IT'S HERE!!!! IT'S HERE!!!!

Our possession date!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!

It came in the form of a letter (who knew??!) in the mail today.....

And I just KNEW it was the date....

I didn't open the envelope until I phoned Tyler at work on his lunch break (believe me, this nearly killed me! *LOL* I got the mail at 11:30pm and had to wait at least until 12pm!!! UGGGGGGH!).....

I thought I would be kind in sharing what I just knew would be our possession date... I was sure of it!

And there was NO WAY that I was going to be able to wait until he got home from work! Could you imagine??!! Yikes! *L*

Anyways.... Are you ready for it???!!

Our possession date is......

*drum roll please*

APRIL 18th, 2008

YAY!

"This is to confirm that we are scheduled to give you possession of the above property on April 18th, 2008 at 2:00 P.M."

I forgot!

This post is on behalf of Emma.......

As some of you may know, Emma was a good sized baby when she was born.... She weighed in at 9lbs 2oz all the while I was measuring small (I'm 5'1 and a bit" and was around 100lbs when I first found out we were having Emma)... But then she thinned out to a point where I was informed that she had 'failure to thrive' (thank you home visit nurse).... Well long story short, she didn't (thank goodness!), she just took after her Daddy!

We joke that Emma had 'T-Rex arms' when little as she never did crawl and could never hold her own body weight up! Weight gain wasn't something that happened often (growth in height, oh yes!)... In fact when we had Zoe (who started at 9lbs 5oz) she eventually would use her weight against Emma in fights (eg: sitting on her older sister once she had already punched her in the face for some-and-some reason..... *sigh*) since she weighed more!

Well last week everything changed.... I think it came with the warm wind... Emma became heavy enough this past week to use an actual booster seat (which I bought her ages ago in hopes to maybe sell her 3-1 as Daddy isn't a huge fan of how bulky it is... I love them! Anyways....)!!! Daddy took Emma to the store this week in the car (we always travel in the van with the girls as their seats are in there) and she got to use the 'big person seat belt!'.... "Just like Mommy and Daddy!"

I asked Daddy to take some photos, here they are:


Just your typical booster seat with two cup holders that fold to storage under the seat as well there's arm rests!

Emma's so adorable! She says this seat doesn't hurt her lower back as much.... Awesome!

And in case some are wondering, the red clip on the seat belt by her shoulder is to keep it out of her face and tight against her... So, ya know, it works properly!

"But I'm NOOOOOOOOT tired!"

Um hummmm........

(This was after her fit today during the playdate here)

The last few days.... And playdates!

I'll start with today as it's happening right now.... *L*

A cute, quiet little girl named Eleanor came over today while her Mommy and Daddy's work schedules overlapped.... And the girls have been having SO much fun! They went downstairs to the girls big bedroom and played sleepover and such... Eleanor gets excited when the cats walk by with a cute squeal but still isn't sure about petting them....

I believe Eleanor is 3 so she fits right in with our girls ages (4 and 2.5).... They've been all over the house where there is some room (as there are boxes everywhere!). Right now Zoë and Eleanor are watching 'Finding Nemo' while Emma takes a much needed nap (after a much un-desired fit -kicking, screaming, etc.)....

After dealing with Emma I came out to find that Zoë had kindly placed art on herself..... 'Fishes' as she informed me...

Doesn't this look like a mug-shot?! *L*

'Fishes!'

Moving on....

Yesterday (I think) I checked in on Emma who was having a really deep-sleep nap.... This is what I found:

She's sleeping the width way at the head of the bed... She was pinned right up against the metal bar... You should have seen the mark on her face right after I moved her after this shot!

This past Saturday Emma has her Primary Activity Day.... I wasn't sure what was going to be happening but I hauled her and Zoe out to it for 10am (it ran until 12pm).... They had a TON of fun! Zoë was way more into it then Emma... Not really sure why... Emma just didn't feel like playing in any of the games.... But they did make cupcakes! Icing and all! They made one for them and one for Daddy (isn't he lucky??!!)... Here's the photo I sent to Daddy who was at work:

They even made the sticks!

I'll write more about the weekend later tonight!

Catch Up!

Okay, here's a mass of things that I've been meaning to blog about but haven't had the energy to as I've been quite ill for the past week..... ARE YOU READY??! *L*

First off be prepared for this to NOT be in any specific order... I'll try but I'm just so excited to be back to blogging that I may fail at the dates! :P

I heard about thsi Miracle Baby (I'm sure a ton of you did) but finally took the time to watch the video from http://www.edmontonjournal.com/ and am amazed at the whole process!

