't been doing anything fun. Last week was pretty much getting better and the weekend was cleaning and painting. Yes, painting! I got Hubby to finish the paint job in the hallway he started last year. I didn't want to decorate for Christmas until it was done.

And speaking of done, I am almost finished my handmade Christmas presents. Another reason it was a good thing to not tie myself to the computer everyday. I actually got some stuff done when Apple went to bed. Of course, now I will have to spend a few hours catching up, but it was worth it.

With only a few more days left until December, I have a few things I need to check off my list. Holiday cards and cookies. I must get started on my cookies. Last year I baked for Hubby for his employees and apparently the request is in again. This year since I know I how many I will need, I won't be baking 400 cookies in one night to be packaged and brought to work the next day (I needed 800 cookies and I only had 400, the boxes were a lot bigger than I thought when I started). I also made sure that the treadmill was free and clear for me to use because baking means eating and I must be able to get a workout in when the cookies start, must, must, must.

I hope everyone has recovered from Thanksgiving and holiday shopping. I hope to dig out my camera today as Apple is 12 weeks old today!! Ack! Where did the last three months go???

Happy Thanksgiving to our Southern Neighbours

2007-11-22T14:32:00.001-05:00

Today I am thankful for the two blessings I have with me here at home. I am thankful for their smiles and their laughter. I am thankful for a healthy family and for Hubby who works hard to provide for us. I am thankful for my Parents and my Sisters and their families. And I am thankful for all of our extended families.
Today, when I usually serve Turkey for my Dad, I wish you all a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. May you all be surrounded by loved ones and family.

First Snow of the Year

2007-11-21T19:40:00.001-05:00

Came so much earlier than last year. We made until Boxing Day last year, but this morning Hubby and I were blindsided by the snow. As of 6pm the forecast was for freezing rain, so when I got up for a 4am feeding I was shocked to see the snow. And lots of it.

Hubby took J to school letting him toss a few snowballs and slop through the snow. The teachers even let the kids play outside longer this morning. Hubby thought he was feeling well enough to go to work himself, until he stood at the bus stop for a few minutes. He returned home to bed for most of the day.

I was able to pick J up without Apple, which made his so happy that he was tossing snowballs the entire way home. He went from being forced outside in the snow last year to not being able to keep him in. He had a blast tossing snow at the dogs, who grew weary quickly of that game and ended up tossing the snow at Hubby through the window.The forecast is calling for another 10-20 cm tomorrow, should be another fun day.

Thanks for all your well wishes. We are doing much better today, although not up to par yet. And yes, to answer the question posed by Red Dirt Road, we have more than one bathroom. Not that I am bragging, but we have three in total, so I took one, he took one and Mom kept one clean for her and the kids. And yes, I am thankful for that fact too. Oh so much to be thankful for this day before Thanksgiving.

NanoNoMore

2007-11-20T19:56:00.000-05:00

I did it, I flunked out. But, for good reason. Although I would have rather not. You see, yesterday both Hubby and I came down with the Norwalk Virus. The one where you hug the porcelain bowl for about 12 hours intermittently with getting your butt down fast. Yep, that one. Last time I had it I was pregnant with J.

Not having another person to take care of makes being sick very easy. Having two kids to take care of and both of us get sick with in minutes of each other (4am Sunday night) meant I had to put in an emergency call to Mom. And she came to the rescue. Thank goodness.

Not only did she take care of Apple and J, but she cleaned and did laundry while making sure Hubby and I had lots of fluid and whatever else we needed. It was the longest day, ever.

Having my Mom so close by and able to come and help out made me realize how fortunate I really am. I was sad for my older Sister in Regina yesterday, as she had been sick too, but did not have Mom around the corner to help out. There is no way I would have made it through yesterday without her.

Thanks Mom, again for coming to the rescue.

Another Santa Parade?

2007-11-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

But, with no photos today (this one is from yesterday). We headed out to the mall today. I know, I know you are asking, "what were you thinking?". Apparently I wasn't. Usually if you go to the mall first thing in the morning on a Sunday you miss all the crowds. But, not today.

The first shocking thing was that there was a huge line up to see Santa already and he wasn't even at the Village. Hubby and I did a few stores and headed up to one more on the third floor. There was a huge crowd of people at the entrance to the mall. Kids were everywhere, there were risers for them to sit and watch. We could barely get through. Finally, Hubby asked another Dad what was going on. He looked at us strangely and said, "Santa of course, there is a parade today".

We decided to wait and watch instead of trying to break through the crowds to get to the store. It was cute. There were clowns, elves (kids from a dance school) and mascots from sports teams. After waving to Santa we went on our way. Little did we know that Santa's Parade went around each of the three floors of the mall, singing and dancing.

By the time we stopped for lunch and headed out, Santa was just arriving at the Village. I could not believe it. There were parents that had been waiting for two hours with their kids all dressed up to get their photos with Santa. No wonder there are so many stories of kids crying and not wanting to have their photos taken. They are exhausted people! Just do what I do and get to the Mall first thing in the morning on a Tuesday. There is nobody there and you just walk up, chat with Santa and get your photo taken. Tada. We will be doing that another day.

On a good note we knocked off a couple of J's presents today, it was quick and painless and he was none the wiser.

A Parade to Start the Season

2007-11-17T14:50:00.001-05:00

Today was pretty much the perfect day for a Parade. We have a birthday party tonight so we won't be able to attend our local parade (Barrhaven Lions Parade), so we went to the next best thing. The parade in the next major subdivision (Kanata Parade). We could have braved the crowds and headed to the Downtown Ottawa Parade, but we wanted a happy time, not a frustrated time. As it was there were enough 'Jacks' in the parking lot taking too many spaces or parking crooked so that others left nasty notes on their windshield. But alas, twas not us, so let's forget about those guys.

We did leave a little later than we had wanted too so we were at the end of the parade route instead of the beginning. Being at the beginning is fun as all the people in the parade are still warm and all geared up. Being at the end means they can hardly move they are so cold and they are all Christmas'd out. Either way J had a wonderful time, Apple slept on and off througout and Hubby and I sang along and danced with the crowds (ok we swayed more than danced, but it was still moving).

The only thing missing from the Parade today was that I forgot to pack some hot chocolate. Otherwise it was perfect. The tooth fairy even made an appearance and handed out toothbrushes! And Santa was a Jolly Fella right up until they dropped him at the Mall to start taking photos with all the kids inside. He is going to be one busy guy today.

Thanks for waving for me Santa! We wish you a Merry start to the Holiday Season.

New Hat and a New Game

2007-11-16T21:44:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot to post tonight! Here is Apple in her new hat.

And here is a new game that J and J2 made up today at Grandma's. J was Green (they look yellow in this photo) and J2 was pink. They drew aliens and spaceships and were fighting each other. It was very cute.

And for once I didn't feel like J was being so organized and specific. If you look closely you will see that J2 lined up all his pink papers in the squares on the floor and J had his scattered all over the place. Ahhh....

Little Hat

2007-11-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

I completed my first hat. This is the cutest thing I have ever knit. And truthfully, only the third thing I have ever completed. I knit a sweater once, in the middle of summer, while on vacation. Not sure what I was thinking. Then I knit a scarf for J, around this time of year, when he was a baby. Now, a hat.

The littlest hat. The first of many. I can't wait to try it on Apple tomorrow. And start on my next round of little hats.

And he claims he can't spell

2007-11-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

This is what I found on the fridge this morning..

I also found out yesterday, from one of the Mom's at J's school, that he can zip up his jacket. I told J to ask her for his help and she says, "J show your Mom how you can zip your own jacket." I laughed, as every single morning he goes on and on about not being able to zip up his jacket. He did it. Quick as can be. I was shocked. Apparently he learned how to do that in the first week of school.

So this morning J was almost in tears because I didn't believe him that he really didn't know how to put his socks on himself.

These are some of the fabrics I am working with.
And this was me in production mode on the weekend.
Everything is now cut out and ready for the machine. I did a mass cutting, now I will do mass putting it all together.

And one last piece of news is that we switched Apple's carseat to J's old one (I was using a friends that was a bit narrower than mine and for sure had passed the carseat crash tests last year. We couldn't find the info on ours.) and what do you know, we had two car rides that did not involve crying and screaming. I think the other one was just not comfortable. Will try it out again tomorrow just in case it was a fluke.

My newest piece of equipment

2007-11-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

We caved in this Sunday and purchased a double stroller. We opted for the Baby Jogger Q model in red for one and one reason only. It was cheap or should I say inexpensive. We were going to wait until the Spring and try to get a Chariot. And I say try because new they are almost eight hundred dollars so we were going to try to get a used one. But to get a used double around here especially in the Chariot's is next to impossible.

Our purchase came after I took a trip to the store to have my everyday stroller looked at as the wheels weren't turning properly. And while I waited J was so tired he asked to sit in the stroller that was set up. I saw the Baby Jogger and told him to try that one out as I was curious if he would fit. And he did!

Our single jogger has done and is still doing us well for Apple but, Hubby took J for a run two weeks ago and it was apparently not so comfy for him anymore with his knees up at his chin. And I just couldn't take it anymore, not being able to pile the kids in the stroller in the afternoons (especially because we are again having wonderful weather) and take them and the dogs for a walk. There is no way I wanted to go for a walk with our two big dogs who could pull a sled, J walking and Apple yelling in the stroller. Not to mention, I want exercise, not a leisurely stroll.

Let's just call it Christmas coming early, double joggers aren't half price too often around here and if J really doesn't use it next summer we can sell it for what we paid or close to it considering the sale price.

Yeee Haw!

p.s. thanks for the tips, I am thinking about the guys some more and realized that both do have laptops so I may opt for sleeves for them too. Or I may try another suggestion. Will let you know what the final products are.

Ideas Please

2007-11-12T19:34:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of my homemade Christmas I think I have everybody figured out except the boys (ok, Men).

Here is my list of stuff so far that I am making and hopefully my Sister's aren't lurking in the shadows. And if they are they just won't be as surprised as I would like. This is random and some is for the kids and some is for the adults.

Aprons
Fridge Magnets
Laptop Sleeves (ok the kids don't have laptops so, there you go)
Hats

I am stuck for the Guys. After all these years (it's been 8 that we have all been together) I am drawing blanks at what to get or do for the guys. It used to be so easy when they didn't have garages full of tools. Even more so that I am trying to make stuff homemade. If anybody has any wonderful ideas please pass them along. If not, I may have to make purchases for these guys.

And Because

2007-11-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

I am not busy enough already, I purchased this book. I was just going to put it on my wish list for Christmas, but Hubby said to just buy it now and stick it under the tree.

I fear listing all my Homemade Christmas projects on the off chance that one of my Sister's is lurking in the shadows. I do have three things on the go already, although I got a good chunk of one knocked off last night. And I made extras so I can post them up on Etsy. I haven't opened the shop yet, but after I got home and realized I bought way too much fabric, I decided I could make a few extra and put them up there. I have other things I have done for craft shows that could put up there too. It is time to clear out the closets and what better time than before Christmas?

So, in purchasing this book on knitting cute little baby hats, my hopes is to have at least one done for Apple to wear this winter. Possibly more, first things first, go and find all my knitting needles.

Stuck on You Labels

2007-11-10T19:31:00.000-05:00

I keep forgetting to plug my own little on the side thing that I sometimes do. And in the spirit of blogging on a Saturday, here is the short and skinny.

I am an agent for Stuck on You Labels. They are really cool little labels that you can stick on things that you don't want to get lost. Or if your kids attend a school like the one J attends where everything must be labeled, it works out so much easier and prettier if you have some on hand that are ready made.

They offer a wide variety of colours and icons to choose from. J has a surfer dude on all of his clothing labels and a hockey player on his labels for his 'stuff'. They also offer monogrammed sets, like school supplies. There are some pretty cool things that can make great stocking stuffers for kids, like the personalized note pads.

If you like to keep things organized for yourself, you can pick up some Christmas Jumbo Dots
or create your own Address Labels. They also offer Kitchen Labels, and labels specific to allergies. So much to choose from.

There you go. I will put a link in my sidebar for future reference. If you are interested at all, just click on the link and it will direct you to my page. If you live in the States don't be afraid by the Canadian page, at the bottom you can change your country by clicking on the "Click Here" button.

Sorry to make it short and sweet and photoless, but I am working on some Christmas presents and don't want to be distracted for too long.

And yes, we had an almost tvless day again today, very good, very very good.

The Day with No TV

2007-11-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

Today we did a little experiment. We had a day with no TV!

We haven't had one of those in a while and although J still plays when the TV is on, I really felt like we needed to have a day without it. Even for us big kids. It was great. I gave J my old camera and he snapped away.

We also set up the video camera on a tripod so J could recite his poem from school.

We visited J2, his cousin. They played and had their photos taken.

We went to the craft store and picked up some craft supplies. We built foam men with our supplies (photos on flickr). We practiced letters, or the letter J I should say. And J drew his first person.Phew. What a day. I can't believe what we did in one day and it wasn't even all that exciting. It was just a day without TV. I am going to have to do this more often. It is a bit challenging for me as when the TV is not on, J expects me to be at his beck and call. Then when Apple is calling he doesn't want me to leave what we are doing to tend to her. I think if we did this a little more often then there would be less expected of me.

Don't tell too many people but, I do have to say that I loved our day without TV. I used to always have it on for the company, but I can honestly say, at least for today, that I enjoyed not competing with the additional noise.

Flash Backs

2007-11-08T18:20:00.001-05:00

Please excuse the poor quality of these photos, but I was finally able to move them from my cell phone to my computer thanks to my littlest Sister. And They are all taking me back, way back. Two years to be exact. This first photo is from the U2 concert November 25, 2005. What do you mean you can't see Bono? I waited so long to see them in concert that it was indeed the best concert ever.
This second photo is a sleeping J. Most likely one of the first times he fell asleep on his own at my Mom's house. He is cuddling my Sister's bear, all wrapped up in her blankets because I forgot his. That was the last time I did that.

