It's a Zog World!

Last One?

2011-11-07T01:05:00.001-07:00

Okay so am I the only person out there that does NOT own a PVR?? Yes, apparently I'm "old fashioned".... If I don't make it home in time for my much anticipated show, I miss it.... And hope to goodness that there's a rerun later on!

Yes, this is a pain in my butt... Especially considering how often I am away from home.... With sports almost every night of the week for my girls I actually had to plan a "Mommy Night" (Thursday's of course) in order to watch my shows. NOTHING happens this day of the week.... It's wonderful! *L*

Anyways... I just wondered if I was the only person around that doesn't have this magical PVR thing.... *L* ;P

Goodbye Wisdom....

2011-10-25T14:30:00.000-06:00

TEETH!

After years of up and down through my gums, causing the dreaded cankers every time (that would last weeks), making my neck lymph nodes swell up every time (as if I was sick) and sore to eat.... Extra Strength Advil may take a hit in the Stocks since I had these taken out last Friday! *L*

Thank goodness!

2 of 4 were removed after a couple of cute pink pills that calmed my nerves. After an hour wait (for the pills to kick in) within 5-10 minutes these suckers were ripped out of me and I was ready to go! Honestly, the worst part of the whole thing was that my reaction to the pills was my temperature dropping.... So a blanket was needed to warm me up to cut on the shivering before the procedure (could you imagine??! Yikes!)...

Afterwards Tyler and I went for a yummy lunch (butternut squash ravioli) and then home.... I slept while he picked up the girls from school and took them to skating and dinner.

All in all everything has gone well, recovery was nothing (just dealing with cankers where my two needles were given and where the holes are right now and my swollen lymph nodes).... But heck I'll take it! No T3's needed (which I react to anyways), no excessive bleeding (stopped on the way to lunch).... Yeah, it was awesome!

And did you look at those things?? Holes all the way down, chipped off, all around gross. Blah! *L*

So that was my weekend, how was yours??! ;)

Super Saturday!!

2011-10-24T00:51:00.001-06:00

Personalize a free newsletter design

Test

2011-10-14T21:55:00.001-06:00

Just seeing if this works from my phone... Hope so!

DELAY!

2011-10-14T00:48:00.000-06:00

I must apologize for not getting my 'Theme Thursday' out yesterday (I'm writing this at 12:45am).... I'll finish it up tonight and post it!!!

See you later tonight!!

Heads Up!

2011-10-06T20:48:00.000-06:00

Just a heads up.... Sweetest Day is on the 15th.... More info to come next week!!

Theme Thursday

2011-10-06T01:42:00.001-06:00

PIRATES!

This weeks theme (and first one ever!!!) is Pirates!

Why?

No Clue! *L* Was just the first thing that popped into my head when I was thinking of a theme!

Let's begin with Invites....

Ahoy!

Will be personalized for your needs! Etsy $12 cdn!

(Not just for boys ya know!!! ;P)

Decor & Printables:

How cool is this??!!

This is actually made for a foldable square table!

Thank you Etsy for this find!! And think, pull it off and you have your table for your pirate meal! ;P

I'm sure even I could sew this! And that's saying a lot! *L*

Photo Booth fun!! $34 cdn on Etsy, I'm sure you all could make these too!

GAH!!!! I want this just for everyday usage! *L*

Banner is actually printable! Etsy $9 cdn!

For the girls!

Printables from Etsy!

More Printables!

Well if you're going to run with a theme....!

Neat right??!

Which brings us into Food!

How can you go wring with this? Chocolate chip eye patch! *L*

Sandwich!

Celery, Cream Cheese, Raisins and Carrots!

Using those printables again!

This is soooo cool!

Outfits:

I absolutely adore this outfit!!! <3

A hat for the occasion! You'll NEED to steal some gold for the price of it! *L*

I like this. Not to much, calm, and yet looks wonderful!

For the man of the household... Steal of a deal on Etsy for $64 cdn!

$26 cdn on Etsy!!

Just a different version...

How cute is she??!

Grab Bags:

I love this idea!! For the girls...

For the boys!

They could even use these during the party!!

Cakes & Cookies:

I love these!!

Bedroom:

From Home & Garden

More of modern twist to the pirate theme...

To diiiiiieeeeee forrrrrrrr!!!

Tell me this isn't cool, go ahead, try! *L*

And yet there's some Ikea in there too!

I love this theme.... No clue why! *L*

Much of the above can be made by you and your family! *L* While some can be bought online (click on photo/description for link) or at your local party store...

And the bedroom items are just for fun... Unless you really, really want to spend that much on a bed... *ahem*

But hey, it's a theme that is good for all ages!!

Other fun ideas are:

So simple yet perrrrrrfect!

Land Ho!

Treasure Search!

Cork Boats

Introducing......

2011-10-05T12:21:00.000-06:00

THEME THURSDAY!

Every Thursday (*fingers crossed*) I will post a new theme.... This can be anything from motivation, parties, weather, furniture, etc.

Then you'll get to read it.

And maybe even see photos.....

As well, you might even enjoy them! *L*

So hang onto your socks (or toes if not wearing socks....) for tomorrow's post!!

*if you have a suggestion for a theme, I'd love to hear it! Send me a email, FB message, or thoughts in the comments here and I'll see what I can do!

Do you have a secret?

2011-10-05T00:56:00.000-06:00

What are 10 things you have in the back of your mind that you hardly tell anyone? They don't all have to be positive things (honestly, read mine).... Care to share? Let me start!

1) I sometimes find myself jealous of my Husband.... I know he's away from home most of the month working hard to support our family... This is something we both agreed was best at this time in our lives for our family.... To get ahead.... But I sometimes find myself a little jealous that he doesn't have the "everyday routines" like I do. Wake up, kids up, ready for school, fed, to school, running around, pick up, sports (5 of 7 days), volunteering (I actually quite enjoy this), fed again, showers, reading, special one-on-one time, bed, cleaning, more work, etc.. It's the days when he gets to run into the City up there, have dinner with buddies from work, go swimming or a movie, shop without little ones tagging along ('cause we all know how well that can go), listen to live music at a pub (and be the DD! A bonus as he actually remembers it all, not like the others! *L*)...... Not have to worry about sitters, or feeling guilty for using family as a sitter..... Yup.

2) Implants. I honest to goodness dream of having breast implants. I always have.... Then having kids (or the after effects) made me dream harder about this. Or at least a lift. I've done my part for our family, can't I improve myself here??! *L*

3) I sometimes yearn for a larger family. I originally wanted four children, one for each season. We started with Winter, moved onto Summer..... Then built a house. Decided we would have a five year plan.... Then have our next two (that way I would be able to give them one-on-one time while the older two were at school).... 5 years came and went and I realized that I now wanted to travel, have "extra" spending money for my children, do things for them that I may not have been able to experience as a child... But every once and awhile I still yearn to have more. I would love to have a houseful of children running around.... What joy! What stress! *L* But I can see how parents of more then four say 'You tend to see the humor in things more often.... And not stress as much as you did with one or two children'. I'd like that.

4) I love, love, love speed. I love race cars and motorcycles. I love dreaming of being a race car driver (I have my whole life). Would I ever try? Maybe..... But I'd probably end up not doing it and watching my Husband try.... As I feel I have to be practical.... And alive for my children. *L* But do I dream of these things? EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

5) I'm a horrible parent. I'm busy all the time, I don't always care to play make-believe, I don't cook (so now they lack those skills too), I hate cleaning (and yet another skill they will lack)... Yup, my children will be well driven (do you know how much volunteering I do??! *L*) and have maids, cooks, and probably nannies. *sigh*

6) I want more. Is that bad? It might be because I'm a natural planner.... Which can be good but usually ends up playing the negative for me. I want to be in our next house, I want a big backyard (an acreage might do), I want my girls to have all life experiences they can, I want to have a trampoline, climbing rope, balance beam for Zoe to practice her gymnastics (I actually asked Tyler for a balance beam in our basement, see what I mean?!), I want Emma to have the private skating lessons on top of her already three times a week group lessons in skating, I want my Husband home all the time (and yet to make the same amount of money as we do now), I want to have a photography business.... I want, I want, I want. I know, THAT part is bad.

7) I would be alright being a hermit, living in the middle of nowhere doing my photography.... Until I needed (no, craved) other human interactions. Then I'd need to stay at our second place in the City... *L*

8) There have been struggles. There has been less Church. Enough said.

9) I don't care for eye contact. It scares me. I push through this often, but still.... Don't care for it.

10) Public speaking + I = Not a good pair. Does anyone remember me giving my shaky speech at Sarah and Conor's wedding? Uggghhh..... I would have been able to fake it except my hand holding the microphone wouldn't stop shaking. And yet, controlling a bunch of actors as a Stage Manager is nothing. Or running the Parents' Association Meetings, cinch.