Here's the link to the video: http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-edmontonjournal-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=journalallvideo&maven_referralObject=328bae43-ea2c-40be-8507-b089a00380ab

You may have to look for it on the right hand side, but believe me.... It's worth it!

Here's a bit of the background on the story:

"Baby delivered as doctors fight to save mother
Rare double-operation brings Miracle Astra into world moments before mom's heart surgery
Chris Zdeb, The Edmonton JournalPublished: Saturday, February 02

EDMONTON - When Miracle Astra grows up and people ask about her name, she can tell them about the rare and complex surgery that brought her into this world and saved her mother's life. Moments after Miracle Astra was delivered by caesarean section, her mom underwent open-heart surgery at the University Hospital.

The tricky operation was a first in the Capital Health region and one of only a handful documented around the world, Dr. Arvind Koshal, director of cardiovascular surgery at University Hospital, said Friday.
Mother and baby head home today to Grande Prairie. The surgery was performed Jan.24 by a large medical team led by cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Rod MacArthur and obstetrician Dr. Billy Wong from the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
The 36-year-old mother suffers from Addison's disease, a hormonal disorder of the adrenal cortex of the adrenal gland, located on the top of each kidney. She was 35 weeks pregnant with her first baby when she began experiencing chest pains, problems with her blood pressure and shortness of breath. She was flown to Edmonton.
Koshal praised the obstetricians treating her for ordering a CT scan and diagnosing a tear or dissection in her aorta, the body's largest blood vessel, which carries blood away from the heart.
Such a tear makes the aorta prone to rupture and if that happens, the patient normally dies, Koshal said. This situation is always a surgical emergency.
The other confounding problem was that the baby was premature.
The open-heart surgery needed to repair the aorta required hypothermic circulatory arrest, where the woman's body temperature was cooled on a heart-lung machine to 17C and the blood drained from her body.
"She would have tolerated the procedure, but the baby would have died, which is why the caesarean section was performed first," Koshal said.
There was a 40-per-cent chance the mother would have died within 48 hours and her baby would have been put at risk if she had not had the heart surgery. The mother could have also died on the operating table if doctors had not been aware of her ruptured aorta when they did the C-section.
Under normal circumstances, doctors would focus on saving the mother, but they decided to try and save her and her baby, Koshal said. Doctors explained the risks involved to the woman before they started the surgery.
To reduce the risk of the woman's heart failing while doctors delivered the baby, her chest was opened to expose the aorta and the C-section was done in a cardiac operating room, Koshal said.
The caesarean took 45 minutes to an hour. The heart surgery lasted about eight hours.
In all, it took a medical team of approximately 12 nurses and doctors -- including two cardiac anesthetists, two perfusionists to operate the heart-lung machine, four people to do the aortic surgery, three to do the caesarean section, two scrub nurses and two circulating nurses. They spent a total of 12 hours over two days in the busy operating room.
Other specialists were also involved, including a neo-natologist from the Stollery Children's Hospital who cared for the baby.
This type of surgery is not possible in most cities, Koshal said, because of the co-ordination required.
Miracle Astra, her mother and the doctors who saved their lives will be introduced at a news conference at University Hospital this morning before mother and baby return to Grande Prairie.
czdeb@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2008"

It's amazing! (Yes, I kow, I keep using that word...)

------------------

Alright, what's next.... Oh yes! Valentine's Day... Well in the end the girls and I got Daddy a ring... The girls recieved a new sheet set (hearts and such... You'll see a photo of it later), a bracelet and a necklace (hearts of course!), kitchen play utensils (whisk, etc... What fun!), a big heart shaped plate (Emma red, Zoë pink) and a few heart chocolates... What did daddy get Mommy???! Guesses anyone?

*drum roll*

:)

Okay so I have to give Tyler credit for remembering that we had talked about this ages ago... Really we had! This is even one of the few movies that we've seen in the 'big theatre' (not the cheap one! *L*) together.... It just wasn't quite what I thought I was going to get as a gift for our 5th Valentine's together.... Thankfully now I have the complete set as we bought the soundtrack right after seeing the movie! *L*

------------------
My girls are cute! Here's my latest photos of them: Watching Hurcules

Having fun!