This is J May 2006. Isn't he such a preppy boy? This year was the first year he would not wear a hat like that one (and yes his ears got burned from it as did his neck). We were at Costco and I cannot remember why I took a photo but his baby cousin is asleep in the bucket behind him.
And the whole reason I even thought of trying to unload these photos was to post one from our fabulous walk the other day. That is Apple in her puppy jacket her "Auntie" otherwise known as my Best Girlfriend bought for her. It is a little big, but oh so snuggly. It is complete with puppy ears and spots. I will take a proper photo another day. You can see the sunlight streaming through the trees, it was truly a wonderfully gorgeous day.

Otherwise, today was rather boring. I went to the dentist for a cleaning. My teeth hurt, nothing much else to report. Apple was woken up from her naps all day long, so here it is almost her bedtime and she has been asleep for two and a half hours. I guess I should go and wake her up. Oh there she is I can hear her now.

D is for Down

2007-11-07T09:15:00.001-05:00

A size that is. I don't think I could top this with any other post today. I just tried on my next size down jeans, the ones I could not do up last week. Not only can I do them up, but I am going to wear them today. Yes, there is still a muffin top going on, but with a jacket nobody but me will know it is there. Otherwise it will only be J and Apple to witness it. Must have been that walk yesterday.

Oh Happy Day!

Nine Weeks

2007-11-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

Today we hit our nine week mark. And I still can't believe it has only been nine weeks. At nine weeks pregnant I was feeling very ill and still nervous about losing another baby. And now here we are laughing and playing and having lots of fun.

J has also really changed towards Apple. He loves that he can make her laugh. He takes care of her (most of the time) in the back seat when she is really unhappy. And most of all he seems to have taken on the duty of the dogs. He lets them out, gets them treats and feeds them. I only hope this continues as he gets older and can start taking them for walks.
My girlfriend dropped this playmat off for Apple on Sunday. And as much as J did not like playmats, Apple loves them. She lay there for at least a half an hour on Sunday, another half an hour last night and she did it again tonight. It arrived at just the right moment in her development. She is starting to knock the dangling things in her playpen so this was like candy for her. Lots of danglies (not a word I am sure) to enjoy and play with . She is also trying to grab things lately so I am sure she will be grabbing onto them all in no time flat. Thanks Northern Mom just the right time for you to stop by.

Today was another gorgeous Fall day. Hubby had to go to the dentist this morning and I had to drive him. I was thinking I would cruise the stores in the little mall while he was being taken care of, not realizing that most stores opened at 9 or 10am. His appointment was at 8:30am. I sat in the car for a few minutes with a sleeping Apple wondering what on earth I was going to do. Duh. Go for a walk.

I could not believe that I sat there wondering what to do when there was this perfectly beautiful day waiting for us. I was only disappointed I did not have my camera with me. We took a path that led through the forest, where most of the leaves have dropped, once we reached the creek we turned around and headed back. I did take photos with my phone, but have no idea how to get them out and into the computer. If I do ever figure it out I will post them. Anyhow, a half hour later with flushed cheeks and feeling refreshed from the Fall sun and crisp air we picked up Hubby and dropped him off for work.

With the forecast of rain and possible snow tonight I was so thankful we took that walk. Not that we won't have the opportunity to do it again with beautiful days, it is just that our beautiful days will be a little whiter and different in nature.

With the forecast of snow, I am feeling itchy about Christmas. It will be here before I know it. Did I mention I am hosting Christmas Dinner this year? It is a first in our family. My Mom is the only one to ever make Christmas Dinner. Not that there is any pressure or anything.

C is for Crafty Christmas

2007-11-05T19:55:00.001-05:00

This is my work table. And it is a huge mess. I have so many projects on the go. You can see SAJ's Gumball Kitty just waiting to be finished. There is some material on the shelf for baby change pads that need to be put together. Some more material for a quilt and some for a blanket. Then there is my stack of books. Sad but true, most of them are about organizing. I am usually really good at organizing, but it seems to have been getting away from me since I got pregnant.

So where does C is for Crafty Christmas come into play you ask? I want to try to make this Christmas a home-made Christmas of sorts but, in order to get started I need to deal with the work table. It calls to me every day, you see my craft table is located in our loft which is on the second floor smack dab in between all the bedrooms. So every morning I see it and want to get to work, every time I go upstairs I want to get to work and every night at bedtime I say, "tomorrow". Well, here I sit typing instead of tackling the craft table.

Today, I made a schedule to get things done for Christmas. So whether I like it or not, I am going to have to put stuff away and organize that table. Or there will be no Christmas at my house. That and if it were organized I would be able to grab a few moments whenever I had them to get a little work done.

I think tomorrow just might be that day.

Montréal, Québec

2007-11-04T20:11:00.000-05:00

Montreal is a beautiful and wonderful city. It is so bittersweet for me to go there as it is so exciting but I miss who is not there anymore.

Each of the last four Fall's a bunch of my girlfriends go away for a weekend together. I have not been able to go for a whole weekend yet but, this is the second time I was able to join for a Saturday night dinner. It is supposed to be a weekend away without kids but, I cannot leave Apple yet, so I brought the clan and left Apple with Hubby for the night. She did marvelously as did he. He is exausted this evening so he got to experience my day for five and a half hours, four and a half of which Apple slept and three of which J slept. Hmm... I guess I didn't leave him long enough.

So yes, these wonderful girlfriends of mine. We all know each other from a common thread, our kids. We all struggled to have our children and were brought together through the internet so we formed a playgroup. As our kids keep getting older and are in school it is harder to get together for playgroup or playdates, however us Mom's try to have a dinner once in a while and then the Fall getaway. It was a wonderful night to dress up, even if I was wearing maternity pants, and see the sights of Montréal. I miss visiting Montréal, something I used to do once or twice a month, if not more.

Both my parents were born and raised in Montréal. Verdun and Ville Émard respectively. They left in 1967 for Ottawa but, my grandparents remained. All through my childhood weekends were spent going back and forth to Montréal. March breaks were spent at Grandma's house and our clothing was often purchased from the more stylish French stores. Even when my parents moved to Manitoba for a few years and I was left holding the fort in Ottawa, I went every other weekend to visit Grandma. There was always a place for me to stay, we would go out for lunch or just hang out together. Oh how I miss those days.My paternal Grandmother passed away over thirty years ago now but my maternal Grandmother, whom I used to visit, finally had to move to Ottawa and live with Mom and Dad back in '97. She spent her last five years here in Ottawa, something she vowed never to do. And since she moved here going to Montréal has never been the same for me. It leaves me mising her so much yet remembering all the fun we had. As well as making me wish I had spent even more time with her. This particular visit was probobly the easiest one I have had in ten years. Maybe because I was bringing my own kids to see the sights or maybe because we didn't have time to drive through the old neighbourhoods and stop at my favourite corner stores for some penny candy.

Hubby and I did not even get to do what we wanted to do. Travelling with an 8 week old was a little more difficult that we remembered. Probobly because we didn't travel with J until he was much older. We left Ottawa a bit later than we meant to, Apple cried for half of the two hour drive, and when we got there Hubby was so hungry all we had time to do before I had to join my girlfriends was to stop and eat. This morning we had enough time to grab breakfast then coffee and for me to snap a few photos before we had to start home. A was here with his buddy and we had to get them to hockey later this afternoon. And yes, Apple cried half the way home. J was so good in the car and still is that we are a little taken aback with Apple crying. It has really only been the last couple of weeks, so I need to figure out what happened and how to get back to great travelling as I will not give up going out.

So I have posted a few photos from the weekend but not nearly as many as I had wanted to. But, it was truly a great field trip and hopefully we can go again in the Spring or Summer and see more of our favourite sights.

Field Trip

2007-11-03T12:13:00.000-04:00

We are off on a field trip and don't know if there will be connectivity where we are. This may be my post for today, how lame eh?

Photos tomorrow!

A Much Better Morning

2007-11-02T11:30:00.001-04:00

Apple was back to her usual sunny self this morning and thanks to my other new Apple I have no excuses for not posting a photo. The night went pretty well. She did not wake up until 12:30 the first time. And although I was terrified to hurt her when I picked her up I knew she was hungry. I did it as gently as possible but, when I heard her giggling at me in the darkness of her room, I knew she was doing alright. She slept until 7:30 this morning (as did I, hurray!) as J had a day off school.
J, who knows more about computers than his Grandparents, loves playing with photo booth thing. I could now make a self-portrait book for him with all the funky photos he has been taking.

For those of you who are newer to my blog I should explain my novel. Last October Chichimama mentioned the NaNoWriMo on her blog. I had always wanted to write a novel and earlier that summer I had started to research how to do it and had actually drawn up a few character sketches. Then I heard about NaNoWriMo and figured I needed something to get me through the month of November when I was doing my fertility drugs in preparation for IVF which resulted in Apple. So, I took the challenge. And finished.

I couldn't believe I had finished it as it was a huge undertaking for me 50,000 words in one month with J at home, etc. The novel is terrible, I will be the first to admit it, but I started to rewrite it last Spring. Well, pregnancy got in the way and I put it aside. While on vacation at our favourite beach last summer I was completely inspired once again. The one vacation we didn't bring our computer I had to buy a notebook and write by hand. The characters changed and developed while I sat on the porch every morning and drank my coffee. I have not finished the rewrite, but I think about my characters often and jot things down. When things do settle down around here again I hope to finish what I started so I could at least pass it around to be read.

This year I really wanted to try to pen (or type) another novel and make it a bit different than the last one but, I really and truly do not have the time. Or I guess I have the time, but I would have to ignore my need for physical fitness and that wouldn't be good for me at all. So instead I have chosen to come and write here everyday. Although I do try to anyway, I don't usually write on the weekends, so this will be a challenge in itself to make me write something fun every single day.

Tomorrow we are taking a field trip so hopefully there will be a more exciting post ahead.

edited to add:
A photo of my new haircut! I actually had time to dry it this morning.

And the Winner Is...

2007-11-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

NaBloPoMo.

I decided it would be much more beneficial to me if I just posted every day. Last year when I was writing my novel, that is all I did in the evenings. And since I just uncovered the treadmill and my weights from months of construction in the basement. I figure it would be in my best interest to keep trying to work out in the evenings.

Sad but true this counts as my post for today because my little Apple had her shots today and just fell asleep after a solid hour and a half of wailing. You know the kind where she turns dark shades of red and starts choking. Apparently I should have given her some more Tempra a little earlier as it had worn off and took a while to kick in again. I could be in for a very long night, so I am going to rest just in case.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T21:08:00.001-04:00

The kids were great and the treats were many. J remembered at 4pm that we had not carved the pumpkins, so I brought in the biggest one and a small pie pumpkin and got to work. Thank goodness Apple decided to nap, so we got them done in record time, even though J would not stick his hand in the pumpkin, it looked 'yucky 'according to him. Also according to J I do not carve a pumpkin as well as his teacher and he wished she was here doing it for me.
The kids posed for me in their Old Navy shirts. Apple's reads "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" and J's reads "Mummy's Boy". We had a great day weather wise. And a perfect evening for the kids to do their rounds.With barely enough time to snap a photo, poor J was having itchy neck issues due to the wool sweater I put on him under his Darth costume. I got a neck warmer for him but he was still a little itchy. Apple kept her cat costume on for about a half an hour, long enough for me to hand out the bulk of the candy and check out stuff going on out on the street, all while she was bundled in the front carrier. Then we came in and waited for the kids to come.

All in all another successful Halloween. Not bad considering I didn't Trick or Treat as a kid.

November is upon us

2007-10-30T08:26:00.000-04:00

J singing his "spider on the floor" song.

This time last year I was gearing up for Nanowrimo. And truthfully, it is pulling me in. I really want to do it again to see if I had it in me to write another novel. Even if the first one isn't finished. But, I just don't think I have enough time. Last year I wrote for two hours every evening and once in a while during the day too. I don't have enough free hands this year, but after two solid nights where Apple has gone to bed by 7:30 like her brother and stayed there until morning (well, staying in her bed as opposed to my arms, she still wakes up to eat) I have started to think it might be possible.

On the other hand maybe I should just go for the NaBloPoMo. It would give me a challenge to work towards and get me through November.

I still have a whole day and a bit to decide, will see how today goes for me to see what I will do.

Saunders Farm

2007-10-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

Saunders Farm is a must see for children and adults of all ages. Hubby took the afternoon off on Friday and we had a blast, it was a great day weatherwise too. We had not been in a few years as A had gotten too old and J was not old enough. As long as you go during the daytime with younger kids, then it is perfect for them.

Truth be told, Saunders wasn't actually open yesterday afternoon, but we didn't know that until we got home. I bought our tickets at the local grocery store in order to save a few dollars. And when we got there we thought it was strange that no one took our tickets, but onward we went. J and Hubby were having a great time. And Apple and I were taking photos (125 of them!) so we thought nothing of it. We did find it a bit strange that none of the canteens were open and the store, but figured they didn't open them for the bus loads of kids that were coming from the schools. And there were a few other small families, but nothing like the weekends, which we were trying to avoid, that and it rained all day today. After we got home and I was checking out the website, that was when I realized it wasn't actually open. We had a boatload of fun anyway.

The Farm is actually a working farm and it all started with a few mazes and some pumpkins when A was a young child. Now it is a full blown day of fun. There are more mazes, a stage for plays, a storytime corner, a children under 8 section with wooden structures to play on. There is a couple of discovery houses, more playstructures for all ages, an apple and corn toss, a mini-putt and in the warmer weather a water park. I am most likely missing a few things, but all in all it was a great time. I am just happy we were too hungry to wait and ate at Rotten Ronnies first because we would have been eating fruit snacks for lunch and nothing was open.

And before you even ask, nope no photos were taken of me. I should have taken some self-portraits, but as Apple woke up right at the end and we did a fast escape I totally forgot. But, I got lots of J having fun as well as a few 'artistic' ones for my pleasure. I did load a bunch to flickr, feel free to check them out.

And WOW are we having another great Fall weatherwise or what? If every Fall was like this, I would be one happy camper.

B is for BIrthday

2007-10-24T16:15:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for the early birthday wishes. We are having a good day here.

Playing with my new computer, getting a haircut, and lunch with Mom. Just waiting for the other half of the family then we are heading out for dinner.