(Oh yes, I'm going to continue!)....

11) I'm lazy. I feel like I'm lazy all the time. I feel like I don't do enough, and it shows in my house.

12) I daydream about what I would be doing right now if I wasn't married or had kids (not always those two together).... I'd probably be drunk (TOTALLY kidding! *L*).... But I would hang out with friends at any hour, see the newest movies, go to concerts, travel all over, enjoy the wine in Italy, Ouzo in Greece, sleep in on weekends, etc. And still volunteer, just not at an elementary school I suppose... *L*

13) I love Cardston. It's calm there, or at least that's where I say my calmness is. I find peace there whenever I go.... I actually crave going there some days. AND I love my in-laws, so that's a bonus (as they live there)! I've actually done trips to their place without Tyler in tow as I've wanted to go there so badly and see them! I'm quite lucky for this and realize that every day.

14) I sometimes think that it would be good for us as a family to move away from where everyone else is. Make our own traditions, start someplace new, have no 'other' pressures around..... And it would have to be somewhere warm during the Winter. I'm tired of shovelling snow.

15) I dislike confrontation. I'd prefer to avoid it at almost any cost.... But have gotten better in the last few years with it, maybe being Chair of the PA is paying off! ;P

16) I feel guilty for not moving faster on a certain business plan. I don't know what I want to be when I get older (yeah, yeah).... I feel uneducated and like the only thing I'm half-way good at is being a Mom. And a volunteer. I'm sorry that I don't know when I want to start that up. I like my life right now, I like volunteering like a mad-person, and running my children around... I feel like I'm letting people down.

17) I'm afraid of hearing what negative things people will say or not say (yay even better, you think it every time you see me) about this post. But I've come to learn that in order for me to move forward in my life, I need to let go.... And sometimes that means blogging my secrets.

18) I truely hope you challenge yourself to this. Let me know if you do.

<3

Family Nights

2011-09-04T17:49:00.000-06:00

This year I vow to have one night a week where it's just for my girls and I (and maybe Tyler if he's home... ;P)...

Now in reality (and my scheduling alone) this is not likely to happen every week, but hey, at least I'm willing to try!

So far on our schedules we have this:

Monday:

Swimming (Both girls, two different times.... Ugh)

Tuesday:

Gymnastics
Skating
**My Skating Meetings (Usually every month)

Wednesday:

Swimming (different times!)
Dance
*Activity Days (Starting after Emma's 8th Birthday...)
**My PA Meetings (Only 4 a year)

Thursday:

NOTHING! I call this one 'Mommy Night' (Will explain later)

Friday:

Skating

Saturday:

Skating

September is a bit random with only some of the programs starting for the girls (others in October), Registration Nights for skating (3 of them on separate weeks), the schools AGM (held on a Tuesday), etc.

Then during the school year we must not forget to add in the Volunteering that I do that doesn't always only happen during the day....

And on top of that I have Consignment Meets (let alone the insane amount of hours to sort, photograph, post and label/price, pack and load).... AND trying to run a up-and-coming photography business (oh yes!) while still being a Wedding & Event Coordinator! Ha!

Anyways, enough about that....

Monday's will be our 'Family Night'.... Thursday's are to be 'Mommy Night' (i.e. Grey's!)....

Oh! Yes, so some of you may have noticed that swimming is on Monday's... Well that's only until November-ish.... Unless we would like to continue onto the next class...

So (sorry about the long winded explanation above) I thought I would post ideas for family nights.... And hey, maybe you'll be able to pull your own night/day/afternoon/weekend/hour/10 minutes/etc. off as well and let me know how it went!

Let me know how you feel about this idea.... I would love to hear if your family has already been practicing this, how it's been going for you, and if you haven't been.... Maybe we could make a pact to do at least 4 Family Nights (or whichever) by the end of this year.....

*Side Note: My next post will discuss the naming of these nights, scheduling, etc. I know, you're excited right?!! ;P

Details. It's all about the details, right??!

2011-09-04T02:18:00.000-06:00

Is it awful that I'm drawn to detail shots?

How the necklace sits on a collarbone.... How each cupcake was placed with such care to be in the exact way it's supposed to be for the drama? How a hairpin can make or break the hairstyle?

I LOVE details. Colors of shoes (usually hidden under a lovely wedding dress until photo time!), florals, food.... Oh the food! If I could take photos of food all day, I would!!!

Rings, dress (lacing it!), smiles, eye make-up, earrings, hands, sign-in book, love notes, favors, chair ties (oh the knots/bows!), chargers (if you were able to afford them!), the cake (oh gosh, yum!), the guests, the chandeliers (if you had them!).... The runner, the pew balls, the aisle, the invitations, the RSVP cards, the seating chart (endless hours putting that together!), the place cards, the specialty drink (that you designed), the candy table, the lingerie, the something blue.... oh gosh I could go on all day (or night I suppose)... All the things that YOU put so much time into, all the little details, that maybe to all of your guests noticed.... But I understand.... Those are what really pulls your wedding together. Maybe this is from many years of wedding planning?

Don't get me wrong, I love taking photos of humans too.... But I keep finding myself drawn to the details.

Think there's any way I could make some money out of detail only shots? Maybe throw in some candid photos too??!! *L*

*sigh* Finding myself as a photographer is a harder road then I imagined... A good one, but it has some slight turns in it that I wasn't expecting....

Humm....

Mope.

2011-08-29T20:32:00.000-06:00

I should be on a plane right now....

I should be making my way to Greece (already transferred at Montreal and on the long flight to Athens)...

I should be partying it up with these wonderful folks:

~En route to Athens!~

But instead I'm writing my 'mope' moment for all you poor souls to read while I plan out the school year and get the paperwork ready for the AGM Meeting on the 13th as well as trying to figure out the girls extracurricular activity schedule without riping my hair out (and still having money to feed, clothe and drive them places! *L*)....

I do hope that everyone has enjoyed their summers though, we sure did! Eventually I'll get around to blogging about it all... Maybe I'll have to take a day a week only for blogging (Ha! Two kids in full time school, yay!)....

More soon-ish!

NS Giveway!! Dail Decals!

2011-04-13T02:33:00.000-06:00

COME ONE COME ALL..... Or better yet, head on over to Natalie's Sentiments for her giveaway today!

$25 gift certificate to Dail Decals!!

They have some pretty awesome items from these neat 'image wrap' canvas... Where the image wraps around the side of the border (so cool!).... To wall decals!

Chalkboard Hangman

In This Home

Image Wrap on Canvas (examples)

Fun Creature of the Sea

Also: Natalie is having a 'Mother's Day Giveaway Week'!! It's open to all US and Canadian residents!! Geee!! April 10th-16th, keep her in mind!!

NS's GIVEAWAY!!

2011-04-10T23:58:00.000-06:00

Hey All!

Head on over to Natalie's Sentiment's for the mot recent giveaway on her blog...

It's a $25 gift certificate to Truche!! They have some of the most wonderful items!!! Check them out!

In order to be entered you have to comment on Natalie's blog about the giveaway... There's 'rules' t the end of the blog to get more chances to win!!

Also: Natalie is having a 'Mother's Day Giveaway Week'!! It's open to all US and Canadian residents!! Geee!! April 10th-16th, keep her in mind!!

R-E-L-A-X!

2011-04-10T16:21:00.000-06:00

Ooooooo!!!

Summer is ahead of us (somewhere, I just KNOW it is!)... And I may just have to fork over the money for one of these!!

*For those of you who love all thing girlie... I did see a bright pink option on website!

The cost comes in about $400 Canadian but honestly, look at this thing!! It's something the whole fmily could enjoy!! And there's noting better then laying around on a hot, sunny day with the family... Unless you have the sprinkler going as well!!

Check out My Urban Child for more amazing finds!!

Fatboy Headdemock Hammock by Fatboy: The Fatboy Headdemock Hammock has been an outdoor piece furniture that everyone loves. As seen on the MTV/Real World house in Sydney Australia, the Saturn Outback Lounge at Town Lift during the Sundance Film Festival, NEA Read Across America in New York City, and the Red Bull Air Show in San Diego! The Headdemock hammock is the ultimate outdoor piece of furniture to relax, for singles and for families. The Headdemock hammock is the ideal place for a siesta or to relax. The oversized dimensions, a typical feature of the fatboy look, will give any garden, verandah, living room, or office extra cachet. It has plenty of room for one, two, or even three people. The Fatboy headdemock is made from practical and easy to clean material with special water and stain-resistant coating.

Features:
*Easy to clean material with a special water and stain-resistant coating.
*Filled with virgin polystyrene beads for the most comfort and versatility.
*The internal frame around the fabric offers extra stability for the amply filled mattress.
*Includes a free-standing frame for indoor and outdoor use.
*Packed in a practical bag with handles for convenience.
*Available in black, lime green, orange, red, sand, taupe, turquoise and white.