Zoë curled up in her new sheet! *L*

The Muteness of Sirens

Some may think my title of this blog makes no sense at all.... And you're right.

Today I decided to check out the newspaper online... http://www.edmontonjournal.com/ only to find this as their main subject:

"West-end seniors complex on fire
Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.comPublished: 1:10 pm

EDMONTON - A fire at a west-end apartment complex has forced the evacuation of about 65 seniors.

Flames shot about a storey high off the roof of Britannnia Gardens at 10142 157th Street this morning. No serious injuries have been reported, although paramedics have attended to one person. The residents were evacuated to transit buses at the scene. The fire remains out of control.

Roofers had been working at the building, and the fire is thought to have spread into the attic. Firefighters were first called at 10:15 a.m. When they arrived, they called for backup.


Apartments on the north side of the building have sustained serious damage.

"I don't think we'll be in there for a couple of months," said Tony Revet, whose suite is on the north side. Revet, 66, and his wife moved into the building in July.

Most of the residents are middle- to low-income seniors. Some are disabled.

Katie Romolock, 69, left all her medication behind in her suite on the south side of the building.

"The problem is you never know how bad it's going to be once it starts spreading," she said.
taudette@thejournal.canwest.com"


Huh, go figure. So I start thinking about the address.... All of a sudden I find myslef walking to our front window, opening the curtains and.. "Oh, well would ya look at that!"

Fire trucks are parked along the side of Brado's (theatre people will know what I'm talking about here) and they're still hosing the place down!

Here's where the title comes in.... The girls and I were upstairs by 10am today (our rooms are downstairs).... We've had breakfast, watched some kid shows (gotta watch Sesame Street at 11am!), played and watched some of Hurcules (the kid movie).... I've done a bunch of calling around and bookings for my Bride's and even some research... Oh! And spoke to Tyler on his lunch break! Now the girls are playing downstairs while I finish up my work...

All the while the apartment building across the bus station from us is up in flames and now being put out!

And just to give you an idea of just how close this thing is I've taken a photo (sorry, it's from my cell so it's not the best quality but I'm sure you'll get the idea):
The purple building behind the brown one on the right of this photo is Brado's... Can you see the red of the Fire Trucks parked to the left of Brados? Slightly to the left of the trucks and up in the air is a white block... That would be part of the building that burned I believe... The fire department is in the air hosing down the building just to the left of that while others are walking on the roof with smoke coming out from under them (you can kind of see their ladder in the air)... Just in case you're lost, there's the white buildings on the left of this photo and the brown one behind them is the one on fire.

So... Back to the title of this blog... Is it a bad thing that we're so used to the sound of Police, Ambulence and Fire Truck sirens??? I mean really! This cannot be a good thing!

I'm looking forward to being in our quiet neighborhood soon.... Only a few months away!

Spring is here and it smells like cat pee!

So... As some of you may know our neighborhood is overrun with cats, not dogs...

It's been this way for years and we've never really had an issue with this.... They're cute cats and we find ourselves getting excited every time a new litter is born...

And then the big male tabby moved in.

And now EVERYTHING smells like pee....

Bleck!

Never before have we had an issue with this... There have been tons of cats in our yard every year all year 'round... And this stupid cat moves in and has to prove himself by peeing on every little thing!

I had planned on making sure the girls played in the snow in the back yard this year... We aren't really winter people and honestly haven't played outside in the cold that much... So this was a big deal for us. Well now that THE cat has moved I don't dare to let the girls play in the cat pee smelling snow....

Here are a few examples of the hell it has created:

• My van tires have been peed on...Which, in the winter, when you crank the heat, makes the whole inside of the van smell like pee....


• Our shovels have been peed on as we keep them outside for quick access... I found this out when I placed it into my van to shovel a client's driveway! Ugh!


• Our doorway, front AND back, have been kindly scented by him... I hate having people come to our house because of this...


• ALL of the toys in the yard (swing set, slides, chairs, playhouse, gazebo and benches/picnic table) have been peed on... Grrr..


• Our garage door (people sized) has been peed on... Across the sidewalk from it has been used as a little box for other stuff.....


• The bottom of our pants, socks and shoes smell like pee whenever we come infrom outside. It's SO gross (laundry!)...


• And I'm pretty sure our wood piles and BBQ's have been peed on as well.....

I think one of the only things NOT peed on has been our fire pit since Tyler covered it with a tarp so we could do a winter fire (with peed on wood, great!)