Don't mean to run, but the other Apple is calling me :)

A is for Apple and other fun things

2007-10-23T10:12:00.000-04:00

I have so much to blog about and not enough time. Time and that I could post twice a day for the next two weeks and probobly still have lots to say. Now watch, next week I won't be able to think of one fun or interesting thing to blog about.

Let's get on with the show. Last week I was tagged by a grrls wrrld with a meme to list seven random things about me. I know I have done similar ones to this one, but let's give it a go shall we.

1. I have a toe ring. I have had one since 1986. The particular one I am wearing is 15 years old and was made out of beads by my youngest sister. The ones before that were all rubber rings that would only last so long then break. This one is going on strong.

2. I used to drive a motorcycle. And if I can remember to bring the photo to my sister's house and scan it in, one day you will all get to see me on my former ride. I sold it to buy a convertible, still only had two seats, but it was much more convenient in the rain and while wearing skirts.

3. I lived in England for a year. February 1977 - February 1978. I still remember all the castles and Brighton Beach and our little house in Sutton, Surrey. I remember my best friend Liana (who still sends cards, along with her Mom for birthdays and holidays) and our school Devonshire Public school. My younger sister was born there, but has never been back.

4. I play a cello. Not very well anymore, I could use a little practice to get up to snuff again.

5. I also play a flute. I taught myself and then gave my sister my flute and haven't seen it since.

6. I worked at Cineplex Odeon for two months shy of 10 years. It was the longest ten years of my life.

7. One person (and only one,ever) told me I would make a terrible mother and should never have kids. I never knew why he said that and wish I knew where he was today, so I could go over and smack him in the face. And of course brag about my kids.

You are probobly all wondering why A is for Apple?

Because I have the best Hubby in the whole entire world. You see, my trusty Dell laptop is starting to give me trouble. I love it to peices and it is our second Dell laptop, my fourth if you count the two I used at work. I also used Dell desktops at work and loved them too. But, now that my photography passion is taking over again in my life, I wanted my next laptop to be an Apple. I was waiting until I had a complete handle on my camera and learned all the ins and outs of Photoshop Elements.

But Hubby was tired of me getting frustrated with my Dell, although he tried to convince me that a new Dell was all I needed and even the professionals aren't using Apples for photography anymore. I stood fast and declared, "I will buy my own next year when I can start earning some money again". So, Hubby did some research and visited a few shops. His research identified the fact that I was right. Can we hear that again folks. I WAS RIGHT. Apples are awesome for what I want to do.

Hubby decided that I should have one. You see tomorrow is my birthday so for my birthday this year I got my Apple. I have no idea yet how to use it entirely, but I am learning. And for now I cannot do a full post, complete with links from Safari. I will need to keep posting from my Dell until my migration. So far so good, I love it to peices, I just uploaded all my photos, so we are off and running.

Here's to Apples.

Summer or Fall?

2007-10-22T12:05:00.000-04:00

Which is it already?

Not that I am complaining one bit but, we went from mittens to shorts. It is a balmy 24 degrees (celcius) today and we are heading back outside. Just wanted to post about this awesome weather.

Will check in tomorrow when it is cold and rainy again.

PHOTOS!

2007-10-19T10:05:00.000-04:00

Gotta start the trip off right...
J being Mr.Cool. Funny we were dressed for Fall, but we were a litte over dressed, we should have been in shorts.

Apple. Sleeping oh so soundly, until right after this photo was taken. Later at home, the kids were being silly.
J took a photo of us girls, thank goodness he takes pretty good photos or there would never be any of me!
For more photos, check out my flickr badge at the side, I was able to upload to there yesterday.

"Oh Happy Day!"

2007-10-18T14:47:00.000-04:00

A direct quote from my Grandmother. Mind you she would say it every single day whether or not it was a happy one, but perhaps that is how she made it through the depression.

Not only did we get to the pumpkin patch (well, not quite a patch but the place that J likes to buy pumpkins) but, J let me leave him at school today. As in drop him off, no waiting by the fence. And on top of that he grabbed his new friends hand and ran and played on the playstructure! I am so happy, it made my week. This means that either I can drop him and head back home or... gasp... Hubby can drop him off and grab his bus and I could... gasp stay in the warmth of my house in my pj's until I need to pick him up. Or better still I could actually dry my hair with a hair dryer in the morning. Oh happy day indeed.

Now, here are some fun photos to make up for my not so fun post yesterday. ... oh blaspheme.... Blogger won't let me post photos and now Apple is awake. Darn. My migration to my own domain should be ready soon, so hopefully these errors won't occur anymore. That and no more anon comments.

I will post those photos later though.

"Oh Happy Day!"

Dear Anonymous,

2007-10-17T09:35:00.000-04:00

I am not sure why you were so chicken to to hide behind anonymity, but I feel I must reply.

I never once said that I wasn't breaking the law. That being said, this particular stretch of road is not a road that you would ever walk on, unless you were terribly drunk and since I am always sober behind the wheel, I would have seen you and slowed down before Officer Olaf had a chance to even see me. You would have received a ticket for walking your dog on this road instead of using the bike path far away from the cars. The fact is that this stretch of road is 80 clicks in its entirety except for this one tiny little stretch in front of a mall that has hardly any occupants.

I do feel I deserved a break, and still do today, because I am the one who is holding up traffic doing the proper speed every day instead of the bozos who only go the speed limit when there is a speed trap. The officers could have been serving us better by putting the speed trap in the school zone by our house.

Not five minutes before my Mother and I were watching "Jack" drive like a demon and pass BETWEEN cars on the highway, now why wasn't there an officer there to witness that one? Not sure.

And yes, I agree, they are underpaid for serving and protecting us. I just hope when I do actually need them, they are available to me and not sitting in a speed trap wasting time giving a non-deserving citizen a ticket to make the coffers of the city richer.

I am sure you are a perfect citizen and never once accidentally didn't drop down your speed upon entering a new zone, and for that I commend you. For the rest of us, well these things happen once in a while, and we should be forgiven.

I do believe I admitted that years ago I did deserve a ticket, but was given a warning. So, yes I did take one for the team, but truly this time, it was undeserving.

May you never be caught.

Sincerely,
BeachMama

Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. I did have a fun post ready for today, but was sidetracked and felt the need to respond.

Enough already

2007-10-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

I can't stop thinking about Officer Olaf* but, alas I will pay the fine and let it go. Now, of course, I am slowing down even more thanks to getting pulled over that one time. The last thing I need is another ticket. Argh. If only he parked outside J's school every morning and caught all the bozo's running the stop signs and burning rubber while small children are trying to get to class. Instead he sits on a stretch of road where the speed drops down for no apparent reason, except maybe that there is a mall that is almost empty there. Anyhow, I digress, I will let it go. Now.

Onward.

These photos have nothing to do with my post today, but I shot them on Friday and love them to bits, so I thought I would share with you.

We had a great weekend, lots of rest for me, which was totally needed and Hubby was a trooper taking care of Apple even when she was screaming at him, so I could have a long shower. Then, I actually got two extra hours of sleep yesterday morning while Apple laughed and giggled with J and her Dad. It was a sweet two hours let me tell you.

J has been into making movies lately with his Lego. This weekend he made his second movie which is even better than his first. Now if I ever figure out how to download the movies to my computer from the camera I will post a snippet here. They are very, very cute.

Since I am always on a search for the perfect Mascara and since the Prescriptives one I tried last did not work out (left my lashes very straight instead of curly and made them look short instead of long) I wanted to ask you, my readers, what is your favourite mascara? Some of you did post the ones you used in the comments last time I posted, but I have a few new readers out there since I last posted about mascara (Hi and welcome to Kellan Rhodes, Family Adventure, Kami) and want to see what everyone is using. I may just have to go out and make multiple purchases to try them all. For now, I am sticking with my Clinique Lash Curling Mascara until such time that I find a suitable replacement.

I want to write an article, so I thought I would poll my oh so trendy and knowledgeable readers to see if you guys are similar to me or if there is something in this make-up world that I am missing. Feel free to play along if you like If you only had one make-up product to use everyday, what would it be? (for example: I cannot live without mascara because without it I look very tired).

Dear Officer Olaf*

2007-10-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

I know it is your job to pull people over who are breaking the law. I know that when you set a speed trap you expect people to slow down, before they get anywhere near your radar gun. I know that the speed limit in that zone is 60km/h and I know you have and will continue to be there all week long.

But, if you aren't there, does it mean that I can speed?

When a new Mom with obvious dark circles under her eyes and two kids in the back tells you that her baby was screaming so she was distracted, could you not believe her instead of sticking your head through the window to question why she isn't screaming anymore?

I know you were just doing your job, but when you keep telling me that the limit was 60 and I had not slowed down from the previous limit of 80 so much so that I break down and cry, while now feeding my again screaming baby. That of course, you did not hear because you were running my licence and seeing that I had no prior convictions or speeding tickets... EVER. Could you not have just forgiven me and pulled over the five other people that were behind me doing the exact same speed? Just wondering.

When my son started crying because he thought his Mom was going to jail, could you have not just walked away with giving me a warning. You know like the two I received when I was young and stupid and doing 60 over the limit on the highway instead of 20 over with screaming kids and a singing Grandma? Oh you didn't know that woman was my Mom, the one trying to calm the kids down in the backseat at the same time she was trying to justify my oversight. Yes, her, she is the one person who could have told you, if you had wanted to listen, that I never speed with the kids in the car. It was just one of those days. When all the distractions possible in the world, except a ringing cell phone, were happening in my car.

So, Officer Olaf. I know that after writing up my ticket and seeing me and my son crying, while I was feeding my new baby and my Mom was singing some U2, you felt terrible for writing that ticket. Maybe, just maybe next time you will give that new Mom a chance and let her off with a warning. I should acknowledge that you did drop it down so I wouldn't lose any points, but you know... you just killed my perfect driving record. And the worst part of it is... that if the baby hadn't been screaming I would have gone a different way home to drop off my library books.

Thanks,
BeachMama xoxo

*named changed for you know security reasons.

And for the record, I will admit to previously being a fast, very fast driver. But, I no longer drive like Mario Andretti, so I guess you could say I took one for the team, but I really don't think it is fair considering I am that annyoing Mom who drives the exact speed limit now. Yes, that is me in front of you... and you better be prepared to stop at the stop sign too, because if you don't you will be rear-ending me.

Giving Thanks

2007-10-09T09:36:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend. And I just wanted to show some of the things I am thankful for.
I am thankful that my Dad's brother was able to make a trip accross from Montréal to meet his newest great neice. The reality is that they won't be driving for much longer, at least not long trips. So it was wonderful that they were able to come. We will have to start making more trips to Montréal again like we used to.
I am thankful that J, despite being pretty much a vegetarian, was so excited for Thanksgiving supper he was at the table way before anybody arrived.
I am thankful that Hubby was able to run his half-marathon, in under two hours, without feeling like he ran a full-marathon. And for the beautiful day he had to run it.
I am thankful for J and Apple, who keep us going everyday and don't let us stop for a minute. They are the sunshine in our lives and make parenthood so much easier than it really is.
I am Thankful that I was able to make a turkey dinner, despite my neice and nephew being so sick that my brother-in-law had to stay home with them. My Sister made it solo with the veggies. We had a nice, quiet dinner together. Which brings me to the fact that I am so thankful I have three Sister's. Even though they are far away from home, they were thought of, talked about and missed terribly.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Four Weeks

2007-10-05T11:12:00.000-04:00

Or one month old. Little Apple has been here for a month and it seems like she has been here forever. J is slowly getting used to her being around. Hubby is helping out with J a bit more and I feel like I should be my old self and wonder why I am not. Duh, because it has only been four weeks!

For some reason I thought I was back on my feet so much faster with J, but I do remember thinking, when he was six weeks old, that there would be no way I could go back to work if I lived in the US. Not that I went back to work after J was born but, at least I had a full year to decide.

All you wonderful comments about me getting around have helped keep me going. And truth be told is that if I didn't have to walk J to school and pick him up, I probobly wouldn't be going out at all. now if I could only find the magical solution to fitting in my old jeans before the cool weather arrives all would be perfect.

p.s. I still visit all of you but cannot always comment due to baby in my arms :)

Lunch with Grandpa

2007-10-03T15:07:00.000-04:00

My Dad, bless his heart, will be 70 in a couple of weeks and is still going strong at work. He was hit with a triple whammy this past couple of weeks. My eldest Sister went back to Regina. Then, my Mom went to Regina to watch her three kids while she went to Las Vegas with her hubby to a conference (which I would have been doing last week with my Hubby had we not just had Apple, next year) apparently at my suggestion. And of course youngest Sister left last weekend.

When youngest Sister left, she left more than just the house. She was his extra 'man' on the job for the last two months. So this week he has had to work extra to make up for her leaving. We keep inviting him to dinner, but with the great weather he has been working until 8 or 9 at night, much past our suppertime.

To make up for all this aloneness (if that is even a word) today, J and I decided to take lunch to him. We picked up some Harvey's (hambergers, "a beautiful thing") burgers and fries, chicken strips and onion rings for J and headed out to his job. We offered to bring his other partner some Harvey's too, but he opted for his home-cooked lunch by his wife. Since my Dad had made his own sandwich today (a shock to all of us) he was more than happy to opt for the burgers.

J, Apple and I arrived with lunch in tow and had a great visit. If only we could do this everyday, it would help pass his day at work and ours too for that matter. Hopefully this will be his last winter on the job and he can officially retire next summer. Somehow, I doubt he will ever officially retire, but when he asked J if he was going to work for Grandpa one day, like his Mom did, J replied "no thanks Grandpa, I won't make a good worker". I laughed and said, "Dad if you are still working in another five or more years, there will be more to worry about than giving J a job."

Cheers Grandpa, hope you enjoyed your visit at lunch today!

*photo of Dad with Baby Neice, from Regina the morning they left.

Another Tearful Goodbye

2007-10-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

Littlest Sister left for Charlotte on Saturday. I don't usually cry when she leaves knowing that Charlotte is where she loves to be. But, this time I just couldn't help myself. Call it hormones, call it sappy, call it what you will but I miss her terribly when she is not here and wish that we had what it is that she loves about Charlotte right here in Ottawa. She will be back at Christmas after a trip to Israel. She does travel that girl.