Who: Manufactured by Fatboy

Dimensions (inches): 110" W x 55" D.

Materials: Made from either nylon or polyester that is coated with PVC.

LOOOOOOOOOOVE washed away...

2011-04-09T00:39:00.000-06:00

I'm in loooooooove.....

Let me start with the new Delta Touch Faucet... It's amazing! I'm sure you've all seen the ads on TV.....

Delta Pilar Touch Pull-Down Faucet

Cost? $399.99 in Canada... *ahem*

Info:

•Start and stop the flow of water with just a tap anywhere on the spout or handle

•Exclusive MagnaTite™ spray head docking ensures a snug fit of the wand

•32" minimum supply lines below the deck included

•Convenient and attractive in any kitchen

•Includes Touch-Clean technology with soft, rubber nubbins which allow you to easily wipe away calcium and lime build-up with the touch of a finger

----

The second thing that I am currently in looooooooove with is the Delta two-in-one handshower... My world stopped for a moment when I saw this commercial.... And when I recovered from the awesomeness of the body paint coming of the people I realized just how much I NEED this!

Delta In2ition® Two-In-One Shower Model Number: 58045

Cost? $140.85us

Traditional In2Ition Two-In-One Shower by Delta Product Features and Benefits:

Timeless design for today s homes Simple, elegant lines complement traditional décor Integrated showerhead and handshower

Upgrade your shower experience quickly and easily Showerhead flows 2.5 gpm @ 80 psi, 9.5 L/min @ 552 kPa Handshower flows 2.5 gpm @ 80 psi, 9.5 L/min @ 552 kPa

Lifetime Faucet and Finish Warranty Key

User Submitted Questions and Answers:

Q: Do I need a special Rough-In Valve? A: No, the Delta In2Itions showers are designed to be used with any rough in and almost any shower, they attach directly to your existing shower arm or outlet.

Q: What comes with the Delta In2Itions Showers: A: The Delta In2Itions showers come complete with Shower Arm, Shower Flange, Shower Head, Hand Shower, Hose... More, Shower Arm Diverter and All Attachment Hardware.

Delta Smart Features:

In2ition Flow Rate:2.5 gpm @ 80 psi, 9.5 L/min @ 552 kPa

Spray Settings:

Full Body Spray / Fast Massage / Slow Massage / Massaging Full Body Spray / Pause

----

LOOOOOOOOOOVE!

I have already explained to Tyler (in a wife-we're-going-to-get-these-or-at-least-the-handshower-thingy) how much I really, really, REALLY like these products.

For now, I'm totally on team Delta!!!

Take my breath...

2011-04-08T22:38:00.000-06:00

... To Ireland!

EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

Every single time I see these photos I realize that I'm holding my breath.... And just before that I had gasped....

Some of you may think this odd.... It is just a library after all....

I.LOVE.IT.

My heart belongs in a library.... I love every single thing about them... The quiet; The knowledge right there in front of you.... The smell of the paper grasped in the spine...

*sigh*

And this... THIS is an amazing library that I WILL get to one day! Let me introduce you to the Old Library at Temple College in Dublin, Ireland!

These are of the Long Room.... Honestly, I get chills thinking about it!

Check them out!

Who wouldn't be thrilled to the bone to be surronded by all of THAT??!!

GEEEEE!!!

Yay for Eww??!

2011-03-31T14:38:00.001-06:00

Today we're off to our local McDonald's.... The one with the Play Place....

1) Eww. As much fun as these thing are for my kids..... Eww.

2) Please, please, PLEASE don't allow us to catch anything.

3) Can I sneak in my Wendy's Salad without them noticing? Humm....

4) Please let it be fairly calm, or at least no screaming-non-stop-angry-at-the-world-children-whose-parents-don't-care....

5) Please let my children get along and have fun. Because in the end, that's what matters!

The super fun part of this all is the fact that Emma has gone to school with the Owners younger kid since Kindergarten! I do have to give them credit for their hard work towards making this McDonald's an actual 'family friendly' location. The seating outside of the play place is more grown-up (think calming marble type items) with a TV area (sports, news, etc.) and such.... And the kid area has bright colors and is made exactly for them! The building is always clean and the workers seem actually happy to work there! The other day I met a friend of mine there with her children and she mentioned how she thought this location was usually cleaner then the others we know of... So yay!

So we're off... For an hour or so of fun... Then food shopping and home to clean.... Tomorrow is another super busy day, with the major bonus being that Tyler will arrive home in the wee hours of the morning!

If you could....

2011-03-30T23:36:00.000-06:00

Travel the world....

Where would you go?

I'm thinking that any major travels I do from here on end I'm going to live by this:

It would be a major thing for me as I'm terrified of drowning (honestly! Do you know how many different stages there are before death??! Ack!).... But I've always wanted to sky dive!

And for those of you who have young ones.... Travelling may be a pain (ha, ha, ha.... right)... But this (above) could help! Check it out here!

Breakfast for Dinner??!

2011-03-30T20:16:00.000-06:00

I love, love, LOVE breakfast for dinner.... Maybe it's because I hardly ever eat a proper breakfast in the morning.... *L*

Today it was a simple one of Honey Nut Cheerios and Potato Patties! Yum!

We had a lot of fruit and veggies for lunch (we had a lunch date with our friends!!) so I didn't feel that girls needed that added onto their meal! ;P

Doing an image search I came across this:

I.WANT.IT!

What fun would that be in the morning? And wouldn't it be prepping the girls for when they go away to University and they have these in the cafeteria (like in Gilmore Girls.... Anyone??!?! *L*)???!

Do you have a favorite Breakfast for Dinner meal??

The Lorax

2011-03-30T14:42:00.000-06:00

'The Lorax'... One of our all-time favorites of Dr. Seuss in our household....

Tyler still owns (and we have read for endless hours to the girls) his original copy of 'The Lorax'...

And yes, there's the old movie version of it that was used in many classes growing up to teach about environmental issues... But now.... Now they're making a BRAND. NEW. VERSION!

2012!!!

It looks good! Or the stills do at least.... And the cast isn't half bad either! You can check it all out at IMDB.

I can promise you that the girls and I (and Tyler if he's home) will be one of the first in line for tickets to this movie..... I can't wait!!!

(Home) Movie Day 1

2011-03-30T02:25:00.000-06:00

Today was 'Home Movie Day'.... Nothing was really accomplished (well.... I cleaned out Emma's entire room, went through all of her toys and replaced the 'baby' one with new 'big girl' toys..... Humm....) and it was... good!

The girls let me really sleep in again today (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) as we've worked out this silent deal. I leave Mommy-Approved snacks on the kitchen counter (so, ya know, things that won't go bad out of the fridge! ;P) and they don't come into my room every half an hour asking for permission to eat a certain snack, etc. It's worked wonders! By the time I rolled out of bed (today was noon! NOON!!!) they're happily playing together with the TV on in the background, music playing on the computer and make-believe in full swing!

Today a fort was finished as it was bedtime before Emma could finish her masterpiece the night before.... The girls were playing nicely together and I had only hear "NOOOOoooooo!" a handful of times before I made it downstairs from my wonderful bed! *L*

We ate (and they weren't starving, I promise!), cleaned up a little and then they went right back into make-believe. We did take a moment to do some crafts... Which is always a bonus for me as they make me a ton of items!! Emma wore her skating costume and Zoe put on an adorable dress (seen to the right of this post in her 2010 photo)... I didn't see them for hours!

As agreed the night before, I put on a movie they both really wanted to watch (Pixar Short Films), gave them popcorn and headed upstairs to start into Zoe's room.... However I did get sidetracked in Emma's room! *LOL*

Once Pixar was done the girls asked if they could watch another movie... Sure, why not? After heartbreak for Zoe (Emma won the guessing which number I had behind my back) we popped in Barbie's Swan Lake.... I headed back upstairs to finish up my mess I had made and could hear the girls dancing (full out!) in the living room... *L*

Afterwards it was dinner, wash and chill time. I know, I know... How much more 'chill' could we get??! *L* We made some more pictures for some family members chatting the whole time. My girls baffle me some days but today they were just plain amusing! :D

Daddy called on Skype right after dinner and was able to talk to the girls briefly between their projects! *L* Then it was bedtime.... Tonight it consisted of hours of book reading together... The girls that is. Emma loves to read to Zoe, and Zoe loves it right back! It's the one time that I know, no matter how hard our day has been.... They'll behave in order not to lose out on their Sister time!

All in all, it was a good day! I look forward to tomorrow's activities: Lunch with our friends, some shopping and possibly swimming... And Zoe's movie (TinkerBell) of course!