We've tried the cat spray stuff to make the scent go away, we tried the mothball route (I think I have enough of the scattered around our house and yard that I kept the company in business for the next year! *L*).... Next up will be the cat traps provided by the city...

Ugh.

Tyler's parents are coming up this weekend, tomorrow in fact, and I can't figure out what to do to make it smell amazing outside and inside our house... Oh yeah, since the snow is melting it's making the cat pee smell come under our old wood doors causing our whole house to smell like the Tabby himself walked into our house and peed everywhere, A LOT. It's so gross... It makes my stomach go into knots... Urrrrrgh!

Any ideas? Because the smell of spring is definitely going to cause some issues soon here....

I miss our old neighborhood cats... *sigh*

Shadow was a rescued kitten from our yard... He's such an amazing kitty!

VALENTINE'S DAY!

IT'S HERE.....IT'S HERE!!!!!

*L*

Can you tell that I'm excited??!! I have no clue when Tyler will give me my gift.... And if he decided not to do it until after we sleep..... Well I'm going to look pretty crappy in our family photos tomorrow morning as I won't get any sleep!!! *L*

Tonight after the girls had done their bedtime routine, prayed and were getting into bed we realized that they hadn't signed their cards for Daddy yet! Emma has been working very hard at spelling this past week.... She can now spell 'cup' without thinking about it... As well as her name and 'Elmo'... *L* If you tell her the letters to a word she can spell it and if there is any struggle you write it down and she copies like a pro! It's amazing what can happen in a week's time! Anyways back on track, this was the first year where I didn't have to help Emma sign her own card for Daddy! I handed her the card, wrote on another paper 'To Daddy' (just in case she needed help as it was way late for her) and 'Love Emma' and off she went! I'll take photos tomorrow so you can all see her work that she's so proud of! :) Later I wrote 'Happy Valentine's Day' on the separate paper and she copied it onto the envelope wonderfully! I'm so proud of her! Zoë in the meantime wrote on her own card in her own language and I was happy to let her do so. She concentrated so hard on her 'Daddy', 'Love Zoë' that I just didn't have the heart to even write the translation on the card for Tyler! *L* It was adorable!

So now the gifts are wrapped, cards sealed and all I need is everyone to go to sleep so I can set up their gifts to wake up to tomorrow morning.... And then we'll head out to do Family photos with Chelsey as our photographer! Yay!

*GEE!*

My girls!

My girls.

I love them... And often they make me laugh.... Sometimes cry.... But I always get a warm feeling in my heart when I think of them....

My girls 'Practicing Church'... They usually end up doing this when they've misbehaved earlier at Church.... Especially through Sacrament! Last night Emma said 'Mommy, Can we practice Church' in an eager voice! It made me laugh... 'Of course you can!'... And then silence!

Afterwards thy girls hugged each other. This is huge for Zoë since she doesn't like to hug Emma all the time (in fact she'll deck her one if Emma pulls a surprise hug on her! *L*)... Right about now Zoë is saying 'I love you Emma, you're my best friend!'...

This morning the girls were watching TV while eating (nothing new) but instead of changing the channel when the kid shows ended on PBS I let the exercise program play... It's this elderly woman who sits in a chair and does low impact exercises... here we have Zoë doing the arm lifts.... After this she did the foot tap and stretch routine... *L*

Life in General...

May 20th, 2007 things took a dramatic change in our Church.... Or the Edmonton west area did... Borders were changed, a new ward was made and one building was made so full that you can hardly breathe... Goodness help you if you loose your child during the class changes with over 400-600 people in the hallways!

We ended up leaving the ward that Tyler and I had been in since we were married (we were moved around a few times since we had been living on the border and people got confused).... At that time it was going on 4 years.... We had grown with this ward...Our children only knew this ward.... And then on the May long weekend we drove in from the cabin for a urgent meeting called for the Stake.... Once there it was announced that the following Sunday we would be in a new ward... No time to say goodbye to our hard-earned friends (it took us forever to make some close friends...) among other things. Children cried, heck even adults cried... I was heart broken. We had heard the rumors and knew that we would be moving since right across the street from us was a whole other ward... It wasn't rocket science. Even though, we were heart broken.... And a bit upset that it was happening in a week!