Our playdate last Thursday went really well. J and his new friend have so much in common and they get along so well that J was comfortable to play upstairs without me. I was shocked, but it was good. Their house, which is the same layout as ours, is also decorated similarly. Ok, not in decor perse, but in the arrangement of the furniture and such. It was pretty neat to be in the same house but with different furniture. I foresee a few more playdates together.

We went to the orchard on Sunday, Apple Hill Berry Farm (sorry no link) , just up the street from us really on Jockvale Road. I wanted apples to bake some apple pie and instead of just stopping for some pre-pick, we decided to pick our own. It didn't take very long, but we had a nice time and J finally knows where apples come from now.

J got right in there picking them. He was so fast that I couldn't see what he was grabbing, but he did very well. I showed him how to make a pocket with his sweater so he could carry them to the basket. They fell a few times, but he enjoyed it and it was really cute.

Now, all I have to do is get off the computer and make some pie!

I too can dress like a slob

2007-09-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

I am jumping on the SAJ bandwagon again because it is just so much fun. She has a fun post and Flickr pool that requests that you admit to the internet that you dress like a slob. Now truth be told I don't really think she dresses like a slob. And for most of the time, I do not either.

I will admit only to dressing like one while being at home or in my backyard. When I go out I try, for the most part, to not look too slobish. I come from a family where both Grandmothers never wore pants. I myself only owned two or three pair up until J was born. I wore dresses and skirts always. Now, I miss my little dresses and cute skirts but really they just aren't practical when you have a baby around. Although I do imagine I will wear more with Apple than I ever wore with J. Somehow playing hockey in my sundress just didn't work out right. But I think we will be having tea parties more often than playing hockey so I will probobly get away with a few more skirts and a lot less pants.

Without further adieu, here is my "I dress like a slob" photos. Taken by the junior photographer in the family, J.

**disclaimer: Please remember that I am not even four weeks post baby and truly not in the best shape of my life. I should also add that after having some belly shots taken J was telling me how to pose and be sure to put my hand on my belly, while he was taking my picture. Too cute.

Playdate

2007-09-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

Today we are having our first playdate with new friends from J's school. If it weren't for this Mom introducing herself to me, I probobly would still not know anybody (yes, I am that shy). Her son is in J's class and they get along great.

So, today in a few minutes we will be heading over to their place to hang out. The funniest thing is that they live in the same model house as we do, just a few years older. It will be neat to see how they have it decorated and stuff.

Is is really Fall?

2007-09-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

It sure doesn't feel like it. For many reasons. First being that we are expecting a record high temperature today at 30C (85F) if that doesn't make you feel like summer, I am not sure what would. The second being that with all the visits and the new Baby, I feel like Summer should just keep on keeping on. But, alas, the evening temperatures and the Fall colours are making it all seem a little more real than I would like. Our nights are pretty chilly, the pool is no longer in use because it gets too cold (unless you are a polar bear) much to J's dismay. And the leaves on the trees are starting to turn into their beautiful Fall colours of red, yellows and pale greens. Even the sky is back to a pale blue instead of the deep summer blue we have been enjoying.

I guess I just have to admit that it is time to let go of Summer. Now if only I could fit into my favourite Fall clothes, I would be as happy as a clam.

Our time of visiting is coming to an end. With the wonderful surprise visit from Eldest Sister and Baby Neice, it was a busy five days. Dinners, dinners, lunches and more dinners. Shopping included in there too. The time was too short, but just perfect at the same time. How could I complain with a visit that wasn't planned? I really can't. And... to top it off she had another surprise for us... she is expecting another baby! That will make number four in their household and the end of the baby road (or so they say) for them. But, we are all thrilled and Hubby and I only dream that we could have a few more. We will have to see what time brings us and whether or not I want any more drugs to take over my body.

And another sad truth is that the extended visit with Baby Sister is now coming to an end as well. She only intended to stay a week really, but almost two months later she is packing her car and heading back South. Hmm... just in time to lead the Geese on their migration to warmer climes. Makes you wonder. We have been blessed to have her here for the two months that she has been here, but with a new contract starting and the fact that she misses her own bed and friends of course we will graciously let her go back to Charlotte with a promise that she will return for the holidays.

J has had a lot going on too. School is going well, although he still doesn't like going to the other side of the fence, but we are working on it every day. Both he and I have made some new friends at the school yard so it is working out well for both of us. With Halloween approaching, the stores are also stocked with costumes. I love having costumes around for dress up play, but this year imagine our delight when we stumbled upon one of the last few Darth Vader costumes left on the rack. J was over the moon. And it was much cheaper in price than the one we were going to order online. Every day is Darth Vader day around here.

And our little Apple. She is growing like a weed already. She is well over the 10lb mark, if not even 11lbs now, we will find out for sure tomorrow. She still has the snarfles at night, which we are also having checked out tomorrow, just to be sure that it is just a little cold from J and not anything bigger, but I hope it stops soon as the snarfle, snarfle that goes on all night long keeps me awake and wondering if she can breath alright.

I just had to post a photo of her in her "Juicy" trackpants (she has the jacket too!). My girlfriend, who likes to spoil my kids, made this purchase for little Apple before she even made her appearance. I love it to bits, but have to admit that I am a little jealous I don't have a matching suit. Funny enough, at the Beach in July I wanted to pick up a "Juicy" for me, but they only had flannel ones and I wanted the velour. If I had only picked up the flannel one we could have been matching Mom and Daughter. When she gets older and sees her baby photos in the "Juicy" and wonder why she isn't wearing couture anymore, I will be sure to tell her to visit her 'Auntie' and put in her requests for future birthdays.

And that about sums up the week. Well, I am sure I can find lots more to write about as I had about 100 posts floating in my head last week, but it is all I have time for as Apple is waking up and it is almost time to pick up J from school.

Filler Post

2007-09-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

Oh what a week!

I have not had time to blog at all, but our week has been very full.

I had a wonderful visit with some girlfriends.

And surprise of all surprises, my eldest Sister made a surprise visit with her youngest from Regina.

Lots of fun was had, photos were taken. Baby Apple is doing well and J is adapting better each day.

Will write a proper post later.

Oh yes, and welcome to Fall.

Ahh Redemption

2007-09-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

I WAS NOT LATE! Not today and not last week.

Apparently they let the kids out early. As a rule. As much as 8 minutes.

Today I was the first Mom to arrive, and J was the first child allowed to go to his Mom. He still wasn't thrilled about being there, but he seems alright and I think I made up for things because I was there on time today.

Phew. It wasn't me.

Will Not Be Late.

2007-09-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

We dropped J off at school again this morning, for the first official day for the rest of his life. From now on he goes every. single. day.

Last night he was really sad, he said he was nervous because there was going to be lots of other kids at school today. I reminded him that there were more kids in Duffer Doo than there would be in his class today. It didn't matter, he was nervous. In all there were 17 kids today, only 7 of them boys. I got to meet two of the Moms (hooray for me, I met some other Moms!! I never do that) who were as concerned for their sons that there were less boys than girls. J pointed that out last week that there weren't enough boys to hang around with. Hopefully today he will meet a few more.

Again, J would not leave us at the fence. It will take him some time to get over being left inside the gate. Hubby thinks we should just drop him tomorrow and leave, but after seeing the tears well up in his eyes as the kid beside him was bawling, I know that he is not quite ready. Maybe by next week he will be. I think he will have to get to know a few more of the kids before he will be ready to just be dropped off. As long as he isn't still doing this when the weather is cold and snowy all will be good.

I set the alarm on my stove. I will not be late. Tempt me all you want clocks on the tv, but I will be on time. I may even head out extra early to go for a little walk. A walk you say? Yes, I am feeling better this week for sure and would like to get my land legs back. I still feel like I am on a boat when I walk, kind of like sea legs. So, actually walking a little farther might be good for them.

I will not be late.

What a Week!

2007-09-12T12:02:00.001-04:00

*Photo of her third day, a tradition with all our kids (me and my Sisters) we all take photos on day three.

We have had the busiest week in a very long time. Not only are we experiencing so many firsts both with J and his new Sister but we are experiencing the emotional highs and lows of having had Opa here for two whole weeks and then all of a sudden he is gone home. Well, I guess it wasn't all of a sudden, we knew he would be leaving on Friday, but it doesn't ever sink in until he leaves.

Baby Girl is absolutely wonderful. I though J was a great baby, but I am amazed at how much better Baby Girl is. Her sleep patterns are pretty good, I have only really had one bad night so far. And she is sleeping in the bassinet, something J never did. She dozes on and off all morning, spends the afternoons awake and goes back to sleep for the night. Pretty great, I think. Car rides have been very easy. Her first shopping trip was to the shoe store for J's running shoes, but she has now been to the grocery store, Starbucks, and Indigo. She has had a playdate at my Sister's and today walked J to school. Not bad for a first week.

J continues to be wonderful with her. We had a few bad moments but that was mostly due to Opa leaving and him thinking that Mommy could play hockey the minute after the Baby arriving. I had to explain that, although I am doing really great I can't do sports yet (my legs just don't have all of their stregnth back yet). J insists on holding her at least once every day and one day when he forgot he was in tears at bedtime because he didn't get to hold her that day. I try to make sure he gets his chance at some point when she is wide awake.
And today was the first official day of school for J. He has a staggered entry so he went today, then not again until Monday, when he will go every single day for the rest of his childhood, minus the summers of course. I was doing great. Until... the teacher led him to the playstructure and he stopped, looked back and said, "I will wait right here." about fifty times. I knew right then that he was scared. He has never liked the idea of being locked out. If I am on one side of a baby gate and he is on the other, he will freak out. So I knew he wasn't doing to well, I could see his lip starting to tremble and that was it, the tears started rolling down my cheeks. So, I had to call out to him that it was OK, he could wait wherever he wanted. So he came back to the fence and talked to me until they went in. Where again, I could see the fear on his little face that and turned and called out, "Wait right there Mommy.". I cried all the way home.

As I was getting ready to leave and pick him up, Hubby called. I thought I had lots of time, apparently I was wrong. I was almost at the schoolyard when the other parents were walking back with their kids, so I picked up the pace as did my Mom who came with me. Well, there he was waiting by the wall for me. In all the times he was in Duffer Doo, not once did he have to wait for me. I was always the first or second Mom to be there. Now, his teacher probobly thinks I am always going to be late, and it broke my heart that I wasn't there when he came out. He won't talk about his first day, he won't tell us what he did, only that he had to leave his indoor shoes in the classroom. I hope I didn't traumatize him and for sure, I won't be late again. Ever.

Photos of Baby Girl

2007-09-06T10:24:00.000-04:00

Here is our Baby Girl, whom J has nicknamed 'Apple'. He actually wanted to call her that, but I didn't think Gwyneth would like us using her baby's name, so we told him he could use it as her nickname and it has stuck all summer long.
J is such a proud big brother. He asked to hold her last night and how on earth could I say no? It has been a wonderful day and a half with our newest family member. In the end everything worked out perfectly, as it should and we are just so thrilled to have her here with us.

Baby is here!

2007-09-05T11:31:00.000-04:00

I know you are all anxiously awaiting the news! Can you believe it? I sure can't.

Not long after I posted yesterday my water broke, contractions started and six hours later our Baby Girl made her entrance.

She weighed in at 9lbs 8oz and 21inches long. She is healthy and happy and sleeping so soundly right now.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Photos to follow... shortly.

I have held the tears

2007-09-04T14:59:00.000-04:00

So far. The appointment this morning wasn't quite as encouraging as I was hoping. Although my midwife was able to reach the cervix, the baby still hadn't quite dropped enough to break the water and get things going. So we are starting to make the next approach plans.

One last ditch effort with a little Castor Oil, just in case (I should add that the cervix is almost fully dialated, as in 8cm) it decides to work this time. Nothing happening yet and that was a few hours ago.

On of the midwives has much larger hands than my midwife so she may stop by later and see if she can break the water (I am so hoping for this). But, she has a birth to attend to first.

I will have an ultrasound tomorrow, after we meet J's teacher, to make sure all is well with the baby (they do this when you are late, not usually until 10 days past, but we need to do it tomorrow) because...

... if nothing happens we will be induced on Thursday. ACK! Send me prayers folks, I really, really, really don't want to be induced.

I have no idea what to call this post

2007-09-03T17:10:00.001-04:00

The post about nothing. We just sit here and wait... no signs except a sore back and oh so much pressure on my joints. Tomorrow morning we see the midwife and decide what to do. All I know is that if she (the baby) hasn't dropped enough by tomorrow I might just cry a river. A very huge river.

Thank you all for stopping by and checking on me, I can't wait until I actually have some news to share.

And Still

2007-09-01T15:22:00.000-04:00

No Baby.

But, we are having fun with Opa, pictures will follow when I have time to update.

No Mood I Tell Ya

2007-08-30T07:58:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday. I was so bummed out that after drinking half a bottle of castor oil and eagerly awaiting cramps and contractions I got nothing. NOTHING! Ok, so I got about twenty trips to the bathroom and a good colon cleansing, but seriously. Not a cramp to even make me think things might be working. I have exhausted all the possibilities to get things going, but apparently my little girl is being stubborn and just doesn't want to meet everyone yet.

On the good side, my FIL is having a blast entertaining J, they went to the park for an hour and a half yesterday! I am lucky to get twenty minutes at the park, hence the park in our backyard. Then they went to Tim Horton's for coffee, then Mickey Donalds for lunch. I tell you J was one treated little guy yesterday. Opa then went to visit his friends for the afternoon and evening, to regain some sanity I am sure. And my Mom who was hanging out with me took over. She was great too. She came to help me out in case I didn't feel well, so she changed the beds, washed the sheets, made some lunch, took me to the store, let me have a nap, all the right things you want your Mom to do. And alas, at suppertime it was just Hubby, J, A and I and well still nothing.

So, that is my update from yesterday. I guess I should try to forget that I am indeed pregnant and now overdue (my FIL tried to tell me that the due date was wrong, I laughed and said that when you have IVF, you can't have a wrong due date. He doesn't get it.). I can't wait until I can finally give you all a good post that at least says I am in labour, even if it lasts three days like it did for J.