Comic Fear??!! L

2011-03-29T03:29:00.000-06:00

Is there one thing that you haven't introduce your child/ren to for fear that it may..... Encourage them? I mean, in the wrong way?!! *L*

I have this silly fear about the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. I personally love it... I love how creative Calvin is... How he has a never-ending friendship with his best-friend (Hobbes)... How the parenting style isn't perfect.... I really love it....

Yet I fear it! *L* My girls are wonderful. I love them to pieces and maybe that's why I haven't introduced them to Calvin and Hobbes yet...

We've already had one to many trips to the ER.... And that's before the girls have seen Calvin and Hobbes making ramps for their sled in the winter time, or whipping down a huge hill in their wagon... And I can only imagine the creative snow people they would make up! *LOL*

I think tonight there will be some late night dancing.... And our neighbors can do the asking (to me) like in the last comic above.... *L*

(And I'll let you know when I finally introduce the girls to the wonderfully creative and imaginative world of Calvin and Hobbes!)

G-O-L-D!

2011-03-28T15:50:00.000-06:00

Skating post again...

Emma had her VERY FIRST SKATING TEST DAY on Thursday...

We read the e-mail that listed all the times being tested and decided if she really wanted to do it.... She did, even though we had no clue what half the items were! *L*

We talked about the different medals you could be placed in, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit. After much explanation of what 'Merit' was I felt satisfied that she would be alright not "placing" in this event.... As long as she had fun, that's all that mattered to me.

The day came and it happened to be one of my busiest days ever. I ran errands and met up with a long time friend before picking Zoe up from school.... We then rushed in to meet my Mom at the wedding dress shop in Sherwood Park where she ended up placing her orders (Geeeee!!)... We then grabbed lunch for 30 mins and rushed back into Leduc... On the way I had to call Andy (who was coming to see Emma do her test) and get him to pick up Emma as I was that behind schedule! *L* Thankfully I had thought to grab her skating bag before leaving the house in the morning, so we were good to go.

With 10 minutes before being on the ice Emma showed up and we got her changed, skates on, hair done and on the ice!

I didn't take photos during the test... I could have but decided that was the last thing Emma needed, the 'skating Mom'.... *L*

She came up after her test (which seemed to have gone well) and announced that she got gold....

GOLD!!!

Ha! I was so thrown off I had no clue what to say!! So instead, I bought her a root beer! *LOL*

I am so very proud of my big girl.... She's growing so quickly before my eyes.... Even though I'm with them 24-7 I feel like I'm missing out on so much! *L* Crazy right??!

Congratulations to my Emma.... A 'Gold' is exactly what she deserved after ll of her hard work! <3

Carnival!

2011-03-28T14:54:00.000-06:00

I'll do my best to keep this post short as being Carnival Chair for the first time ever was..... a struggle. *L*

In the end it was worth it.... But only when I saw the excitement on the children's faces and how proud they were of themselves when they came off the ice and were telling their families about it afterwards!

I need to apologize for my photo qualities.... I was running around all day and realized that I should try to take a few photos of the girls somewhere in there.... *L* Being sick I didn't fully realize how bad it turned out! Ack!

Emma in 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

Zoe in 'Stayin' Alive'

I love how well Emma did on her Spiral in her photo!! And Zoe is actually smiling in her photo!!! Geee!

For far better quality photos, please go here to see DEZ Photography's photos of our 'Rewind Through Time' Carnival.... Emma is Group 9 and Zoe is Group 14.

Farewell LFSC Carnival.... May we not have to deal with you again anytime in the near future! *L*

*You can click on my photos for a larger version!

Heartbroken Greece.

2011-03-28T01:21:00.000-06:00

I am heartbroken.... And it's my own fault.

My Mom and Andy announced their engagement almost a year ago.... Through l the excitement it was also announced that they would be getting married in Greece... Where Andy's family is from. How could we not be excited?

Hubby has been working his butt off in the field for the last few years, with while year at Suncor North of Fort McMurray. During the busy times it tends to be 24/4 schedule (24 gone 4 home) and in the slower months (ie: Winter) it's been 10/4. We knew that this year we would be having a very good tax return.... So we started to plan for our trip to Greece in September!

We realized quickly that the girls would not be able to attend with us as I could not get over the idea of them missing school right off the bat. Emma will be in Grade 3 (Government testing year) and Zoe in Grade 1 (a HUGE step from Kindergarten!)..... We were lucky enough to be able to work it out with Hubby's parents to come and move into our place while we were in Greece for two weeks.... And it was also working out in our favor that we would have two full days of school with the girls (so we could take them on the first day and such) before we would have to head off on our flights... Yay!

I started arranging the paperwork (the office workers at the school said they would do everything in their power to have the miles of paperwork we fill out every year ready for the first day if not before school started for me to sign and fill out before we left.... That way no one else would have to worry about it while we were gone)..... I knew which programs I could not help with on the school's Parents' Association (which I am the Chair of)... I knew that my Vice Chair would have to run the Annual AGM at the school and started to prep her for that job (not a little task)..... I was on it!

The only thing I struggled with was spending that amount of money on something that our whole family couldn't make it to (Us and the Girls)... But after being reassured by my wonderful Husband that it would all work out, I moved forward with the planning. During all of this I was also still planning our family holiday for December 2011 (they were engaged Spring 2010) which also included all friends and family that wanted to join in (THIS is very important to me as we have not done a 'family' trip anywhere in our entire marriage and it would be our girls first time on a plane!).... Only rule was that it had to be somewhere HOT, and a trip to Toronto for our friends (their blog here) wedding in July! I was sooooo very excited for our "Year of Trips".....

Somewhere in there my Mom and Andy realized that their parents were unable to make it to Greece because of health reasons.... So they decided to throw another wedding (full out!) here at home.... But a themed one (think Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice).... It's going to be lovely! So in August we have the home-based all out wedding and in September there's the Greece wedding (where they will legally sign all the papers and such)....

Dresses for both weddings were being picked, shoes, hair.... And that was just for the Bridal Party! *L*

All was going well (besides the usually bump in planning two weddings and such) until a few months ago when the Hubby had his 'freak out' (but, ya know, a man freak out..... So more of a deeply concerned one)..... I didn't understand, we had been through this (remember my freak out early into the planning??!).... All was promised to work out. We could do this, we had the money lined up..... I don't understand!

All at once my world began to spin..... Hubby and I chatted about it and decided not to 'freak out' about it until we 1) had more information on the full costs of the Greece trip and 2) got our tax return. A mini-meeting was set up with Mom and Andy to discuss the costs.... It didn't look good in our favor... I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel start to get dim....

During the next month Hubby and I started to discuss our options... What would be in our best interest? Where would the money be best spent? How much of our debt could be paid off with it all..... How much of a down payment could be put into a new house..... Etc. It also was brought to my attention that going to Greece might knock out any trips we had planned for the year...

I gave up on looking at dresses and such for the Greece wedding. I lost all hope.

Shortly after losing all hope Hubby gave me a bit of it back... He had been talking to the guys at work and our tax return was starting to sound a lot higher then we (or I at least) had expected.... The light in the tunnel started up again!

I felt good about looking at dresses for Greece again and helping Mom make decisions for the destination again.... And so life went on for a bit....

And then we all got sick. I ended up with Bronchitis and a major sinus infection causing vertigo. Each girl ended up with two different strains of this horrible cold/flu and missed two weeks of school... Hubby, who had been home only for a few days and back at work, ended up coming home after being diagnosed with a lung infection and sinus infection... He missed a week and a half of work. We were very, very ill. My Mom had to come and rescue me while Hubby was still trying to go to work up there.... This whole story is for a whole other blog... But we all were very ill. Thankfully the girls recovered quicker then us, my Mom hung out with us for days straight and took care of everything here while I couldn't focus let alone remember to feed my kids! *L*

Hubby came home right around the time I started to feel slightly human again so I could take care of him.... I was planning our girls Figure Skating Clubs year end Carnival throughout all of this too.... And the weekend after Hubby came home the Carnival happened.... I was sick, exhausted, and still in charge! *L* During my illness I lost all feelings towards Greece, Carnival, etc. and went into survival mode. Thank goodness as I think that's the only way I survived controlling the Carnival dress rehearsal and performance day!

Once Carnival was over and we had a full day to rest, the girls went back to school and Hubby started on our taxes.....

You can imagine my stress. It was the first year in our entire marriage where we had not gone to our tax guy to have them done.... And it was the year that I felt like everything for our upcoming trips was riding on. And then the final result came in.... Our tax return was one of the best that we have ever received... But after paying off some debt we were left with the exact amount that would get us to Greece and pay for our staying there. Now we really had decisions to make. Do we go? It is my Mom's only wedding in her lifetime and it's the one where they're signing the real wedding papers.... But do we not have the money for other responsible things like: Buying a new house; buying newer vehicles; taking a family holiday; having that extra money just in case we have a slow time at work and need to live off of it...??!!