Almost a year later and I still feel out of place. It's not completely the wards fault... We went from a strong, growing, and secure (and fairly 'high end') ward to one that has a 60% less active rate... Right off the bat you need to decide if you're going to sink or swim... Will you be weighed down by the amount of less active in the ward? Will that make you feel as though maybe you shouldn't be here? Are you 'home sick'??

I was. Our time changed to 9am, which is killer for us. We are not morning people. And with Tyler's shift work 6 days a week... well....things didn't go well for us for awhile there. Somehow we survived the summer months (although a lot of time was missed from me working weddings late) and then the fall months kicked in... We would all take turns with illness... And Sunday seemed like the only day to 'heal' so sleeping in would happen which then wouldn't help the other grown-up want to get out of bed, get the kids ready and go to Church...

It's the New Year now... Our time changed from 9am to 1pm.... Some would think 'OH YEAH!'... And it totally is that but it's also a 'Ugh' since we don't get out until 4pm. That's your day! Do I sound too picky? *L* Probably... But I prefer 10-10:30am start time. Not too early and it doesn't take up your whole day! Yay! Anyways, I've made it a goal to go to Church every weekend with the allowance of one weekend to be sick, tired, etc. Only if I can't possibly drag myself out of bed.

Shortly after we moved into this ward everyone started moving out! *L* No kidding... Our ward ended up being the fresh new families and the elderly. There isn't much in-between (honestly, lots of little kids but not many around age 7 and such).... We moved over with the R's*, the D's*, the S1's* and the S2's*.... The S2's moved without much notice (they had no choice) and some of us had no clue! D's and R's moved into new houses (D's moved right out of Edmonton! *L*) and now it's down to us and the S2's....From the bunch that we knew well in our old ward.... This April we'll be moving into our new house in Leduc.... And then it's just the S2's left! Now they seemed to have made much progress in this ward and seem to know a lot of people, so that should help! We however haven't made a huge leap in progress.... The first 5-6 months of this ward was just trying to get things organized. I do not wish to be the Bishop! Ugh what a chore he had upon him... (Funny thing, he was our Bishop from our last ward and was almost done his full term... At the May 20th meeting everyone was released of their duties since so much change was going to happen... And then he was called to be the Bishop of our new ward! *L* After he was called one of our friends that stayed in our old ward said 'How did you enjoy your five minuets off??!')... With our name being at the very bottom of the list (Z's... Yup) we didn't receive our callings until w-a-y into the end of the year.... I ended up doing exactly what I had been doing before, Activity Committee (which I had accepted before even being a member of the Church... I guess after attending the same ward for 2.5 years and being quite involved they decided I was a good candidate to have a calling! *L*).

Our time in this ward has made me realize a bunch of stuff about myself and my wanting to strive to be better in life. Things happen... Sometimes they suck and sometimes they're wonderful.... I knew this before.... But let me tell you being a convert to the Church and having the door W-I-D-E open to become less active in a flash can be quite tempting.... But it's not me. What would I do differently if I wasn't a member? I didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't sleep around.... So what really would be different? I'd lose the gospel and the feeling that I get every time I walk into Relief Society (for example). I don't want to lose that, it's taken me this long in this ward to start to feel it again (I LOVE R.S.! At first I didn't understand why the women cried every week! *LOL* It would baffle me... But now I understand -this doesn't mean that I cry every week.....- And I was saddened when we went from a huge group of women to, what felt like, a handful....). I love hearing what my girls learned in class and really love it when they teach me things, as I'm still learning. I love that I met the perfect Sister Missionaries that helped 'seal the deal' in my journey to becoming a member... And how they are now some of my closest friends (and they visit as often as they can from the States). I love the feel of the Church.... I love how I now understand why my Husband loves this Church so much, why he works so hard at living the gospel. Sometimes we fall but no matter what we pick ourselves up again and keep going... We have a goal. And we will reach that goal.

With a move coming up it means a whole new ward... We were actually told we'd be moving into a branch which I've never dealt with before (Tyler has when he was little)... But then we were informed that they have grown so much out there they made it a ward! *L* Somehow this makes me feel more eager to get out there. I know it means more hard work towards making new friends, keeping up with the time change (yet again but to 10am I believe! Yay!), learning how to deal with Relief Society first (really who thought that was a good idea when you're the only ones in the building??!!).... But I'm slightly excited for this new challenge in my life... I just hope that my 'old friends' know I won't be losing them anytime soon...

I'm sure you can expect many more blogs on this topic... Church, the move and new beginnings... So hang in there! Once the move happens there will be SO much more to write about! (You poor, poor people! *L*)

*Names have been changed. I'm sure you were able to figure that out!

