Unplanned...

Trip to Cardston (how many of your thought I was going to say 'pregnancy??!!' :P)...

Tyler's Great-Uncle has passed away and we were supposed to be on the road no later then 7am in order to make it there for the lunch.... The funeral is is at 11am today (who does that??!!)... It's now 9:41am... We slept through our alarms (considering we didn't get to sleep until 4:30am)....

Anyhoo, we're leaving in a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to blog while down south!

Enjoy you're Canada Day long weekend!!! :D

This morning....

It's 8:09am.

So far I've had two men (who are attached to the random man in my back yard last night around dinner time) come and pound my dirt down with this neat dirt pounding machine. This was about 7:45am...while I was panicky trying to gather all of the garbage's for 'Wednesday Garbage Morning'......

Am I not making sense? Sorry... It's early, yes that's right, "early". My kids 'sleep-in'.... They like to wake-up around 9 or 10am.... And then play for a few hours before wanting food... I have amazing kids! *L*

Anyways, I woke up with a stiff neck and couldn't figure out why.... Then I attempted to roll over... Ahh... I see... Right there beside me fast asleep was Emma! She was crammed right up next to me, doing quite well actually, not falling off the bed. I think if I had sneezed she would have fallen off! *L* So this is around 7:15am....

Which is 7:15AM! AHHHHH! I sort-of wake-up Emma while I envision myself running down our street in my PJ bottoms, shirt I was wearing during the day yesterday (had to change out of my jeans when they got soaked from the hail.... Will explain that later) and my winter boots waving my garbage's frantically as I scream like a mad woman "TAKE MY GARBAGE'S, PLEASE!!!!!! "

*LOL*

Back to the story though.... So I tell Emma to go to her bed ("but I don't want to!"... She did and was snoring before I made it to the top of our stairs! *L*)... and then I realize that there's another little girl standing at the foot of my bed on my side.... 'WHAT is going on??!!'...

It's Zoë (I mean really, who else could it have been? I only have two!). Apparently she couldn't find her *new* big girl underwear (she got new ones yesterday for being so good with her training!).... Which made my brain think "Where's the pee??? WHERE'S THE PEE???!!!"..... Thankfully she had gotten herself to the toilet in time (YAY! We've been training forever but she wouldn't go without me there to get her on the toilet) and such but wanted a new pair of underwear.... DONE! So I show her where her *new* underwear is and off to bed with her. Then I realize that I'm still fighting the clock to get my garbage's out in time! AHHHHHH!

So, like a maniac, I go tearing around the house grabbing all the garbage's and doing some form of balancing act that even circ du sole would be impressed with.... I toss them all into the one main garbage, grab the other one that is one the side steps and head for our front door..... Only to stop in my tracks as I realize that we have no front walk way.... The city is getting our front ready for city sidewalks to be poured... It could be weeks... When they did the flattening of our land they tossed our wooden planks to the side (and yes, breaking some)... We've been parking on the garage pad (I've gone through one tire.... another story for another day). This proves difficult some days...especially after it's rained. Our 'dirt' turns into mus... clay mud. One day Zoë got stuck and lost her shoes in the 'dirt'... Grrr...

Anyways, so now I have to find my winter boots (oh how I love those Air walk boots!)... Okay.... Where did I put those.... Hummm.... AH HA! Back closet, done! I haul the garbage's to our front curb. Garbage's out in time, check!

*L*

Ugh.

I trudge my way back to the front steps, scrape off as much 'dirt' as I can and leave my boots on our front porch (I LOVE that I can do this with no worries!)

Now.... When I was doing the whole circ du sole bit I noticed two men in my backyard... They're from the cement company... My sidewalk from my garage pad to side steps is going to be poured today! (They never tell you these things... People just randomly show up and work on our house! *L*)... I'm excited for the cement to be done (and I mean done, dry and wood taken away)... Right now I load the kids on our mini-path of planks from the garage pad to the back deck... Then I sneak around in the 'dirt' to our side steps (and avoided walking in the 'path' that had been framed out a week ago for our sidewalk), let myself in and then let the girls in through our sliding doors. *L* It's a chore.

They've (the two original men who have added two others now) have just finished pouring and smoothing out ours and our neighbors sidewalks! Yay!