One word: GUILT.

It was a no-win situation either way. People were bound to be hurt, sad, heartbroken, maybe even upset. This sucks.

Please understand that this was not a light decision to make.... Hubby and I had talked about this topic for months.... I had to honestly sit down with myself and decide how I felt about all the situations involved before we did our taxes.... And thankfully I got sick, strange I know to 'thank' for this but..... It gave me the time I needed to start sorting things out in my head. I knew after Hubby did his 'freak out' that I needed to be mature about this decision. I needed to be practical and a Mommy first. I needed to think for our whole family and what would be best for them. After I realized all of that about myself I knew what I had to do. We had to put that money aside and save it. We couldn't go to Greece. We could not see my Mother get married for the one and only time in her life.... We could not take a once-in-a-lifetime trip without the girls.... We just couldn't do it. Once my practical side comes out it's pretty hard to push it aside. I needed to be a 'Mother'. I needed to think for my children's benefits before my 'I wanna have fun and enjoy an amazing trip with my Hubby and see my Mom get married' side of me. I needed to stay home.

I needed to break the news to my Mother and not fall apart while doing it. I needed to be at peace with my decision... Our decision. After much talk, Hubby and I did come to the same conclusions. Neither of us are thrilled about it, but it's what's best for our family. It's heartbreaking.

News was broken to those who needed to know. Sadness happened. Mom realized that she no longer had a photographer (as I was to be it which was a total bonus for my company)... Everyone ended up in the no-win situation.

It's been a week since we realized that we could not go to Greece. 6 days since I broke the news to Mom..... And tonight I broke down. I have tried to be the strong one.... It was our decision, it was the right decision for our family..... Hubby is back up North at work and I'm left here breaking the news. That's our life.... He's working hard to provide for our family, I run things at home, keep the girls active and such.... We made goals before he started working in the field and we're reaching those goals.... We must stay on track....

I went wedding dress shopping with my Mom this week (twice!) and was privileged enough to be there when we found both her Home dress AND her Greece dress! What a wonderful experience that was! I'm so lucky to be able to say that I was a part of that and in a sense, I will be in Greece! (I cried at that dress!)....

But today I realized that I'm going to be lost on September 10th.... What do I do? I'm not in Greece, standing on top of a mountain at a historic monastery watching my Mother, who of all people deserves to be marrying the one and only man who has really captured her heart, marry Andy...

I'll be here. Probably in crappy weather.... Planning the Welcome Back BBQ for the school.

When I force myself to see the bright side of it all (Ha! Right.....) I come up with:

Don't have to rush on those school forms

Can now run the Welcome Back BBQ for the school. It's no small feat.

Get to get the girls into their school routine... Mornings, busing, etc.

Don't have to stress about what's happening at the AGM, how it's going for my Vice-Chair, etc. I'll be running it.

No longer need Hubby's parents to rush back from NFL where they are for work... They can now take a holiday when their job is done there!

Hubby doesn't need to take extra time off work...

Get to go on the family vacation as long as I can keep justifying spending ANY extra money on a holiday....

And will probably make it out to friends wedding in Toronto.... Again, if only I can get over my guilt of spending any money on a holiday/trip that is not towards Greece.

Can now start to seriously plan for the next house step....

Have money in the bank 'just in case'....

Even with all the 'pros' today was a hard one. I caught myself daydreaming about what I will do that day.... How awkward this whole situation is.... How it's the right one though... How both Hubby and I are not thrilled about the 'right' decision but both of us know, it's the right one. I broke down while talking to Hubby on Skype.... And I wasn't even talking about the Wedding! How awful is that??!

I'm thankful that this week is Spring Break. I don't have to give my quick explanation to anyone at the school (as all volunteer parents and many teachers knew of our Greece plans!) who asks how the trip plans are coming..... I don't have to think about any of it.... I can just hide in my house, hang with my girls and sleep. And sometimes that's just what the heart needs to survive being broken.... Some time.

*I'm sorry if this sounded like a 'poor me' fest.... It wasn't intended to be. Everyone in the situation is heartbroken. I have been blessed with a very loving and supporting family who understands the challenges of making a huge trip like this... Not once have they said anything negative towards us about our decisions... Instead, they have supported us!

Valentine's 2011

2011-02-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yup.

I don't think I have been to our mailbox (we have the group boxes not one at your door) so many times in one day in a really long time....

The hopes, the daydream of what could be there... Maybe a key from the Post Office allowing me to check the 'parcel' box..... Or maybe a tag saying there was something, anything, at the Post Office.....

Maybe something as simple as a hand written post-it that said 'Happy Valentine's Day" or "Love You".... Maybe something from a faraway friend who had some extra time on their hands...

Maybe a surprise gift from someone close...

Anything...

Heck, I'd take a 'Happy Valentine's Day! Don't forget to book your next teeth cleaning!' from the dentist....

Yes, I'm THAT desperate!

But all I got was a couple of bills and a few flyer's.

Then I clung to the hope that the girls would bring me back something handmade from school... A sweet little Valentine or maybe a craft they had made in class... Painstakingly making sure that every flick of glitter was in the right spot.... Or that all macaroni was still magically attached...

Nothing.

Not all is lost though... I did receive a text this morning from my Hubby that read, "Happy v day!!!" then went on to explain how tired he was (from being out at the Finger 11 concert the night before of course! *L*)...

Meh.

Happy Valentine's All.... Hope you received a little bit of 'not-everyday-typical-form-of-showing-love' from someone that is special to you!

A Quick New Year Update... Part 1

2011-01-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

This past year has been a roller coaster at best. At time it felt like the drop of doom while others made you feel like you could fly...

Would I trade it in for a different year? Humm.... Parts of it maybe.

It's been a full year of Tyler working in the field away from home... For most of that year we were on a schedule of 24/4's (24 out and 4 days home).... Just recently (the past few months) we've been on a schedule of 10/4's.... With a random 24/4 here and there. It's been nice to have him home every other weekend.... And the girls have adapted to every schedule without any major issues.

Emma is in Grade 2... What a year! She's one of the stronger readers in her grade, reading at a Grade 4+ level with her writing right behind it. She's creative, fun loving, outgoing and brilliant.... In a book smart kind of way! *L* She likes to know what everyone is doing and why, why, WHY! *L* If she told me today that she was going to be a Lawyer or Judge when she grows up, well.... It wouldn't surprise me. She loves to follow what's right! She's also the one who LOVES jokes! She'll be the first to giggle at one being told and then loves to share it with everyone she knows!

Zoë is in Kindergarten this year and is growing into such a neat little individual. She's finally finding 'herself' this year with a bit of a rocky (not-so-sure-about-all-of-this) start at the beginning of the year.... But now she talks about who she's going to marry when she gets "big like you Mommy!"... *L* She's loving, kind and caring.... Wherever Zoë is an animal isn't too far behind her! I love seeing the moments when she's cuddled up next to our cats (and honestly, one of them is a total scaredy cat!) singing to them.... She also has this neat ability of sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night (without me even noticing until my alarm goes off the next morning!)... She says it's 'because you're lonely ('cause Daddy's not home)!!' Melts my heart!!

As of right now both girls would like to be a 'Horse Trainer, Rider and Vet".... For now though they've settled for Figure Skating Lessons! *L* Emma is currently in Junior and it's been neat to see her grow on the ice... She's doing moves I never thought she would! *LOL* Zoë is currently in CanSkate and seems to like it.... Although she's still not too sure about this 'slippery ice' thing. They both would like to try out Ringette, Soccer (Emma), Basketball & Dance.... As well as some music lessons on the side. I've also noticed (since they were little) that they LOVE to learn new languages!

I myself am very involved in the girls school.... Have been ever since Emma started there in Kindergarten. Currently I am the Chair of the Parents' Association.... And, because so many of you have asked, I'm also involved in:

Hot Lunch (every other Friday)

Workroom Wednesday (on a rotation)

Classroom Rep for Kindergarten (first year not being Emma's!)

Teachers' Appreciation Week

Spring Dance Coordinator

I cut back this year to have more time with my girls as Tyler is away from home more... I'm sure there's more that I'm missing but at this hour (wee hours of the morning) that was all I could think of! *L*

I'm also in charge of the Carnival with the girls Figure Skating Club.... It's the year end show which is proving to try and kick my butt.... *L* I've never done it before and there wasn't a whole lot of information that was passed on to me from previous years so I'm trying my best. We have a rehearsal the day before and the actual show the next day.... There was an awesome turn out last year for it and I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds this year. Currently I am booking costumes, searching for the others, making the schedules and booking a photographer! *LOL*

For my Birthday this past year (2010) I was given an amazing gift.... My Nikon D3000!!! GEEEE!!! I have unbelievable friends and family that love me sooo much!! Before the years end I started up my own photography company called 'Cinnamon Photography'.... So if you're in need of photos, please check me out! I'm on Facebook right now while I work on my web page! :)

I am still working with VIP Event Consultants as a Wedding Coordinator. I love how every client we have is a totally different experience! I've had a blast working here and look forward to the events planned for this year!!