The In-Laws! Part 1

My in-laws are coming to town.

AND I'M THRILLED!!!

*LOL*

Is that weird?

I know, and often hear about, the in-laws from hell.... But not mine! I mean we had our 'getting to know each other' year that seemed awkward often (well, at least for me)... But that seemed normal as well for me....

You see, the story of Tyler and I was a bit rushed at the beginning... nothing that I would ever change if I could. We graduated in April (after knowing each other for two years), were married in July and then baby #1 was on the way! There wasn't much time for the 'introduce, laugh, become friends' time in there so of course things would be awkward! And it didn't help that we live 6-7 hours away...

Anyways, time passed and we tried to drive down to visit as much as our income would allow and here we are! *L*

They called tonight and asked if we had plans for the Family Day long weekend, we didn't (except two different meetings with two of my Bride's and an engagement party all on Saturday...), so now we're hanging out while they're here! Yay!

I'll keep you updated on how the weekend turns out! :D

'A messy room......'

This should be on my daughters' room... Honestly!

I know it's not all their fault, heck they're only 4 and 2.5 but really!

This morning we (yes Tyler and I) asked the girls to clean their room before coming upstairs for lunch.... You see we were having a lazy sleep in morning and just let the girls play in the big room (some who have followed the journey of our room changes in this house, the 'big room' is considered Emma and Zoë's room... Emma now sleeps in the guest room as the girls weren't sleeping enough.... *chat, chat, chat, giggle, chat*)...

Anyhoo, Tyler had to get up and get ready for work (night shift) while I started making some food for the girls... They were to be downstairs cleaning the room up as it looked like a tornado and a half had come through! Zoë of course snuck away and left Emma to do all the cleaning (this happens more often then I thought but every time Emma does an awesome job while Zoë says 'Thank you for cleaning my room Emma!')

WELL, the girls come upstairs, have a snack and say goodbye to Daddy.... Then, after pancakes and such, it was nap time. We do our normal nap time routine (washroom use, songs, prayer, bed) in Emma's room... Emma stays upstairs while I take Zoë to her bed....

ACK!

There were toys EVERYWHERE!

It was nuts!

And I was in shock!

Not very often does something take my breath away because of it being 'bad'...

So here I am, stuck with a dilemma... Do I get Emma's tiny butt downstairs to help clean up the mess before nap time begins, or do I have them do it after nap time?

Much thought went into this.... I went the 'after' route. Hopefully they would be happier after having some sleep (I know I would be after some peace and quiet) and get the job done right.

In the end they didn't end up cleaning up the room after their nap either... It wasn't until after we went out to dinner (they slept a bit longer then I planned) and back from Wal-Mart....

Then they were given 20 minuets to clean up the room. In the last 4 minuets I set the timer up so they could see the count down and then hear the 'beep, beep' when their time was up.

ANY toys left on the ground, or not in its correct spot, were going to be placed into the 'unknown bin'... This bin could mean they lose the toys forever (and a women's shelter gains some!) or they can work towards earning the toys inside back...

They didn't believe Mommy...

'Beep, Beep'....

'Clunk, clunk, clunk, bam!'

Oh yes, Mommy was serious.... 'She came downstairs with the bin!' is what I'm sure went through their cute little minds...

So I went around and picked up whatever toys had been stuffed under their beds not in the under bed storage containers...And whatever random ones were on the floor.

As of now Emma is heart broken that Zoë's Dora backpack ended up in 'the bin' (those words laced with total dread and fear)...

So I made a deal with her. If she can behave until after we get home from Church tomorrow, I will take the backpack out. Then we practiced 'Church' (sitting still with our arms crossed not making a single noise.... It was wonderful! *L* Zoë practiced too!).

I'll let you know how it goes... Maybe I won't get that 'Most Horrible Mom' award yet!

Stuff on my mind... AKA: What happened today!

This about sums it up:


Zoë was in the bathroom playing with the flash on their camera (no film) with the door partially closed. Emma decided that she should be in there as well and pushed on the door. It wouldn't move, so she pushed harder.... To the point that Zoe, who was standing on the otherside of the door, ended up with her toes under the door and all of Emma weight on the door....

A few skinned toes, a 'sorry' from her big sister and many, many hugs from Mommy and we were much better!