When the cement truck arrived it rumbled our house... So I snuck into Emma's room to sneak a peek. Well Emma woke up and we watched the whole process (Zoë woke up as well and joined us).... I took pictures! I'll post them as soon as I get them on this computer.... As the cement truck was backing up it sunk in the 'dirt'... Ugh! You should see the mess it made! But whatever, my cement is poured and ready to dry!

As they were pouring the cement the garbage truck came by! *L* Goodness!

So this morning I've done the whole garbage circ du sole, laundry (need to pack the girls for their sleepover tonight), watched my cement be poured and blogged!

I'm feeling very accomplished!

*L*

We're not used to the 'once-a-week-four-bag-max' garbage day!

This is an idea of how our sidewalk will look like when dry!

Things I'm Learning in Leduc... Part 2...

-Continued from Thursday, May 15th-

5. The parkland around here is amazing!

6. The parks here are amazing! *L*

7. The sunsets take my breath away. I'm trying to soak in every single nights' worth while I can!

8. The neighbor's are great...the one's we chat to at least! *L*

9. Everyone waves and/or smiles as you pass by!

10. I still really LOVE my house!

Music - Part 2

Well hello Josh Groban! Ahh yes... I've loved this... *ahem* I've loved his music for as long as I can remember now.... What a voice!

I know this song has been kicking around for awhile now... I've even had it on my little music player at the bottom of my page here forever.... But I just recently heard it again (on here! *L*) and thought I should add more to my 'Music' sessions!

You Are Loved

Don’t give up
It’s just the weight of the world
When your heart’s heavy
I, I will lift it for you

Don’t give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I, I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don’t give up
Because you are loved

Don’t give up
It’s just the hurt that you hide
When you’re lost inside
I, I will be there to find you

Don’t give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I, I will shine to guide you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don’t give up
Because you are loved

You are loved
Don’t give up
It’s just the weight of the world
Don’t give up
Every one is to be heard
You are loved

And, of course, here is the video!

Oh Josh.... How you have my heart.... ! *LOL* I could only imagine if he was standing in front of me looking like he does in the video... Oh the trouble! *L* :P

Oh My, Oh My, Oh My!

So while out booking the girls swimming lessons and such I came across a book for the 2008/09 Season of Alberta Ballet.....

And if you know anything about me I have dance hiding deep in my blood..... But that's for another day...

Anyhoo, I picked up the booklet and thought "Humm... I wonder what they're up to this season" without much desire to go to any of them (really, honestly.... The cost is sooo much... Even with my love for the craft!)....

Little did I know how quickly I would fall in love with this coming season's line up!

Check it out:


Peter Pan (Classic!)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (*GASP!*)

The Fiddle & The Drum (No clue... Would love to see it though!)

Alice in Wonderland (Could you imagine??!!)

A Streetcar Named Desire (This photo alone makes me have goosebumps!)

There's also The Nutcracker that has been revamped!

*GEEEEEEEE!*

Today (or yesterday I suppose now) Tyler asked me what I'd like for my Birthday.... Odd question I thought since I don't tend to celebrate it anymore (it gets lost in everything else that we celebrate in the months of July and August)..... At the time I honestly couldn't think of anything. I had already suggested to my Mom to buy me new baking sheets and such for my birthday (W-A-Y back when we were packing up our old house..... *L*).... That was the best I could do! I think I may have said something like "To sleep!"....

And then I came across this.... This beautiful brochure for Alberta Ballet!

*sigh*

I have a long past with Alberta Ballet.... One that I will forever hold close to my heart.... And for the first time in awhile I felt my heart race when I saw the list of shows they're doing this coming season!

I called Sarah as soon as I could and told her about my excitement! *L* And the great things was that she was just as excited!!! Then I started trying to come up with ways that I could afford season tickets... How could I choose just one to go and see? Or two? Lets see now... I MUST see Peter Pan (some history there!)... A Midsummer Night's Dream (one of my favorite Shakespeare plays of all time!)... Alice in Wonderland (just cause, ya know! *L*) and A Streetcar Named Desire (because, yes... I'm 'odd' and actually quite enjoyed reading it in school... I get the 'odd' part from Tyler who really did not enjoy the read!)....