Other then all of that (schedules, classes, meetings, etc.) I'm still a Stay-at-Home Mommy.... I'd love to say that 'I'm loving every moment of it' but usually I'm not.... *L* The girls are starting to really get their own personalities (which I do love) but they don't always mesh well in a houseful of girls! *LOL* For the majority of it though, I do love it. I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything else!

Tyler and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary last July (2010).... Crazy how the time flies by! And true to our crazy lifestyle, Tyler ended up having to be at work away from home so I spent our Anniversary in Jasper with Sarah (one of my best friends and fill in for Tyler! *L*), my girls & Jessica, Kevin and their little girl Juliet! JK&J came all the way from Toronto for a visit and we tried to cram in as much as we could! *LOL* It was an awesome time and I hope to get out to them this Summer!

We're all doing very well and are loving the City we live in. I adore being so close to the country and yet only 15 minutes away from a major City too. The girls are in an amazing school with kind, caring individuals. What more could I ask for??!

We look forward to this upcoming year which seems to be full of weddings (Zac & Amy, Jessica & Kevin... My Mom & Andy), a random reunion (Whoo Hooo!), my 10 year reunion, trips (Greece & somewhere stupidly warm for Christmas!).... and much, much more!

Hope you have an unbelievable New Year.... Make the best of it... And keep us posted!! ;)

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T22:52:00.000-07:00

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day." Edith Lovejoy Pierce

May all your dreams, hopes and wishes come true this year!

Bring on 2011!!

Love, The 'Zog' Family!

Go!

2010-12-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

Spontaneously at the right moment.

Thoughts?

Missing...

2010-12-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

I miss my Husband.

That is all.

One Of "THOSE" Days!

2010-12-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

You know when you have 'one of those days' and you look back to where it probably began.....

That was me ...

In the wee hours of the morning I decided to grab a shower... To which I slipped in (one foot in, one foot out) and bashed myself up pretty good....

Then later today my oldest does a full out belly flop on the ice at the beginning of her lesson.... I think her toe pick caught the ice and BAM! It looked painful.... She was down... After some tears and hugs she decided to get back on the ice and enjoy the class.

Near the end of class the same child was doing bunny hops and landed right.on.her.knee. The inside half. A-W-E-S-O-M-E. She came off the ice and needed an ice pack.... here's a lovely lump and walking is interesting.

I'm sure she'll be fine by tomorrow! ;)

AND THEN.....

Tyler is up North for work (North of Fort McMurray) and was supposed to start driving home tonight after work (so heading home for the long, slippery drive at around 7:30pm)..... And then I get the text...

"Flat Tire!!!"

WTH??!!

Turns out there's a HUGE nail jammed into the middle of his tire.... So he has to now find someone to follow him into Fort McMurray tomorrow morning (he did get the stupid, tiny spare on) to be in line for the doors to open at 7:30am.... Get the tire fixed (can't remember if he wanted to go back to camp while all of this was happening or whatnot) and THEN start heading home.

ONE.OF.THOSE.DAYS.

And it's only 8:17pm! Ack!

Frustration...!

2010-12-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have a few friends that are going through some..... Relationship issues.... And tonight, tonight my limit was had... I found myself putting down my cell phone and taking a few moments to close my eyes and breathe....

It's funny really, two different relationship groups, along the same lines but years apart... Odd. Is this just how life works sometimes?

So I would like to give a public apology to my friend for not picking up the phone again after the many texts we sent back and forth (the problem is not my friend and I but their relationship, I'm just the shoulder that is needed sometimes), but please understand... I was tired from a long day (who am I kidding, a very long year) and found myself not having anything nice to say towards the said topic...

And as I was taught growing up, "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all!"...

And so, I followed that golden rule....

And I'm off to bed.

Kelly Moore Bag GIVEAWAY!

2010-12-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!

My friends from Eternal Reflections Photography have this wonderful giveaway on the go right now.....

Have you heard about Kelly Moore Camera Bags? I hadn't until they posted about this giveaway they're having on their blog..... And let me tell you, I'm in L-O-V-E!!!

Kelly Moore has found this amazing way to allow you to carry all that crazy camera gear that you know we all haul around and yet still look stylish!!

Check out this giveaway (honestly, why are you still reading this? Head on over to Eternal Reflections Photography!!) and follow the instructions on how to get the most out of your entries!!

And don't forget to tell them that you saw this on my blog!! Thanks!!!

OH! BTW: There are bags for Women AND Men!!!

My Strive to be a Unicorn....

2010-10-28T18:39:00.000-06:00

I'm not one of those people who has a scale in her house.... I also don't obsess over my weight.

I don't allow a scale in my house simply because if I did.... I'd be on it every five minutes. No joke.

I'd feel gross about myself, have some sort of eating disorder.... And pretend to not to....

I'd be a horrible example to my children regarding body issues and such.

I could go on forever....

INSTEAD, I leave the scale on the Wal-Mart shelf and, when I feel the need to (like once a year), I make a trip there and weigh myself.

The only other time that I get weighed is at my annual doctor's appointment.

That's it.

Pretty simple, right?

Now, some of you may be asking.... Am I obese?

Nope.

Am I under weight?

Nope.

I'm exactly where I should be.

How?

I base it off of how I feel.... In my skin.

I am woman. My body changes day-to-day. It's bloated some days, then I look like I magically lost 10lbs the next... Soooooo odd!

I've decided to ride the roller coaster.... And try to enjoy it.

BUT... I've also decided that I will join a gym...

I don't weigh myself there.... I don't stare at everyone else around me dreaming of that 18 year olds' body type (Honestly! I've birthed kids! HA!)...

I'm proud of what my body has done for me. I've carried two wonderful baby girls.... Had an emergency c-section, 3 days overdue, and produced a 9lbs 2oz baby... Then a year and a half later I pushed out a 9lbs 5oz baby a week overdue.

My body rocks.... But it could be a bit more toned.

So I joined the local gym here on September 10th and have been going ever since.

Do I have a routine?

HA! No.

I try hard to get there right after dropping the girls off at school in the morning.... And Tuesday/Thursday's I have to make sure to be back at the school for 11:30am.

I find that if I don't go right after taking them to school, I'll never get there.

Now... I also have to throw in being the Chair of our Parents' Association... And being on 11 other Committees to boot.

As well, I'm the Carnival Chair (year end show) for my girls' Figure Skating Club....

So toss in a bunch of meetings, skating schedules, volunteering constantly.... Well, life gets busy....

So I didn't make a plan to be at the gym every.single.day.

I get there as much as I can.

I've gone for hours at a time and then I've gone for a quick 30 min's.

Life happens, I just try to keep up.

So I'm taking my stand... I'm making a promise to myself (not my Husband, Children, Friends, etc........ M-Y-S-E-L-F)...

I promise to not obsess over my weight. I promise to try my best in eating the right things (this includes a fair amount of chocolate ladies! As well as treating myself out to dinner when I feel like it!), drinking the right things (more water, less pop.... But not cutting pop out completely!).... I promise to make sure that I'm in tune with my body.... I promise to listen to the ACTUAL little voice in my head (not the nagging 'you should look like...feel like...be like...' voice) in regards of how I feel about myself. I promise not to spend hours staring at my body in the mirror (ha, ha , ha.... When do I have the time anyways??!) cutting myself down with stupid remarks about the love handles I have or any marks from pregnancy. I promise to take the time for myself to go to the gym...to do what will make me feel better about myself after my workout (even if the workout is only 15 minutes!). I promise to start loving myself for who I am. I promise that ANY time spent away from the home/children/crazy life schedule and in the gym is for me and me alone. And if I only make it up the stupid flights of stairs (hey, at least I didn't use the elevator), and on the machine long enough to learn how to use the actual thing (Honestly people, there's soooo many doohickeys on those things now!) before I have to head home... Well heck, I took the time for me. To better myself and clear my mind. No strings attached.

I promise to do this for me.

Me.

Care to join in?

(My strive to be a Unicorn... My Way!)

Cookie Toss

2010-09-08T15:46:00.000-06:00

You can actully buy this game! Click it!

So in the wee hours of this morning Emma woke up and tossed her cookies... In bed... And down her sleeve of her PJ's....

*sigh*

After getting the bed cleaned up and ready to go she went to sleep feeling great.... Until the next time she tossed her cookies.