To the Midwife we go

2007-08-28T07:50:00.000-04:00

And let's hope this is the beginning of the end. With my fingers tingling and the weight bearing down on my knees, I am honestly about ready to meet this little girl.

If she can't get things moving today, I will seriously be depressed by tomorrow morning, and may purchase some cod liver oil...

**Edited to Add: It should read Castor Oil up there, thank you Miss Mel let's hope what worked for your Grandmother will also work for me. And so... the baby has not dropped enough to do anything from my midwives perspective, so she recommended the Castor Oil. As well as crawling around on my knees! If I had known that I would have been crawling around for the last month. Anyhow, I will take the Castor Oil tonight and see if we at least get her to move down enough for a little extra help from my midwife. My fingers are still tingling, bummer.

Nothing

2007-08-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

Nada.

Zip.

Tomorrow is Opa's and his Mother's (Oma) birthday. Do you think she is waiting to make her Grand Entrance for tomorrow??

I sure hope so.

Opa has Arrived!!

2007-08-24T11:31:00.001-04:00

Sorry Silver Creek Mom, but the Baby will not be sharing your birthday!

The great news is that Opa has finally arrived!! Since we thought he would miss the big day, he was very surprised to see us at the airport. I tried almost everything yesterday. I vacuumed, I did loads and loads and loads of laundry. I am not even sure how we had so much last week, but it just kept going and going. I stayed on my feet almost all day, but all I got was a lot of aches and pains.

Today my girlfriend is bringing some spicy Thai food in hopes to get things moving, so we will see how that goes.

Oh yes, back to Opa. He lives in Vancouver and we miss him terribly when he is not here. The last two years he made two visits, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. This year we only have this one visit, so it has been a long wait for him to arrive. J is over the moon that he has arrived. It was nearly impossible to get him to bed last night. And today they are heading out to pick out his birthday present so J is very excited.

Thank you all for watching my non-labour and delivery so closely. The actual due date is Tuesday, the 28th. But J was early and even my midwives thought she would have been here by now. There is no such thing as a small baby in our family, so I am prepared for a big little girl. If I could do a jumping jack I so would, but I fear my knees would give out from holding all this weight and that just wouldn't be good for actual delivery so alas, I have not done any jumping jacks. I will definately keep you all posted, but for right this moment, absolutely nothing is happening.

Happy Birthday to Silver Creek Mom

2007-08-23T07:51:00.000-04:00

I wanted to shout out a Happy Birthday to Silver Creek Mom. I know she wanted my little girl to arrive on her birthday as a present. And I have definately tried, but unless things start moving it most likely won't happen today. Although I should say it is only 8am and anything is possible.

I had another ultrasound yesterday, my Midwife wanted to be 100% sure that the baby was head down. They have been flipping back and forth as to whether or not she was breech. I kept telling them that she hasn't flipped around since the 30wk u/s but they still wanted to be sure. So, yes she is still the right way and measuring a little bigger than my Midwife originally thought. Between 8lbs 10oz & 9lbs 10oz. J was 8lbs 5oz (with a 10lb head) so I am not too worried. If this goes on much past her actual date then I will start to get nervous. I just hope she will fit the few little clothes I bought for the first few weeks.

I will be vacuuming again today, I did it last night for the first time since June, hoping to start things up. So you just never know... the 23rd may just be the day.

Another Mascara Update and Oh So Many Police

2007-08-21T20:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had to accomplish a few downtown chores. J had his four year Doctor's appointment so he could get a check of good health for school. Our family Doctor is downtown, silly I know, but I have known him and his wife (the nurse) for almost fifteen years and they have saved me from numerous medical tests and interventions when other Doctors failed me. So off we went.

After a check of good health and a very well behaved little boy, we decided, ok, I decided I could make a little trip to the market to the Lush store to pick up some foot soak and Karma soap for the powder room. We use Karma for the sheer smell alone. It freshens up the powder room and there is always a little hint of patchouli when you walk by. Our little trip went well so J asked if we could get a bagel for lunch and meet Daddy. Seeing that it was noon, I called and we were able to catch him. So off we went to meet Daddy for lunch.

All being well we took a small walk to 240 Sparks so I could return my expensive mascara to Holt Renfrew. I know you all must be shocked that I the mascara that gave me really long lashes and I paid a lot for didn't live up to the expectations. I gave it a bit of time. It was great for the first couple of weeks. Then I didn't wear it at the beach due to the smudge fact when it got wet. Then when I came home I realized that it was taking four coats to get a nice enough look. By the fourth coat it was really thick and starting to clump. That and the fact that it was making my eyes water made me think it just wasn't up to snuff. So I decided to take it back.

I was just going to return it, but the manager suggested I try Prescriptives mascara. Again, this is one that I have never tried before as it only available at Holt's. And since it was almost ten dollars cheaper I decided to give it a go. It is called Beyond Long mascara. I tried it out today. Not bad for a first day, I'll give it that, it is not as thick as the Yves St. Laurent but it definately brought out the legnth. Will see how it does with the wash test and the after a week test. Otherwise, we will be going downtown again.

Oh yes, and the police. After leaving Hubby we started walking by a building downtown where there was obvious police presense. Two bicycle officers at least every 30 feet. I called Hubby to see if he knew what was going on but he didn't, so I started walking faster. On our way out of 240 Sparks and walking back to the car, there were police every 10 feet on the sidewalk, and in between there were police in their vans, SUVs, cars, swat on the road. Then I saw all the black cars with their red lights sitting along side of the building. I finally said to two officers, "Should we really be walking along here?". She laughed and said, "Oh, it's nothing to worry about.". Nothing to worry about??? There were more police in a one block radius than follow the Prime Minister around. There was obviously a reason for all this police presence but really, nothing to worry about? Will my Son and I and my unborn baby be caught in some crossfire or something? I walked as fast as I could manage and got to the car and got the heck out of there.

In the end it turned out that the President of Mexico was making a stop downtown on his way to a Summit with the Prime Minister and the President of the United States that was being held in Montebello. She could of just said it is the President of Mexico instead of trying to make me feel like nothing was going on when it was evident that I could have chosen another street to walk down.

Happy Birthday to J!!

2007-08-20T08:04:00.001-04:00

This post is a little belated. Sad to say, but our internet has been down and wonky since Thursday. It was up by Saturday afternoon, but then down again before I could post about the fabulous Birthday Party.

On Saturday it became very evident that our baby boy was no longer a baby. J turned four on Saturday and it was the first birthday that he knew exactly what was going to happen all day long. He was ready for his morning opening of presents from Mom and Dad. He put on his birthday shirt and hat and played with his new 'Lightsabers'. We ran around (ok, Hubby ran around, I watched) and started to get things ready for the party at 4pm. J kept asking what time it was and by 11am I was ready to crack. We headed out to pick up the party platters, which I have to admit were handy, but truly too expensive to do it every year. On our return A had finally woken up from his deep dark sleep and gave J his present (more Lego) and played with him for the rest of the afternoon while we got ready and had mini naps.

Everyone arrived except famed cousin J2. Poor thing, he had a tummy bug that left him running to the bathroom all day long. But, fun was had by J and his other little friends and cousin. J was the one dictating what was going to happen and when throughout the party, it was a hoot and I think next year will be even worse when he has a few school friends here to join in the fun.

All in all it was a fabulous Birthday and all day long, I kept remembering everything about that day four years ago. Especially vivid because I am still awaiting the arrival of Baby Girl. Sunday morning J asked what time his Sister was coming. And I told him I didn't know. His response was, "Well Mommy, you said she was coming after my Birthday and today is after my Birthday." I guess it is all good she didn't come as early as I thought she would. Anytime now would be great though.

Thursday evening J asked to ride his bikes (yes, he has three, two that are too small and one that is too big) but here is a good shot of him and Hubby riding the two wheeler that is still a bit big. This was one of those times that I looked at J and realized that he is so grown up now and definately not a baby anymore.
Since my youngest Sister was not going to be here on Saturday for the party, I made her stop by and hang out with us before she left for her weekend conference. We had a lot of fun and J kept reminding her that she would have to party when she got back. Her and my Dad missed the big day. And since J2 missed it too, it will be easy to have a little make-up party later this week.
I feel like I should be writing a letter to J, but somehow this morning it just isn't coming to me. Saturday was really more my day of reflection, he was such a wonderful baby. So warm and cuddly all the time. He still loves to cuddle, for which I am so thankful. He was and still is my little miracle that I thought would never arrive. He is the joy of my days and the sunshine of my life, without him our lives would just not be complete. Everyday he gets smarter and funnier and really and truly is a gentle boy, despite aiming his Lightsabers at me. He is also very thoughtful and concerned for others. Both traits I hope stay with him forever.

Happy Birthday J, we love you so much. Four, Wow.

Odds and Ends

2007-08-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

After much talk (Hubby and I) and a fabric purchase I finally got around to covering a love seat that is in our bedroom. It took me a while due to the size of my belly, but I think it looks great. And now we can actually sit on it instead of the dogs. I used a vanilla microfibre. I have a couple little things to do to finish, but it is at least usable and the midwives can sit there instead of the floor.

Photos of J's room! The colours are "Maitland Blue" and "Summer Sky". Again both Pratt and Lambert colours done in the Para paint (Wall and trim, eggshell). The little pictures on the wall are all beachy and I have a couple more from our trip to hang up now that the painting is finished.

Funny, the room looks bigger in these photos, although it is a fair size, it isn't quite that big. J has his table where he plays post office and write notes. He also has his tool bench at the end of his bed where he gets his stuff ready to help Dad.

And finally, the last few things I need to sew up. I finished a sling for the baby and a nursing pillow. I have made so many nursing pillows for others but never one for myself, so this time I decided to do it. And I have some flannel that needs to be surged. Thank goodness these are all small little jobs and I can sit for ten to fifteen minutes and sew, walk away and come back later.

Sisterly Visit

2007-08-15T19:58:00.000-04:00

My Sister, the one who loves to take self-portraits and who lives in Charlotte, NC and travels the Globe at whim, is here for a visit. The first visit since the "Blue Goose" (the 15 passenger van my Sister drove up for Christmastime) flew north. See us all crammed into that van... Mom, Four daughters and all their kids.... in the hands of a twenty two year old driver. It was fun, but scarey at the same time.

Yes, back to the visit. My littlest Sister graced us with her presence, naturally she 'had' to come home to keep up her health insurance and to get her car etested (the fact that it made it back was a sheer miracle) but, we are happy all the same as she will be here for a few weeks and we can all catch up and hang out.

For the first time in many summers, I actually have a darker tan than she does (photo of us from last summer at the beach), which is amazing considering she just spent a week in Charleston SC on the beach. She stopped in NYC on her way up, dropping off a friend in the Bronx. Her first visit since she was a year old, and she loved it. She even managed to pick us up a few little treats, which is always so cute.

This has been the fun for the last two days. Waiting for her to arrive and playing catch up. She is off with Dad for a few days, but will be back to hang out with us for the next couple of weeks. She better not miss the arrival of my newest little family member, I will be truly sad if she came all this way and wasn't here to meet her first thing.

**Edited to note: Apparently I forgot that my Sister was here for her birthday in February! See, time flies when you are having fun.

Another Weekend and nope, no Baby.

2007-08-13T16:22:00.000-04:00

Another weekend passed and although I initially thought Friday would be the day, the weekend passed without the arrival.

J did get his room painted, but since it is only put back together tonight and just in time for bedtime, I will have to share photos of it tomorrow. It looks great and J is so thrilled to have it done. I, however, was thinking at certain points throughout the weekend, 'If I go into labour the midwives aren't going to notice my clean room all they will see is J's room spread throughout the loft'. J slept in the baby's room on Saturday night and pronounced it comfy and good. So we are all set there.

Saturday was spent, not only painting, but at J2's birthday party. J was so excited to celebrate his cousin's 4th he could hardly wait until 4pm. At 3pm he started the count down carrying the clock around asking how many more minutes. It was darling and cute, but a tad annoying at the same time. It is funny how some of the same presents that were opened on Saturday will be opened again this Saturday for J's birthday. My only hope is that Baby arrives either two days before or the day after. J will be devistated if his party doesn't go off on Saturday.

Sunday was spent at a BBQ with the inlaws. Many cousins were there and it was good to catch up again, as we don't see them very often. Then we rested for Sunday night.

Today I played around with my camera at my Mom's. She finally got her special fence that she has been asking my Dad for so she wanted the kids to come and play worry free in her backyard. The kids wanted all of us out there, so we went and I took photos of her hydrangeas. I will say that peonies have long been my favourite flower, but the hydrangea is surely gaining ground. If only they smelled as beautiful I would make the switch.

Tomorrow brings my Sister from North Carolina for a few weeks, so we are excited and looking forward to the visit.

And yes, I stocked up on Diet Pepsi, it is sooooo good.

Is it Wrong?

2007-08-12T09:45:00.000-04:00

That all I want to drink is Diet Pepsi?

Up until about a month ago or so, I wasn't drinking any soda whatsoever. All of a sudden I can't get enough. Not sure if it's the heat, the baby or just the sheer joy of drinking Diet Pepsi again, but it is all I want to drink.

And I am all out.

Off to the grocery store!

BLogher Ads and other Bloggy Stuff

2007-08-10T08:51:00.000-04:00

I finally decided to join the ranks of advertising. I hope none of you mind. I specifically chose Blogher because I find their ads tasteful and not too intrusive.

So, why did I decide to run ads? Yet another good question. I have wanting to migrate to my own domain for a long time now, so I decided that now was the time. At somepoint in the next few weeks, not only will I give birth to a new baby, but to a new website. Great timing, eh? I guess I just love a challenge. So, I signed up with Blogher Ads in order to help pay for the hosting costs of my site. Since I am a SAHM and won't be bringing much income in with a new baby, I thought this would be a good way to justify my own site.

The content will be the same, well, hopefully even better, and I hope to have more control over my pages. Stay tuned through the move, hopefully it will be easier than when I moved my house two years ago!

Now this has happened twice ... Blogger says it published my post, but alas it doesn't appear...