I don't know much about The Fiddle & The Drum... But I'm willing to learn as there is no packages that allow me to just see the ones that I really would like to see.... And, of course, if you're going to fork over the money to try and see the four in your top list you minus well pay for the 5-Pk Series! *L* This way I get to see my top choices AND see a new one! Yay!

Now... *ahem* about the price.... Check out pages 21 and 22... I'm not picky about where I sit... As long as I'm there and I can hear the music and view the dancing... It's the craft that I care more about then my status on seating arrangements..... I'd be more than happy to sit in the (6) BRONZE section (page 1 shows where this is... Use the number next to the name for the seating area)... Especially since the renovation of the Jubilee has made it so that no matter where you sit, it's still amazing!

I eventually called Tyler and told him about my interest in the upcoming season.... This was on his dinner break. By the time he was driving home from work on the highway I was on the phone with him telling him about my excitement for the shows and how if anyone (and I mean ANYONE) asks what to get me for my birthday.... "Tell them to pitch in for this!!! The 5-pk Bronze Season Tickets!"....

I'm excited.... VERY excited.... I'm not sure if I'll actually get the package for my birthday it is asking a lot... But I can dream, right? And hey, I suppose I could bargain to only see one... Or two plays if possible..... Humm.... But lets start at the top! ;)

SUMMER PROGRAMS GALORE!

Oh yes..... Today, this very special day...... I signed my girls up for summer programs!

After Tyler headed to work (night shift) I took the girls to the bank with me (my cheque came in and I had BIG plans for it!)... We cashed my cheque and headed on over to the:

BLACK GOLD CENTER

Where every child's summer dreams can come true.... Or something like that.

Since the day Emma was born I wanted to get her into swimming lessons... Unfortunately we just couldn't afford to, as well we didn't have a vehicle that I was driving to take her in (busing in the city in the middle of -40 weather was not my idea of a good time after a c-section)... Time passed and we had another child, Zoë! My dreams of getting them into swimming lessons seemed to get further and further away as now I had two children ages 2 and under and to take a class it had to be 1 on 1. This meant I would need someone to watch my other child while I was busy in the pool with the other one... Just wasn't going to happen!

So here we are over four years after Emma was born (almost three for Zoë!) and I just now signed them up for their very first swimming lessons ever!

*GAH!*

I'm very, VERY excited! Can you tell? I decided that I didn't want to actually take the course with Zoë (if you're under 3 you need to be in the pool with a guardian) so we held off on the lessons until she turns three (poor kid! *L*)... Emma will take her class right after Zoë's swimming lesson. I wanted them to be in the 5-5:30pm class (both classes ran at the same time) but it just wouldn't work with my work schedules (rehearsals tend to be Friday evenings so trying to do the swim class then get the girls to a sitter -usually on the north side of Edmonton from Leduc- and then be at the rehearsal would be suicide!)...

Anyhoo, so I get them signed up for the classes, and only one set as we're not sure how they will do -pass or not- and they do offer fall classes that I could put them into, and then they mention day camps....

DAY CAMPS!

HA!

Off I go with the little fold open flyer looking over all the courses... My goodness! If I could put them into every single one, I would!

Here's what we ended up with (please keep in mind I went to spend around $60 on swimming lessons, which BTW is SOOOOOOOO much cheaper than Edmonton!)....

Summer Tots - For kids 0 - 5 years & their parents. Friday’s 9:30 - 11:30 am $7/parent & child $3/additional child (So it'll be myself and Emma and Zoë)

August 1 - Super Duo Day: Parents and tots dress up as your favorite duo. Batman & Robin...Mickey & Minnie...

August 15 - Teddy Bear Picnic: Don’t forget your favorite furry friend as we head outside for a picnic.

Summer Preschool Program - Just for 4 & 5 year olds. Monday - Thursday 1:00 - 4:00 pm $8.50 or $9.50/child/dayOr $30.00/child for the whole week (Just Emma!)

WEEK 7 - Crafty $32.00 for the week
August 11 - Nature Crafts -Swimming included
August 12 - Super Hero Day
August 13 - Culinary Crafts -Swimming included.
August 14 - Visit to the Corn Maze

My water bugs July last year!

So we'll see how this goes... Hopefully Zoë will allow someone else to teach her how to swim while I sit by with Emma and watch.... I know Emma will have no problem with someone else teaching her how to swim... I just hope she pays enough attention to grasp how to swim!