The odd things about this? She has a "warning system" like I do. We usually have enough time to get up, make our way to the washroom, sit there for a few min's and then toss.

See the odd part of our early morning?

After cleaning up the bed again and grabbing a bucket, she was back to bed. Every 20 min's to an hour she would toss again... Or have tummy issues... At the same time.

A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Very little sleep happened by the time my alarm went off at 7:15am.... She then proceeded to toss again and I phoned the school.

*sigh*

Liquid has become an enemy to Emma.... Poor kid. We've gone from pink toss (the Pepto I gave her after the first time stayed in her tummy for a few min's) to a teal look (Grape Gatorade)...

Now.... Sorry about this vivid blog.... I'm tired of dealing with this.... But what I'm really frustrated about is that this has happened after only 3.5 days at school..... I'm slightly apprehensive about this school years illnesses with Emma's immune system being shot after having H1N1 last October....

Anyhoo, so far we're doing alright. She's laying watching TV in my room with her trusty bucket and water bottle.... And a little Sister who will hold her hair for her while she tosses! (What a great little Sister to have!)....

Oh! I also have to thank my Neighbor for taking Zoe to the play date today, she had a blast!!

Too Late?

2010-08-31T01:19:00.000-06:00

For my birthday this year I was given one of the best gifts ever. EVER.

My Nikon D3000!!!

Everyone now: *GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!* (Repeat as many times as needed for full effect!)

I was SO very thrilled that my friends and family joined together to give me this wonderful gift.... I had been dreaming of such a thing for 15 years!

And then the total excitement started to fade and my fear started.... What if I totally, completely sucked as a photographer?? ACK! Could you imagine?

It took me about a week to get the courage to haul out my soon to be newest addiction (named Delilah) and take photos.... Which rolled into taking my girls out on one of the smokiest days here (forest fires from BC took over where we live) to the country to take some photos...

I don't know if I have an 'eye' for photography.... I like to think I have some talent hidden somewhere inside of me... But even if not, at least my everyday photos of the girls will be... Prettier??! *L*

You may notice that some say 'Cinnamon Photography'.... That's what I would call my company.... So I am! *L*

Am I too late in the game to be starting my passion in life?

Humm...

Almost!

2010-08-30T01:32:00.000-06:00

Around here the 'New Year' begins when the new school year begins! And this year BOTH girls are in school! GEEEEE!!!

Emma will be entering Grade 2 and Zoe Kindergarten!!!

Again, GEEEEE!!!!

This doesn't really get to start up until the week into school as Kindergarten has three intro days (three different groups for this), but I'm excited!

Yay!

THEN Emma is registered with the Boys & Girls Club to give her something to do after school (esp. on cold winter days.... She'll need this!).... The best part? They help with homework! Phew! *L*

Zoe has KinderCare three times a week... So yes, I'll be picking her up at the end of a regular school day and not Emma... But really, who cares??! *LOL*

What, you may ask, will I be doing with 'all this spare time??!'.... I'm not sure. Maybe a class.... Probably a lot of housework (time to get that basement ready for another winter).... And a whole heck of a lot of volunteering!

Again this year I'm the Chair of the Schools' PA (Parents' Association) and on a hundred different committees.... As well, I'm on the Board for the Figure Skating Club that the girls are with (I'll be running their yearly 'Carnival')... And I offered to help decorate and plan activities for the Boys & Girls Club instead of paying the non-volunteering fee (that might change depending on how much time they need....).... *L* So I guess I'll be slightly busy.

Anyhoo, just thought I'd do an update of our household, it's been awhile!

More another day!

Update from the last Update...

2010-03-14T15:56:00.000-06:00

Well.... We drove into the city for Emma's Doctor's appointment with our family Doctor (we all know how I feel about the Clinic Doctor...)...

Our Doctor looked in *gasp* BOTH ears (the clinic Doc didn't do this) and said 'Well yes it's a little pink, but so is her good ear!'... What does that mean? Her ears are normal.

Pain? Nope.

Infection? Nope.

Sick? Nope.

Fever? Nope.

Ear drum intact? Yes.

Humm.... So off our Doctor went to call the head people at the Stollery Children's Hospital... While I drove Emma back to school for her spelling test that her teacher was kind enough to hold out on until she arrived.

After chatting with her teacher and a few others I had 15 minutes to get home and take my med's (which I refused to go back for in the morning as we were cutting it close in time already) and be back at the school to work the Hot Lunch (Domino's!)...

Zoe trudged along with me! She's such a trooper!

Hot Lunch ended so Zoe and I rushed home for me to get portfolio completed for Emma's teacher (of the kids work) so she could show me what was to be added next....

As we were getting ready to go and pick up Emma from school my cell rang... I didn't get it in time... So I listened to the message... It went something like this:

"Hi there! It's Doctor Thompson.... We need to talk about Emma's hearing. If you could please call me on my cell (insert number here)! Talk to you soon!"

Uggggghhhhhh! You just know when a Doctor is freely handing out her personal cell number to you, it's not good.

So I called back..... For your sake I'll sum up what our conversation ended up being...

Emma has no reason to have hearing loss in that ear. No one (not even the specialist) can figure this out After going through her file over and over and over again they came up with a few things.

1) After a major viral cold (IE: flu) you can sometimes have hearing loss. Emma's was H1N1 back in October. So her hearing would have been lost in November. Odd.

2) If she's getting sick. Sometimes a cold/flu can cause temporally hearing loss but goes away once the cold shows up or leaves. Emma's not sick.

3) Fever. Fever's can do strange things to your body. Emma has no fever and hasn't.

4) We're out of ideas.

So... I was told that our Doctor was faxing over a prescription to our pharmacy ASAP for a certain Steroid pill. She's to do two days worth.... IF she gets sick, has a fever or whatnot (hey maybe her hearing will come back!) we are to phone and make an appointment with our Doctor for this coming week.

IF the pills do nothing then we are to rush over to the Stollery Emergency and deal with things there. Lucky for us they already have her files (and they will be resent Monday morning as our Doctor said, 'Things get lost in the shuffle!') and the ENT knows to take her ASAP for testing.

They believe that (if the pills don't work, etc.) nerves in her ear area have become inflamed and are causing her to have hearing loss. If left for too long it could cause permanent damage.

Awesome.

(For information you can check out this link regarding Sensorineural Hearing Loss).

So after taking a moment for myself, loading Zoe in the van and driving to the school (while having a heart-to-heart with my Mom) I took a breath and had to continued on.

I'm not going to lie.... I cried. It's annoying when you're unable to fix something that is wrong with your child medically. It's frustrating. Emma is as healthy as she has ever been since October. She's... Emma! And yet, she's gone deaf in her right ear! For lack of better word usage, WTF??!!

Anyways, I took the time to talk to Emma's teacher and explain what is happening and that if she's not there on Monday... Well it's because we're at the Emergency at the Children's Hospital. We're VERY lucky to have a kind, caring teacher for Emma. She understood completely and said 'not to worry!'... Phew!

I also took a moment to call Sarah and give a heads up about maybe not meeting up at Ikea Monday... (If you don't know... Sarah is one of my best friends... She's "Auntie" to the girls! I've known her.... Almost 10 years!)... Sarah was lucky enough to have the day off as she worked a show this weekend... So her response? 'Guess I'll meet you at the Stollery!'... Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't think words could describe how much that means to me... Especially since Tyler is out of town working right now.

Later on in the evening I was able to call Tyler and update him on the situation.... I didn't feel the need to call and wake him up (he's working the night shift) as there's nothing we can do about this yet. This is turning out to be just another chapter in our lives... *L* And we, of course, will pull through.

We picked up Emma's pills and decided not to give them to her at night as they could cause her to not sleep... So Saturday morning Emma swallowed the pills down in hopes that her hearing would come back by the end of the day.... (As well, what a big girl I have! She actually swallowed the pills with water! No crushing them up, etc! Ha!)

No such luck. Maybe a good nights rest will help....

Emma woke up this morning... When I asked her how her ear was she quickly replied while heading downstairs to play with Zoe "Still can't hear!"

So, again, Emma took two more pills.... With the same hope that things will get better by the end of the day....

But yes... There's the most recent update. I'll keep you posted on the happenings of the next few days. Sorry that this one took me a few days to get around to post.... I needed a few days to digest everything and sort out how I'm going to handle this all....

Until then... Here's some photos of my girls from their last photo shoot! Geee!

My Emma!

Zoe is expressive when speaking!

*L*

Love!

Emma loves her new rain boots!

My Girls!

Emma outside!

Cuteness!

Her 'eyes were cold'... *L*

Gee!

Emma loves the outdoors!

Oh my!

Update 2010

2010-03-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

Today I fully realized something... I had talked about it to others without thinking much of it... Just trying to 'survive' really.... But tonight, with a rare moment to myself at 12:30am it hit me...