Ready... Set... Go...

2007-08-09T07:19:00.001-04:00

I asked my Mom to come over and give my bedroom a good cleaning. Why you ask? Good question. You see we are planning a home birth. We did it for J and it was a wonderful experience so if all proceeds well we are doing it again.

When I was pregnant with J I was able to continue cleaning right up until labour started. This time around not so much. It all started a week before our vacation to the beach. I was doing my vacuuming, something I love to do because it completes the cleaning process, and I got a stitch in my side. I thought it was contractions so I stopped, waited 15 minutes and proceeded to finish. Well, the stitch came back. And anytime I walk too far, excercise too much or vacuum, I get a stitch. A very painful stitch. So, my cleaning has been limited.

When J arrived the entire house was spic and span, except our bedroom. That was the last room I needed to clean and vacuum and somehow in my two days of labour Hubby neglected to notice the fine layer of fur on the floor (the dogs were shedding). One of my midwifes sat in the fur on the floor waiting for J to arrive. I was devistated. One of the first things Hubby did after J's arrival was vacuum the bedroom.

This time around I did not want anybody sitting in fur, so I asked Mom to come and give the room a good once over. Well. She did more than just a once over. I never thought it was possible to clean a bedroom and bathroom for three hours. Yes, you heard me, three hours folks! She washed curtains, baseboards, knick knacks. Dusted books, put stuff away, cleaned windows. It was truly more than I asked for. I just wanted to know the room was clean and that a good vacuuming between now and when my labour starts would bring it up to speed.

I have never not wanted to sleep in my own room before. I didn't want to mess it up. And Hubby in the bathroom this morning. I had to go around after him and wipe up the sink and counters.

So, Mom, even though you have no idea how to get onto the internet and chances that you even know this blog exists are slim, I wanted to let the world know how grateful I am that you are my Mom. Thank you so much for cleaning our room and getting it ready for our newest arrival. I am sure the midwives will appreciate it and I know for sure that both Hubby and I do.

Thanks Mom.

A Weekend in Pictures

2007-08-08T08:28:00.000-04:00

There is just no easier way to describe all the fun we had, even with me sitting on my butt, yes it is just plain hard to walk anymore. Starting with fun on Saturday. Hubby and A went on their annual hike through the mountains so J and I hung out waiting for one of my highschool girlfriends to stop by for a visit. This is the only event for which I don't have a photo. She is eight months pregnant with her first, so it was great to see her and meet her new Hubby. I can honestly say that she is just the same wonderful loveable person she was in highschool and that we just didn't have enough time to visit. Hopefully we will get more time when she is off on mat leave.
Then, Sunday, off to the lake. I don't even know what this lake was called but it is up in Calabogie (this link is for the Calabogie Peaks Resort, but you will see the beauty of the area). I wanted to see one of my girlfriends who was down in Calabogie this weekend. But, I didn't want to drive it alone, so I conned the big boys with a lake to swim in. Well, I think they officially had a great time. A, who has to be persuaded to go in the pool, was right in there swimming around and Hubby was off with snorkles in two seconds when promted. J, who said he wouldn't be going in the lake was next to impossible to get out. It was his first time in a lake and I think he was expecting crocodiles instead of his friend. The two of them are about four weeks apart and it is very cute to see them playing together.
Look at the beauty!!! Who knows, one day down the road.....
We were exhausted the whole way home, me wondering if Hubby hit another bump was my water going to break and A & J crashed in the back. It was such a wonderful day.

Monday was looking like it was going to rain all day, but it started to clear and Hubby remembered the corn roast at the farm. J was more than excited to go and sang, "Old McDonald" the whole way there. Of course when we arrived the sun burst through and it was stinkin' hot, but that was ok because we were at the farm. Hubby and I had two ears of corn each and would have had more, but restrained ourselves.

Then on the way home, seeing Home Depot open on the holiday, I begged Hubby to pick up the hangers for the other swing. The one that will hold adults. He was a little grumpy about it, but as you can see by the smile on his face the pleasure was all his. So he and J swang away the afternoon before dipping in the pool some more.

And I can think of no other way to end the perfect long weekend. Well, except maybe the arrival of the baby, but I wasn't quite ready yet. I will be after today though...

End of another Long Weekend

2007-08-07T16:10:00.000-04:00

And I have lots to share.

No. The baby hasn't arrived. But, we had such a great weekend, I want to make sure I have photos to share.

Stay tuned.

One word...Hot

2007-08-02T20:50:00.001-04:00

What do we do on one of the hottest days of the summer?

We bake chocolate chip cookies that's what. It just worked out nicely to stay inside, do a few chores, make some cookies and have a nap. Once we finished all of that we went in the pool.

I wanted to take a photo of the newest bunny in the neighbourhood, but it got away before I could get my camera out. I know bunnies are cute, but when they eat half your garden and make your dogs crazy, they aren't so much fun. My neighbour is trying to catch them, but he has had no success yet. Will see if he can catch and release them all before winter sets in. Either way I will be wrapping all the plants and shrubs in chicken wire this fall.

Thank you all so much on your wonderful comments on the baby's room. I do love it and have already found and picked up a few more little things to decorate. J was a little sad that Hubby hadn't painted his room yet. And although Hubby wasn't going to do it right now, I reminded him that A's room was painted and the baby's room was painted, it is only fair that J's room gets painted too. When J was born we did A's room too so he wouldn't fell left out. So now, we will paint J's room. Hooray!!! That will leave only our room, the bathrooms and the stairway to paint, this is a huge step. We only finished painting our last house when it was time to sell. My Dad keeps offering, but Hubby wants to do it all.

Now, I am off to have some cookies and head up to bed, to read of course before falling asleep. I won't have much time for reading soon, I need to finish up the last few books on my nightstand.

Pink, Pink and more Pink

2007-07-31T15:47:00.000-04:00

I know the walls are bare, but I just haven't found the right things to put up yet. I think we definately need a shelf or two and something to match the little green surfboard pegrack on the window sill (that will be hung near the door when I get to it). I need to pick up a dresser for J's room and move over the baby sized dresser from his room to here. But the essentials are in and the rest can come later on.

The paint colour is Pratt and Lambert "Angel Food" done up in Para Paint, wall and trim, eggshell in matte finish (say all that in one breath). Now Para is a Canadian company, but I thought I should be specific with what we used as I have had inquiries before. Truthfully, Hubby and I usually just go for eggshell finish in a basic latex. But, my Father, the painter by-trade, picked up the paint for us and decided that this was the best finish for the baby's room. And he was right. The matte look makes it look even softer than expected. And I think I mentioned that I never thought I would choose pink for a bedroom, I am much more a purple girl, but this one just kept coming back to me.
Add to that the fact that my Mother picked me up this wonderful quilt down at the beach. I was looking for something beachy like the ones from Pottery Barn, but since PBK doesn't ship to Canada and they don't have one close to the beach, I went with this one. It has cute little Angels on it and the colours were great. A little of everything. The pinks in it matched the paint colour perfectly so that is how the room came to be pink. My Mom also picked up some sheets at PBK in Nashville (had I only known she would go there). They are called Tropical Toile. In other words toile done up, beach style. Sadly the beach line at PBK has now been discontinued (at least online, but my Sister is on the lookout for some stuff on sale) so I cannot pick up anymore Tropical Toile or all things beach at this time.

And I wanted to address the fact that there is a crib and a bed already. I did this for J too, had a bed in his room from the get go. It makes nursing at night so much easier and on those nights when the baby just won't settle, I don't have to keep Hubby up till all hours when he needs to go to work the next day. This was the deal I made when we agreed that I would not have to go back to work. I do all the night time duties and he gets to sleep. Some of my friends think that is awful and he should have to get up too, but I disagree. First of all, I am nursing these babies, and second of all he works hard so we can have me stay home with them, so I let him sleep. A lot of his friends were jealous when he was coming to work all refreshed and they were up all night with their kids, but I felt better knowing he could function. I don't have important meetings and only have to impress myself so it was ok if I was functioning at half mast.

So, this is the baby's room... She is getting ready to arrive as we only have four weeks left, but I think she might arrive just a few days or so early. Just my hunch.

Coming Soon...

2007-07-30T16:22:00.000-04:00

... photos of the new baby's room!

I hesitate to say that it is almost done, but in truth it is. I can hardly believe it myself. I have but a few little odds and ends to put together then I will take some photos and post them. And yes, it's PINK! I never thought I would truly paint the room pink, but that is exactly what I did. And I love it. It is a soft, mauvy pink that illuminates the whole upstairs in the afternoon sunshine. It is a very happy colour and I think it is all going to work out exactly as I wanted.

If I get everything finished tonight I will take the photos to post for tomorrow.

Just Passing the Summer Days

2007-07-26T08:27:00.000-04:00

A visit to a local farm for kids, Valleyview Little Animal Farm, left J thrilled to have fed all the goats and deer. We used to take A to the farm, years ago, when there were just a few animals and playstructures oh and the train. Now there is a museum with tractors, more animals, puppet shows, and more. We had a fabulous time and will be sure to go back soon (like on the long weekend for a corn roast.).

And yesterday it was off to a birthday party! J was one of the oldest, being almost four at a two year old's party. But, I couldn't have been prouder. He behaved so well and played with all the kids. He only really knew the birthday girl, and the two of them played very well together. He even managed to eat all the icing off of his cake before he realized it was cake!

Now, how on earth am I going to beat the last two days today, I don't have anything planned.

A Rare First

2007-07-24T07:17:00.000-04:00

Since J is almost four, have a first is rare these days. And when he does do something new it is usually so long in the making that we forget to celebrate.

Hubby added a swing to the playhouse in the backyard on Sunday. J has never really been interested in the swings and only recently decided to use it as a "Superman" way of flying. Yesterday, after our dip in the pool, J decided to try it out like the other kids and sit on his butt. He asked me to push the swing. Which I did, but quickly grew tired as standing in one spot is not so much fun right now. So I decided to teach him how to pump his feet. Within minutes he was swinging away singing a little song (he does this for everything, sings a little song). All he needs is a little push to get him going and voila, swinging away.

And as another first, just for fun, I should add that I took him all by myself, as in with no other kids or parents to an indoor playplace. I should probobly clarify that I don't do things like this without others to help occupy the time because I hate going somewhere for twenty minutes then heading home. But that is exactly what we did yesterday because that is really what J wanted to do. I survived and he survived and we only lasted twenty five minutes, but he was happy.

Through the Eyes of our Kids

2007-07-23T08:17:00.000-04:00

What a great and fabulous weekend!! The weather was back to normal, not a cloud in the sky. And my Sister-in-Law made her first visit here from Vancouver in almost 5 years! We did see her in Vancouver 3.5 years ago but that was the last time. Hubby was quite happy that his Sister finally came this way and we had a great day yesterday catching up and watching the kids playing (and yes, kids includes Hubby).

A took the first two photos. He loves photography and wanted to try out the new lens on my camera. He has an SLR of his own, but it was at his Mom's house and it uses film, so he doesn't feel as free to goof around. When I downloaded the photos this morning I had to laugh at the 20 or so photos of the airplanes flying overhead. We live near the airport and he was trying to get cool shots of the planes landing. But truly he just got shots of the planes with a deep blue sky behind them.

He took a few of Hubby and J in the pool (I didn't go in because my SIL didn't want to and A didn't go in because it isn't cool). They were riding around the pool in circles which was rather cute.

The second photo is of one of our dogs, Cosmo. Cosmo is eleven and still such a good looking dog. He isn't as fast as used to be and he is a little jaded by our adding to the family, first with Mickey (our other Dog) and next with J. Just wait until this baby arrives he will really feel put out.

Next we have J's photos . J loves taking photos, I tried to give him my old point and shoot, but he prefers Mommy's good camera. So I put the strap around his neck and hold tight to the back of the strap. He wanted a photo of the slide and the grass, not sure why, but that is what he wanted.

First the slide. Just the end tip as the zoom lens was on and that is as far away as he could get.And second is the grass. Despite my complaining of the rain, it has been a stellar year for our grass. We went from dry brown grass this past spring (normal after winter) to lush full green grass. Probably the lushest we have ever had. We are attributing it to our weed n'feed and the fact that I was still watering even when there was no rain (back in June when it was actually hot and sunny every single day). And yes, the camera was set on auto-focus, but it is fun to see what J comes up with when he takes photos. They are getting more and more creative the more he takes (he just took one of the fireplace a few minutes ago). Maybe we will have a professional photographer in the house yet!

Totally Honoured

2007-07-19T15:55:00.000-04:00

I feel so totally honoured. LVGurl has given me a blog award! This is my first actual award, so I am feeling the love for sure.

I have been tagged with the "Power of Schmooze Award". The definition being, Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly comments, happily making new friends along the way.

It feels great to be recognized this way. When I first started blogging it was to ease the guilt of reading all the blogs I was reading without something to share. Then I started coming out of lurkdom and actually commenting. I like to leave notes or comments when I drop by because it's nice to know someone is reading and appreciating what has been written. To be acknowledged for my comments is just icing on the cake. I think I finally found LVGurl becasue I started to see that the two of us read quite a few of the same blogs, so I started to drop by her site and voila, I am now a regular reader.

So a special thank you goes out to LVGurl for noticing all my comments.

Here are the Schmooze rules:

* If, and only if, you get the Thinking Blogger Award or The Power of Schmooze Award, write a post with links that make you think, or have schmoozed you into submission.
* Link to this post and Mike so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
* Optional: Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” or the “Power of Schmooze Award” with a link to the post that you wrote.

Mail... the old fashioned way

2007-07-18T07:38:00.001-04:00

A little while ago, Kailani over at An Island Life suggested and old fashioned gift exchange through snail yesterday (although it could have arrived Monday, but I forgot to check the mail box).

I was partnered with Lisa, from Sew what's up? and got set on putting my package together. Not sure if has arrived at it's destination, so I will just tell you the wonderful things that arrived in mine.

Lisa put together a package of really cool things.

I have some Sunset Red Popcorn and some Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil dip from her local farmers market (mmmm... can't wait to try the dip) and a car candle shaped like a lighthouse. The car candle smells very yummy and I think it will keep our car nice and fresh for a while to come (I knew there was something yummy in there because my post box smelled like flowers when I opened it).