I phoned Tyler and told him that I placed the girls into swimming lessons (I,uhh.... 'forgot' to mention the day camps... *ahem*... We'll cross that bridge when needed... *L*) and that they would be doing the class on their own... His only slight concern was with Zoë... Hopefully she'll be able to pull this off! So now we have a goal to do a whole lot of swimming in the next few weeks with the girls to get them used to their faces getting wet and such (this is where I could see Emma having a slight break-down.... Oh dear....)... And see if they need goggles for their lessons just to help cut down on the anxiety of face wetting so they can focus on having fun and learning!

I'll keep you posted!!!

PHOTOS!

Okay so they're not photos off of my camera yet (still have to download all the stuff onto the new computer before I can unload all of my photos... And believe me, there's a TON!)...

Anyhoo, these are from my cell (pardon the graininess of the photos... Old cell phone!) and I thought this might (maybe, possibly) be able to hold you over until I get the camera photos on here!


Zoë was in her car seat and we were driving home from our very first grocery trip in Leduc... She reached over, grabbed the middle seat belt and swung it... Smack right into her eye. She had a sweet black eye for awhile! (Just so happened that we had bought frozen veggies! I pulled over and placed those on her eye! *L*)

Along HWY39 (the entrance to our area) this was happening forever and at all hours of the day/night. They're making top soil. The girls loved watching this process! And then to our right (where we would park) they could also watch the sun set!

Hop-A-Long-Daddy-Slipper. The girls invented this neat thing... Each took a 'Daddy Slipper' and placed both of their feet into it. Then they would hop! Hours of fun!

One day we were looking after Brooke-Lyn (a new friend the girls have made from down the street. Brooke-Lyn will start Kindergarten at the same time as Emma. Rebecca-Lyn is Brooke-Lyn's older sister who is already in grade school!) came over while her Mommy went for an interview... We had a great time playing, having lunch and making Father Day's paintings. Zoe got a little bit close to the table looking at Brook-Lyn's picture and ended up wearing the plate of paint! *L* We had a shower right after this (too funny!).

So on Monday the 16th I finally took the girls to the park during the day! *L* Tyler and I brought the girls to this awesome park that is right by a lake and many walking/biking paths here... But there's were too many 'flying bugs' and they ended up screaming and crying. We went home.... *L* Anyways, this day turned out really well... It was SO hot! We played at the park (were actually on our way for groceries...) and then took a walk on the path. Zoë realized just how much she LOVES the swing!
Oh! Remind me to write a blog about the path walk.... CHAOS! Ugh...

This was taken on this cute little bridge Emma found along an "off-side" of the main paths.... That's the lake in the background.... (like you couldn't figure that one out yourselves.... :P)

Last night us girls had dinner on the back deck for the first time ever. Daddy and Uncle Conor had been busy building a deck for a client after Tyler got off work (a very long day for him)... So I was left to find whatever we had in our freezer... The girls loved it! Emma was begging to eat outside (and like I'm going to argue, she didn't care if there were bugs!) so we did! Perogies, Sour Cream, Fresh Dill, Jalapeno Cheese.... Yum!

Tonight I stood on our back deck (okay so I call our back deck just that -or deck- and our front deck the 'Veranda'.... This way you'll not be confused!) and watched this beautiful sunset! I'll be sad when they get around to building Phase 3 (not anytime soon though, Phase 2 isn't even 50% complete! *L*) but will like it when someone else gets hit with the high winds, snow, etc. first! ;)
Here's Zoë after brushing her teeth tonight.... Cute as can be! She had a "wand" that helped her dance... And a magnifying glass to, ya know, see things... *L*
My beautiful Emma under her leaf above her bed... She loves that leaf!

That's all for now.... Hope this will hold you over until I get all of my camera photos onto this new computer!

Motherhood

You Know Your a Mom When...
1. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
2. You find yourself cutting your husbands' sandwiches into cute shapes.
3. You can't bear to give away baby clothes - it's so final.
4. You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"
5. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.
6. You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.
7. You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything

I found this on the I-net and just had to post it! Recently I've been dealing with number 3 a lot. I'm finally starting to unpack our boxes and have come across one too many boxes of kids clothing (and I only have two! *L*).... As well... Number 7 I feel often... But it's true, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

How about? Any of these ring true to you?