Okay so my girls don't drink pop.... Or play with scissors.... But I can relate to this everyday! To this dayI often have no clue where my big ice cube trays are. The other day the girls and I went to make muffins and I actually had to ask Emma to go and find the muffin tray since she knew where it was! *L* As of yesterday I've 'lost' my only two mixing spoons.... *sigh*


BATH TIME! Oh yes.... My girls LOVE their bath... I mean really, what kid doesn't??! And since the girls cut their hair, Zoë will now allow me to wash her hair without a freak out! Yay! While I was drying Emma off I had my back turned away from Zoë..... She was sitting in the tub with the shower wand going... *ahem* to which she picked up, totally missed the shower curtain and SOAKED me! *LOL*


And then it was bedtime! *L*


This really doesn't have anything to do with my girls.... But I did happend to find the time to organize ALL of my wedding stuff! Yay!

Winter Weather Part.... 3??!

Ugh. It was starting to get a bit calmer (wind-wise) and then all of a sudden

BAM!

Wind chill warnings and such kick in again!

Ugh! Late last night the snow drift winds began.... Tonight they're calling for a low of -23 with Flurries, then overnight -36! I have no clue how Tyler can work outside in this horrible weather... I suppose it's because he doesn't have much choice.....

Tomorrow morning it's supposed to be -28 in the afternoon.... Yippee??!

We were supposed to be skiing, snowboarding and toboganning tomorrow for free through Tyler's Union.... But they cancelled it until March seeing that it's soooooo cold! (Which then reminded me that I don't have snowpants.... Huh). So instead Tyler will be working his usual night shift.... Blah!

Silly weather.

A cold looking pedestrian crosses 108st with the Alberta legislative building in the background as the temperature hovered around -30 on Monday afternoon.John Lucas, Edmonton Journal

Traffic bunched up all over the city of Edmonton Monday morning as crews and equipment plowed the roads after a cold, snowy and windy weekend. This grader was at 85 Street and 98 Ave.Brian Gavriloff, Edmonton Journal

Mailman Gregory Villner has been delivering mail for 21 years even in weather like today's where it reached -30C degrees or -45C degrees with the wind chill factor . He was spotted in the Strathern area.Brian Gavriloff, Edmonton Journal

Cold arctic air has invaded Edmonton with temperatures in the -30 C with wind chills in the -45 C with blowing snow. Bryana Perreaux standing at a bus stop along 109 St. near 72 Ave. maintains a brave front.Ed Kaiser, Edmonton Journal

Roger Drobot walks past a Billboard promoting travel to Cuba while spotted along 96 street at 102 avenue Sunday morning.Walter Tychnowicz/Edmonton Journal

***I chose this one for Jessica..... She'll understand why! *L* ***

Heart Day Wonderings

I have no clue what Tyler is getting me for Valentine's Day.... He's had it for awhile now... And it's driving me nuts!!!

*LOL*

Usually Valentine's Day is something that we make sure to say 'Love you' on (as with every other day that we're on this earth!), and maybe get something little.... Tyler may have gotten me something amazing one year but honestly, I can't remember! *L* Isn't that horrible?

I'd be thrilled if he worked with the girls on making a card (or heck, buying one!) for me from the girls.... I remember growing up and my Mom used to say to me 'the best gifts are the ones from the heart'..... Now 24 years later I completely understand. During my 'growing up teen years' I always wanted the semi-expensive, fun, entertaining stuff that was new and out there. I'd drool over the newest 'Peoples', 'Ben Moss', etc. flyers that would fill our mailbox every day leading up to 'the most romantic day of the year'......

Those days have past.... Just the thought of breakfast in bed, homemade cards and gifts (or dollar store gifts from the girls), a day to sleep in..... Sounds wonderful to me!

Is that so wrong? Have a lost a little bit of myself? Or have I grown as an individual and parent?

And is it really bad if I secretly hope that Tyler has gotten me something like a couples massage, jewelry, etc??! *L*

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair..." ~Susan Polis Shutz

We started today off like this:

Zoë

Emma

And ended it like this:

Emma

Zoë

Just for a re-cap:

Zoë before and after photos



Emma before and after photos

Yup! Emma picked out her beautiful hair cut all on her own... And I LOVE it! Zoë had a little help from Mommy.... And I love hers too! It's so her!!! *L* And bangs on my girls! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

(Can you tell I was excited for today? I hardly slept last night, it was like waiting for Christmas as a kid!)