In addition to these treats, Lisa included some seeds from her garden for Spanish Bluebells, complete with a photo! I have the perfect spot to plant them (along the side of my house that was just waiting for the perfect plant or flower). I am so excited.

Also included are some very beachy stickers that J was coveting, but I am going to find the perfect spot for them, most likely with a photo from the beach in a frame. There are also three sheets of alphabet stickers, complete in totally beachy colours. And to top it off Lisa included a coupon for a Gillette Venus razor, which is perfect beause my last razor bit the dust on our vacation and I need a knew one to keep these legs nice and smooth.

So thank you very much Lisa, it was really fun to receive my package and see all the wonderful treasures that were awaiting me on the inside.

And thank you Kailani for arranging the exchange.

The Weather here sucks

2007-07-13T09:22:00.001-04:00

I think if I knew we would be returning to such aweful weather, I would have opted to stay for another week with my Aunt and Uncle.

My tan is fading fast and although yesterday was quite nice, it only lasted for half the day. It is cold rainy and rather depressing actually. I miss the sand and the sunshine. All the folks south of us getting a heat wave and we are stuck insome artic chill or something.

I guess I do have the photos and the memory of warm sun and air on my skin. If only I could sit out back and close my eyes and pretend I was still there. If I sit out back right now, I will be soaked and wind up with a chill.

Finding my creativity

2007-07-11T07:45:00.001-04:00

Here is our cottage. There are two levels, both exactly the same with different furniture. I know it doesn't look like much, but it is wonderful. Last year we stayed downstairs where the porch has a front door, a little nerve wracking when you have toddlers that can reach the lock on the door. This year we stayed upstairs where you can only exit through the kitchen at the back. We found things with both that we liked. We prefer upstairs because you can sit up on the stools at the table and watch the world go by. We enjoyed downstairs because it had much nicer furntiure and no stairs. We booked in for upstairs again next year because, well, the porch won out.

This is one of the views I had from the porch. There are actually two houses here, the white one on the left and a dark brown one hidden in the trees on the right. As I sat with my coffee the first morning all of a sudden I could see my characters in my novel living in these cottages. I started working on the rewrite of my novel back in March but, I just couldn't get unstuck from where my characters were and how fast I wrote it. I needed inspiration, but was getting nothing sitting here in suburbia. Within a day, I had a whole rewrite going in my head. And since Hubby decided we didn't need to bring out laptop because wireless was scarce last year. I had nothing but paper towel to write on. So off I went to the bookstore to purchase a journal. For three mornings I saw my characters and their stories intertwining. Some of the novel has changed a bit, but that is good because it wasn't working for me the way it was.

Not only did my writing get inspired but so did my photography. I didn't take as many photos as I wanted to, because carrying around my camera bag with my belly was a little more difficult than I first thought it was going to be. And Hubby was so inspired by my inspiration that he bought me another lens for my camera. I feel so blessed because our trip was gift enough, but he knows how much I love taking photos and how often I use my camera that he figured it would be best to make the purchase down there where our dollar was almost the same, there is no sales tax and the actual merchandise is a third less than up here. It may just become an annual event. And Bob at the photo studio was fantastic. Nobody sells DSLR's and accessories anywhere near the beach. Everyone told us to go to NYC, which would have been great if we hadn't been at the beach for a week. But, Bob has a supplier that could UPS me a lens overnight. It ended up that I missed the first truck, but got to extend our beach time on Saturday while we waited for the lens to come in. I didn't get to take any photos with it at the beach, but I have been playing with it since we got home and am in love with it.

All that inspiration has already led me back to my sewing here at home. I just didn't feel any creativity prior to vacation but it is back and I am so thankful. I don't like feeling like I have lost everything all at once. I knew our trip was going to be tough, travelling at eight months pregnant is not ideal, but it was so worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Back from the Beach

2007-07-09T20:27:00.000-04:00

"We're going to the beach, the beach, the beach..." is the song J sang almost the entire ride to Rehoboth. It was so heartbreaking for him to realize that we had to spend one night at my Aunt and Uncles before we actually saw the beach. But in the end it was so worth it. My cousins dog Buddy was visiting so J had lots of fun entertaining my Uncle and playing with Buddy.

Our first stop on the way to Rehoboth was a detour to Ocean City, Maryland to visit with my cousins. Their beach is gorgeous and we often think of renting their condo for the week, but and yes, there is a but. Their condo isn't close to the boardwalk, so going out for a morning, afternoon and evening stroll is much more stressful on a busy street than it is on the boardwalk, so for now we stay in Rehoboth. J found many sea creatures in Ocean City and Hubby found a horseshoe crab that wandered too close to shore.
We woke up Sunday to beautiful weather and gorgeous sunshine. Hubby went for a run, J and I went for a walk and A slept. Within the first few hours of being at the beach we were well on our way to being rejuvinated. I, myself, had been having creativity block for many things. I was feeling uninspired, but by the Monday morning so many thoughts and ideas were bursting to come out I had to buy a journal to write it all down. It is very obvious that my creativity is rejuvinated by being at the beach.
We got to experience a fantastic 4th of July. The weather was cool and there was a high seas warning so many beach fireworks were cancelled. Fortunately for us the fireworks were on the beach and at the end of our street so we were able to put on a sweatshirt and not fight the crowds to see them. And it is sad to say, but they were much better than any Hubby and I have seen living here in the Capital of Canada. We were so blown away we prebooked our week next year.The owners of the cottage that we rent were there and invited us down to light up some sparklers. It was wonderful to meet them and to share in the festivities. The kids hit it off and chatted every time we met up.

I have so many stories to share and even more photos. We truly had a wonderful week and feel like we are ready or almost ready for the rest of the summer.

Rehoboth or Bust

2007-06-28T15:33:00.000-04:00

House/Dog sitter is ready. House is ready. Truck is ready. Suitcases are ready. Lunch/Snacks are ready. Portable DVD is ready. I am ready. J is ready.

It's only 3:30 on Thursday, how will I make it until tomorrow morning?? Truth is Hubby isn't ready. And A isn't ready. Oh the wait is killing me.

Not sure if I will be able to post next week, we had a hard time with the wireless last year, but it could have been the tropical storm. Will update if I can, otherwise you will get a full report on our return.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Independance Day!

July 4th Giveaway!

2007-06-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

5 Minutes for Mom is doing it again. Hosting another giveaway just like they did for Mother's Day. This on is in the spirit of July 4th and for us Canadians we can just pretend it is a delayed celebration of July 1st. Drop by their site and check out the great prizes they are giving away. Most include Canadians but there are a couple that are for US residents only.

A Conversation with Hubby

2007-06-26T08:15:00.000-04:00

Hubby:"I can't wait until we hit the beach."

Me: "Yes, me too, the sun, sand, surf."

Hubby: "Sun, Sand, Surf? I can't wait for all the food. Grotto's pizza, beach fries, hamburgers..."

Me: " I love you honey, and you and my Dad could be separated at birth."

Hubby: "What?"

Me: "You sound just like Dad."

Hubby: "I guess we both think alike."

Me: "As long as you don't eat alike then we are all good."

Hubby: "I suppose, but I run and your Dad doesn't"

Me: "Yep, he used to say that when he was your age too."

Hubby: "Oh, ok. Well, it's just a week and vacation."

Me: "This is true, but he used to say that too."

Hubby: "I guess we are alike."

Me: "More than you will ever know."

A First

2007-06-25T16:08:00.000-04:00

For me anyway to officially enlarge, print and frame one of my own photographs. As artwork.

Sure I have printed of photos of the kids and family and put them in frames, but this is different. I needed something beachy to bring the beach back to my kitchen after the paint job. I looked everywhere and saw a few photos I liked, then I realized. Duh. I have tons of photos of the beach that I actually took myself. Why should I pay for someone elses photos?

So I did it.
My first intention was to blow it up to poster size. I was ordering some prints from Costco and the largest size they had was 12x18 for $2.50, so I thought I would try it out before spending $30 to make a poster. And it turned out great! I found a beachy type wood frame at Michael's and picked up some mat and glass and a mat cutter (this was all cheaper than paying them $160 to frame it) and here it is. Tada.

I took the photo last summer during Tropical Storm Ernesto and the dot to the right in the distance is actually Hubby and A standing by the shoreline watching the crazy water and waves. It is funny that I would choose a photo from a tropical storm, but the colour of the dark sky matches the paint exactly and the sand matches the cabinets, so it was the perfect one to choose.

This second shot shows how it goes with the colours in the kitchen. I must say I am quite happy with my peice of artwork and will be doing much more of this in the future. Especially because I bought a mat cutter and have lots of mat left over so I can frame up a whole whack of photos and decorate the rooms upstairs. This may be the beginning of a new thing for me.

Still a Girl!!

2007-06-24T07:11:00.000-04:00

Yes indeed folks we got the confirmation that we are still indeed having a girl! I was more worried that J would be devistated at the baby being a boy than Hubby or I.

All in all the ultrasound went well. My placenta is no longer low-lying (very important for a home birth) and the baby was only measuring one week ahead. My belly on the exterior is measuring three weeks ahead so we (my Midwife and I) were worried that I was carrying a big baby, but she seems to be close to target and will most likely be the same size as J was when he was born (8lbs 5oz). And I didn't have an overly large amount of amniotic fluid, which was another concern. So all in all everything looked great. That's not to say that something might show up in the detailed report sent to my midwife, but for now I was breathing a bigger sigh of relief.

I will say that I am entering the tired zone and our week at the beach couldn't come sooner (this time next week I will be soaking in the sand and surf). Any later and I don't think I would be able to make the trip. As it is I do think that I will be slower than I previously thought. Vacuuming is now out (unless I want to start the labour, I may start vacuuming again in August) due to a pain on my side everytime I pull that sucker out. Cleaning bathrooms is out, due to not being able to bend over properly and clean the tubs and showers. Pretty much I am good for laundry and kitchen duty and that's it.

Hubby is working away on the new basement, A's room is almost done then a well deserved break will taken. All that matters is that A has a place to sleep the rest can be done a lot slower.

The new car is still a riot, I think this first tank of gas is a write off as Hubby insists on driving it every day (he drives like twice a week normally). We tested out the luggage in the trunk space and are ready to roll. I will say though that I am having a very difficult time changing from standard transmission to automatic. I have been driving a stick for 20 years (TWENTY YEARS!!!!!!) so I find myself pressing the phantom clutch and shifting into neutral a lot. The biggest test will come in the wintertime when I can no longer laugh at people spinning and sliding while I drive by in first gear, or when I can rock myself out of a snowbank with my clutch, those will be hard days and most likely I just won't go out.

Summertime

2007-06-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

It's officially SUMMER!!! Yay! My favourite season has arrived and ironically it is a cool 20 degrees and raining today. Despite the hot, humid weather we have been having summer chose to come in rather on the sly this year. That's ok we needed the rain for the grass, not ours because we water, but everyone elses burnt lawns need a little help.

On the first day of Summer I always seem to have this one hit wonder in my head. A song by LFO called Summer Girls. Something about the song makes me always think of the beach. You can hear it and see it on You Tube (I am so lame, I can't figure out how to stick the video in here to click on). Funny, when I was younger it was John Mellencamp's (then Cougar) Jack and Diane that made me think of the beach, then Bruce Springsteen took over and then did Bryan Adams, I guess it all depended on what was popular that summer. Then one day I heard Summer Girls and that is the last song that stuck in my head as a reminder for a long time.

Hubby decided the other day that this would be the year that we introduces A to Bruce Springsteen on the road. We will have to see how long it lasts because A does get grumpy when you make him listen to too much good music. One of the fun things about our new to us vehicle is that it has a 6 cd changer, so I loaded it with our usual driving music (plus J's Curious George) and have been enjoying a little of the good tunes for the last few days.

Today is not only the first day of summer but it is ultrasound day. Since I hit 30 weeks yesterday, I get to have another ultrasound to make sure the placenta is in the right place. Hopefully we will also get confirmation that we are indeed having a girl! And if it turns out to be a boy, J will be one unhappy little boy, but what can you do?

Mascara Update

2007-06-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

Exhibit A: Which was accidentally taken last week during my self-portrait day for Whoorl. I am wearing Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara in Black. This is the one I have made do with for the last year or so after testing many, many different brands (some drugstore brands, some cosmetic counter brands).

Exhibit B: I took today. Wearing my Yves Saint Laurent Faux Cils in Black. There is definately a difference.

I ususally give Mascaras a week before I pass judgement, but I know some of you are eagerly awaiting the results of my testing, so I am posting a mere three days into using it. My overall rating is going to be a 7 out of 10.

Day One: At first I was not entirely impressed. The mascara brush is great for brushing long lashes, but not for adding any volume at all. That is one of the differences with the Dior brush. It was flat througout with a round end, no one has had a brush like it since. This brush is round throughout and has lots of bristles, this type of brush is usually called a teddy bear brush which ads thickness to lashes without too much legnth. In this case I think they made the bristles shorter so you get a bit more legnth and not as much volume. I like to have both.

In order to achieve the look that I enjoy, I had to coat my lashes about four times when normally I do it only twice. This might change in a week or so when the mascara gets a bit of air in it and thickens up. I find most mascaras annoying for about a week until they aren't fresh from the tube.

The mascara stayed in place all day but, I will say that by the end of the evening the tips had flaked off a bit, which is something I do not enjoy. I want a mascara that I can rely on from morning until night, just in case.

Day Two: The wash test. After washing off my mascara, I had to pull out the eye make up remover to get the rest of the mascara that did not come off with the soap. Both Dior and Clinique come off with soap or just plain water if you need to. So in the event that you go swimming with your mascara on you know within a few good underwater wipes you have no residue. Not the case here, I won't bring this one to the beach.

Day Three (today): I found today easier to put on and only required three coats. But, as you will notice in the photo it looks a little clumpy today. It didn't look clumpy on Saturday and Sunday so we will have to see again how the rest of the week plays out and if I can get away with only two coats.

This is why I am giving it a 7 out of 10. Dior was a perfect 10 and this is missing a few key ingredients to get that full 10 points. Is is worth the $42 a tube? That I will have to decide at the end of my week of wearing it.

p.s. I will say that my eyelashes looked awesome while I was driving around in my new vehicle this weekend. Hubby thinks this is the coolest I have ever looked in a car, I think it comes a close second to my convertable.

Hair Day

2007-06-15T15:25:00.000-04:00

Whoorl had a post about hair the other day. Whoorl has gorgeous hair and everyone asks about it. In honour of all her readers Whoorl posted her whole hair routine. She then requested everyone to send photos of themselves. 20 self-portraits and 5 by J later, I got a shot that I don't mind sending out. So this is my hair today, blow-dried, no product but all natural.

I also stopped by a grrls wrrld via the Fishbowl and discovered a new mascara. I am oh so excited to try it. I already have mascara on today, so I will have to wait until tomorrow. But, I have high hopes for this one. For many years I used Christian Dior's Diorcil. Then they stopped making it, out of the blue. I cried. I have made do with other mascaras but have hear that this Yves Saint Laurent's Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils is to die for. So I stopped at Holt Renfrew and picked one up. Tomorrow will be a great day for my lashes.

Crying isn't always bad

2007-06-14T16:39:00.000-04:00

Today, I had a moment. I just had to cry. Not one of those sobbing breakdown cries, but tears of sheer happiness.

J and I were in the car on our way to a store, we were listening to Jack Johnson's Curious George CD. J loves Curious George, and now loves Jack Johnson. As we were driving along with the windows down, the breeze blowing in the car, J said, "turn it up Mommy, this is my favourite song". So I turned it up and watched in my special J mirror as my son sang along to all the words with Jack. He was clapping his hands and snapping his fingers (or trying to snap) wind blowing in his hair, happy as a clam.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect moment, thus I was crying in my car while singing along with Jack Johnson. It was just a happy day.

Radom bullets of catching up

2007-06-13T07:33:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I went awol again, it has just been too busy around here. I thought I would post some random bullets of fun to catch up on things.

Starting with cute things that J has said over the past few days. "Mommy, when my baby Sister is born will she be in an egg?", "Mommy will your belly crack open when my baby Sister is born?", "Mommy will your belly go back to the way it was after my Baby Sister is born?" Apparently J has it in his head that babies arrive in eggs, just like chickens. And he is very concerned that my belly will be too big to cuddle with forever, somedays I wonder the exact same thing.
It has been HOT! Hot, hot, hot. I love it. We have been using the pool and J is doing some great dog paddling with his new 'muscles' or floaties or water wings. It seems that his fear of the water and pool are definately over, which makes for much more fun for us, except for the fact that I have to go in the pool sometimes when I don't really want to.
A's room is looking good. The framing in the basement is almost complete with the wiring next and the gyprock with be next week. It is looking like a real basement now and I am getting excited for baby's room.
Hubby is running ragged. I feel badly that I cannot help more, but somehow mowing the grass in +30 degree heat and building a basement just don't seem to fit with being 29weeks preggers.
Dinner with the girls. Myself along with a bunch of other Ladies went out for dinner without the kids!! Shocking and fun it was, we had a brief storm move in while we were dining on the patio, but the awning was good and the night was great. Nothing like a little girl time to rejuvinate yourself for a good long while.
We have made our final decision on a vehicle. And Nissan, if you are reading, we love you so much we decided to go with a Murano. No, not a new one, we will wait for your Baby gift to arrive in August. But, we are thankful that your Murano offers a huge backseat that we can comfortably fit five people, with two carseats (yes, thanks Brian for being so patient while we moved carseats in and out of the vehicle). And as an added bonus the backseats also recline! We were really flipping between the Quest and the Murano, but the Quest available was a basic package and the seats were a not so nice cloth, and truthfully ranked in comfort with our '91 Ford. So Murano it is! And quite frankly, I am not a huge van person, I would rather an SUV anyday. And this one matched my colouring much, much better than the van.

So, this has been our week since the Sens lost the cup. Not too exciting for everyone, but lots of excitement around here for us. What on earth are we going to do while on vacation at the beach? It just won't seem right to have a week with nothing to do but watch the waves.

Done like Dinner

2007-06-07T20:43:00.001-04:00

Yep, the Sens are toast, as per Nancy's prediction. But, I say they had a good run and hopefully learned from this years run at the Cup.

There is always next year.

Hockey Night in Ottawa

2007-06-05T08:14:00.001-04:00

Please note the two tvs, for better viewing. Hubby and his best friend (who flew in from Colorado to enjoy the game in Ottawa) set everything up for the game and two more people came over after the first period. The boys were hilarious. It wasn't the same as watching with my Sister, neither Hubby nor Best Friend were as loud as she is, but that's ok. We had snacks, which J kept filling himself with way past his bedtime. We missed the visit with Best Friend while we were away so Hubby wanted to keep him up. Thankfully the neighbours aren't going to swimming or work this week so J slept in. I think he will be tired later on today, but it was worth it to watch him running around cheering "Go Sens Go!"

Notice that J is sitting with Best Friend. He hasn't seen him in a year and a half and it took him a few minutes to warm up. After those few minutes there was no separating the two. Best friend doesn't have kids, he has lots of dogs. So the two of them played and wrestled the first period away.

I feel like I must say that that was one boring game for a possible tie up of the series. A little disappointed here both with the team and the boring fans in the stands last night. Still have a chance to make a comeback though...

Home Again

2007-06-04T07:23:00.000-04:00

Four airports, three airplanes, lots of waiting, and many amazed passengers and airline attendants later we made it home. Amazed you ask? Yes amazed. You see J is a seasoned air traveller and I am very proud to say that he is well behaved and doesn't cause too much trouble for anyone. Made especially easy with the new tv's on Air Canada planes, not that they worked on every flight but the longest one allowed J to watch a few shows. And the children's selection is a little on the light side, but it worked all the same.

All of the twenty or so pilots that J asked, "Do you have a gun?" and "Do you live in Ottawa too?" were really nice and didn't mind a little three year old asking so many questions. One gave him a sticker of some wings and another let him into the cockpit (after landing of course). Another passenger in First Class gave J his cookies, shocked I am sure that this kid wasn't kicking his seat for the entire flight. Other passengers made comments as they walked off the plane and we waited to deboard until they were all gone. All of which were positive and made me very proud of our little guy.
Coming home is so bitter sweet. We had so much fun. Although I had to mediate for my sometimes whiny son, for the most part the kids played like gems. And unlike the week in Regina the tv is back on here with no one to play with but me. So, yes the bittersweet. I am so glad to be home, but at the same time, so sad to leave my Sister and her family. We do have so much fun, which wouldn't last if I lived in her basement, and the kids play so well. And at this point it doesn't look like they will be leaving Regina anytime soon. I can only put in my prayers that they will be directed back to Ottawa so we can all hang out together on a regualr basis again.One of the hardest things about leaving so early in the morning is that we didn't get one finaly goodbye and last morning hug. Then again, I had enough tears just hugging my Sister goodbye, couldn't imagine squeezing all the kids to death too. And my BIL got short changedd, I thought I would see him in the morning but did not, so I didn't really get to say goodbye, hope he is ok with that and will reserve it for the next meeting.

Baby neice was doing much better by the time we were packing up and heading home. She is sucha bundle of cuddles and although she has always snuggled with me, she really would cuddle into my belly and cuddle close. I kept joking that it was like snuggling with Grandpa and his belly, but either way it was really cute.

And LJ is such a ham, but hates his picture taken, so I have a few shots with him in them, but mostly they are blurry and he is running away from the camera. Too funny that little guy.

We started our week hot and sunny and it ended the exact same way. Saturday was sunny and 30 degrees, so we went downtown to the farmers market, to Cathedral Village for ice cream and back home for running in the sprinkler pool. Of which I have no photos because I left my camera in the van and BIL went out for a few things. When he got back we went to the greenhouse for plants and by the time we got back it was dinner! I did get over 150 photos though and just shared a smidgen with you all.

Another great visit but yes, it is glad to be home. Hubby set up our pool and cleaned the house so much all I can smell is a mix of chemicals and fresh paint. Even though we painted a few weeks ago. Now, back to the regular scheduled programming. With a little rain, that I think I have already lived through.

Winding down

2007-06-02T00:11:00.000-04:00

Our time here in Regina is coming to an end. But not without a little drama, some good fun, and meeting a new person. I still can't find a usb cable around here to download all my photos, so I have them locked in my camera until we arrive home on Sunday.

Drama, baby neice has had a cold since we got here and I knew that J would get it due to circumstances beyond our control (grabbed sippy cups). So, yesterday as baby neice was getting worse and worse and breaking out in fever, J's nose was running more and more. Thankfully, he seems to only have a very runny nose... so far. Unfortunately baby neice had to go to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning today as her fever was so high that she was starting to get febrile. Thankfully, I was here and both my Sis and BIL were able to go together. It turned out that she has an ear infection (same as other baby neice back home) afer a little antibiotics she was almost back to her old self by this afternoon.

Good Fun, since yesterday was the nose running like a tap day and the beginning of the cold, J was very whiny and playing was a little difficult. Many tears were shed and feelings hurt and Mommy was losing her patience rapidly. Today, however, saw a sleep in until 7:50am!!!! Can you believe it?? Me neither. So there were well rested children and even with the rough start of the hospital we had an afternoon of fun and Sis and I were able to just sit and chat instead of mediate. It was great. The fun afternoon went into the early evening when great BIL sent us girls off to a movie and put all four kids to bed. Brave, brave man.

And yesterday I got to meet a fellow blogger!! We met through SAJ and have exchanged emails a few times. We were going to go to a park with my Sister and the kids, but due to baby neice not feeling well, then J starting to bawl because I was taking him away from his cousins and the rain that started pouring down, I went by myself. Anna from McLean Family Chronicles and A Mommy's Ramblings was such a gracious host and the chatting, oh it was wonderful. I got to chat uninterrupted. We shared a coffee and lots of wonderful stories. Her two beautiful children welcomed me into the home with many shy smiles and were great for our entire visit. Anna's hubby even made an appearance, so I got to meet the whole family. So much fun. I do have a photo of us, but it is stuck on my camera so you will have to click over to the McLean Family Chronicles to see one. It was great to meet and get together and chat in real life. Thank you Anna for having me over.

Tomorrow will be final wind down day for the kiddies, as we leave at 6am on Sunday. I will have to pack up after the Sens play and get us all prepared for the journey home. We have two stops this time, one in Winnipeg (it will be my first time back since I left there in '92) where we will probobly not even leave the airport lounge and the other in Toronto where we will simply change planes and head home. I am hoping for another smooth trip. It will be bittersweet, as I will be happy to be home, but missing my Sister and her family too. Until our next visit I suppose. And who knows, I may have got her a little bit interested in the blogging thing, we could see something from her at some point.

Ahh... the playing is unbelievable...

2007-05-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

We have been here since late Saturday night and the kids have not stopped playing yet. I have tried to post three times, but each time I get a few words written I have to run away.

Today was a great sleep in day. J slept until 7:10am!!! He has slept past all of his at home wake up times every day so it makes me feel better to know 100% that yes it is my neighbours waking him up. Even though I know it, I still stop and wonder some days. But, this confirmation just makes it all the more worth while that they will be gone in less than a month. Hooray!!

Anyhow, I am here to talk of fun and travels here in Regina. Our flights were ok, the first one to Toronto was short but annoying. An older plane with armrests that didn't move made for a very uncomfortable ride for a pregnant lady. J made fast friends with Holly, a wonderful lady sitting beside him at the window. He told her all about Star Wars and she told him all about her book she had just started to read. She was so sweet and her kids were 18,19 &20 so she claimed to miss chatting with a 3.5 year old. And I should add that she looked younger than me, so I was shocked to hear of her kids ages.

The second flight from Toronto to Regina was starting off to be not so great as we were in a teeny tiny (to me) airplane. However, it ended up being a wonderful flight. They had tv's for each seat (just like Westjet) and there were only two seats in our row, so J couldn't disturb anybody. Within an hour J was asleep and I was able to catch a few winks too.

My Sister had a limo meet us at the airport as they were at a Gala for the night. The short ride seemed silly, but it was nice to not have to try to flag a cab. I sent the babysitter home and my neice was up and gave us the run down of all things Regina.

Sunday was busy, we went to Church where J attended Sunday school and loved it. From Church we sped off to GR's (my neice) ballet recital. J and his cousin were dancing along with the dancers trying to figure out what story they were trying to tell. It was wonderful to watch them (the boys). GR did a wonderful dance, she was a pink butterfly. It was great to see how well she is doing since our first time watching her in ballet three years ago (back home).

Monday was a trip to Chuck E. Cheese! J's request was to go for supper, but we went for lunch instead. We were the first ones at the restaurant, which meant we got all the free tickets from the machines that were newly emptied, and there was no one there to squeeze the kids off the games. They ran, they played, they ate pizza and salad and three and a half hours later we left. On to the grocery store for some food stuff and the mall for some Booster Juice. The kids played outside until supper and crashed early for bed.

Tuesday took us to the Science museum. And OH. MY. WORD. that is a science museum. Of course we happened to arrive on the first day of the Lego Exhibit, J was tickled pink. There was just so much for them to do. A whole half a floor dedicated to hockey where the kids could take shots at a screen. An area that is set up like roads and there are usually cars for them to drive (they were away yesterday), and two more floors dedicated to all things science for the kids. They made big huge bubbles played with sound waves, made a drum beat like their heart and used brain waves to move a ball. If only our Science museum was as great we would go every week.

Sadly the kids were exhausted and grumpy for much of the afternoon so we instituted a movie afternoon to avoid arguments. Then it was to bed and lots of sleep for all of them.

My Sister and I have been having fun, the two of us sitting here with our laptops, her with her gorgeous Macbook and I with my Dell. We have been to Starbucks, without kids, and we watched a movie last night. Which was hilarious just to watch Hugh Grant dance and sing. Truly hilarious. Oh yes and we watched the Sens game, my first game all season. Wasn't a great game, will see tonight how they do.

Photos to follow, I forgot my usb cable so I need to dig for one here in their house.