Emma has been sick since October.

We've had a week here and there where she seems healthy but it just seems to be a lay over for the next thing that's about to hit her.

It all started with H1N1. By the time I got her to the Hospital she barely had a heart rate and was lethargic. I did, however, realize that Emma's mind would be one of the last things to go... After the Doctor had tried many times to find her heart rate with that finger heart rate taker and saying to her 'push your finger all the way to the end', she responded without moving a muscle: "I AM!".

That's my girl!

Emma the first night home. She was REALLY sick.

A check-Up at the Hospital. My Mom got creative and drew lips on her mask! *L*

Hallowe'en was spent sticking indoors taking med's all the time. Thankfully a friend from Church stepped up and made us a pizza dinner and candy grab bags for the girls! We were very, very blessed for that!

Emma made, what we thought, a full recovery from H1N1.....

The months that followed we dealt with colds, ear issues, throat issues and a cough that wouldn't let up. I have NEVER given my child so many different drugs in her entire life! Strep throat seemed to be hiding in her body just waiting for her to start to feel better!

The Olympic Torch after party. Didn't know just how sick Emma was! By the end of the night she just laid in this snow pile and couldn't move. Turned out she had the first major round of strep throat in her.

Last month, February, we had an appointment with a Specialist to see if there was something wrong with Emma's throat and/or sinuses. They gave her adrenaline to see if she had asthma... Which, thankfully, she doesn't... A little bit of a 'funny' feeling in her legs was all that proved to come out of that. Her sinuses were a bit swollen but nothing that a nasal spray couldn't clear up.... As for the cough that seemed to have taken up residence in her (honestly, she would get over every illness that hit her and there would still be this cough!).... We found out that Doctor's are still learning more about H1N1. Thinking we were in the clear was way off. Apparently the black showing up in her lungs (x-ray) was still from, you guessed it, H1N1! I guess it can stay in the lungs anywhere from 3-6 months after you're "healed". As well, the specialist called a few days later to say the swab they took of her throat came back.... And "nasty things (were) happening in her throat!'.... Yes, the typical med's they give you to clear up strep throat would no longer work for Emma (although she seemed healed from it!)... She needed the strong med's to kick it out of her.

Yet another trip to the pharmacy (I should get a special rate for being there so often! *L*) for another med...

Emma seemed to recover from her last bout of strep throat pretty well... I was starting to release my breath that I had been holding since the last time... Her snoring had stopped and everything had seemed to go back to normal. We had a final check-up with our family doctor and she gave us the all clear!

Finally! I could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel... So close! Emma was feeling good and happy that I didn't 'have to' keep her home from school on some random days.

Not only was I thrilled to see my daughter healthy and happy once again (although I do have to say, Emma is a trooper when sick. She'll tell you up front if something is wrong and she's gotten quite good at explaining the different symptoms going on.... As well, she keeps up with her medicine chart really well!) but I could sleep again! It may sound a bit selfish but I hadn't had a good nights sleep since the H1N1 back in October. I've been getting up multiple times a night just to keep up with her medicine schedules! And my Husband has been working 24/4 schedules... 24 out and 4 in (at home). To say the least, I was getting pretty worn down!

Life seemed... Good, slightly back on track. Last week I ended up with what I thought was a regular cold. Instead it turned out to be bronchitis with a sinus infection and pink eye in both eyes. Awesome. Thankfully my family was able to pick up the girls so I could have a few days rest... And for the first time ever in Emma's school life, I allowed her to skip school and stay an extra night with my family so I could sleep more. If the sinus pain (wanting to rip my eyes out to release pressure was a vision I saw daily) and pink eye didn't suck enough... Coughing until you bruised your ribs, threw out your neck, almost tossing your cookies (from coughing over and over again) and not being able to breathe as your body wouldn't take a second to relax to, well.... breathe sucked twice as much.

I was lucky enough to be prescribed some med's.... The pharmacist informed me that it may make me feel nauseated but that would be normal. I spent the first four days wondering if I was pregnant and why I had this horrible flavour in my mouth... It would wake me up in the middle of the night. For some reason it made my brain think I was hungry... Acid reflux? Huh. Turns out that one of the side effects is 'bad flavour in the mouth'. Nice. Imagine that you held a Tylenol, Advil, whatever powdered pill in your mouth for too long... You know that gross flavor that takes forever to leave? 24/7 here! *L*

Anyways... It's been four and a half days and I finally had enough energy to sit in our living room and read to Zoe while Emma was at school. I'd been in bed all day everyday up to today with the exception of taking Emma to school, feeding the kids, etc. My energy would be done by 9am... When I was only up at 7:30am... Yeah.... Oh! I would like to re-thank the two friends from Church that were kind enough to cook us dinner while I was down for the count. I don't think you'll ever know just how much I appreciate that! Thank you!

But back to Emma. Wednesday morning she wakes me up and informs me that she can't hear out of her right ear. I checked it out and couldn't see anything that stood out as 'wrong'.... So she went on with her day, no pain, no fever.... She went to school, she went to skating.... I had hoped that maybe her ear would pop and let her be able to hear.. A seasonal thing? After skating I drove her to the Hospital where they checked her out. The doctor said it was a bit red inside and handed me a prescription. The catch? I'm only to fill the prescription if she *hopefully* gets a fever and/or ear pain within the next few days. That was it. I wasn't told what to do after those 'days' if those symptoms didn't appear. So I took the prescription (and knowledge of Polysporin drops for the pink eye that seemed to be trying to kick in) and went home.

Thursday Emma still couldn't hear from her right ear. no pain, no fever. As the doctor had put it, 'weird'. I called our family doctor and asked for an appointment ASAP. It's amazing how quickly you can get in when you announce that your daughter has 'no hearing in her right ear, no fever or infection'.... We're booked for (today at) 9am! (And her 'pink eye' went away over night! Phew!)

So *fingers crossed* that everything will work itself out. I suppose I should get some sleep. It's 2am here and we have to be up for 7:30am.

Thank you for taking the time to read my little 'rant' if you stuck around... I haven't been able to blog as much as I've wanted to, and now you all know why. I'm exhausted... Totally, completely exhausted. But it was nice to take some time to finally update everyone on the major stuff that's been going on in our household. Maybe next time I'll be able to write about the 'other' stuff that ties in with the information above.

Have a great day! :)

Catch Up!

2010-01-08T00:28:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas 2009!

Happy New Year 2010!!

Check this out: http://dontknockittryit.blogspot.com/

New Blog.....By Me!

2009-08-06T02:12:00.000-06:00

http://tradeswife.blogspot.com/

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T10:40:00.002-06:00

Yes, we are Canadian!

And today is our day!

Happy Canada Day, Canada!

Please pass along....

2009-06-24T14:13:00.000-06:00

I would like this for my birthday!

Asking too much??! *L*

Natalie's Sentiments at it again!

2009-06-18T01:52:00.000-06:00

I'm in LOVE (love, love, love) with this give-away!!! <3 It seems that Natalie's and my brains seem to work the same.... WAY in advance!

Is it odd that I've already planned Emma's Birthday Party.... For 2010??? (December of course) and Zoe's as well??!! (July!).... Hummm.... *L*

Here it is!
freshly squeezed designs

Follow her 'how to's' at the bottom for a chance to win!!!

This Morning.... So far...

2009-05-31T06:14:00.000-06:00

It's 6:11am...

Tyler woke me up just before he left for work this morning and asked if I wanted to see....

...the bunny that he tells me about every day.

Well of course I do! I've seen photos of this sucker and he's adorable! It's amazing that bunnies come that small! *L*

So we head downstairs and look out our back windows to see an adorable little bunny munching on what little grass we have grown in the back part of our yard... *L*

He's soooo cute!

When Tyler was ready to head to his car I watched the bunny to see what it would do.... Once the door was opened he paused then ran and hid under our deck when he heard Tyler walking... Geeee!

Tyler has seen this bunny most mornings when he heads to work....

I think it's a wonderful way to start your day off!

(Tyler has photos of the bunny on his cell, I'll try to snag one tonight)

Early!

2009-05-28T10:19:00.000-06:00

For once a contractor was early.... Yes, I know.... E-A-R-L-Y!!!!

1.5 hours early!

With no phone call.....

Which meant the girls and I were still asleep.... In PJ's..... Nothing brushed....

*L*

So I rush around this morning pulling clothes off my floor (how long has that shirt been in that spot??? Humm.... *L*) and run the the door....

After yelling to the contractor he happily came in (with my apologies for the state of our house -we're moving things from downstairs to up to finish the basement thing- and the state of myself....)...

Less then 30 min's later the drawer face on Emma's side of the bathroom was replaced with another and everyone was happy.

What made me giggle? Emma had to approve it before he left!

Twitter, Twitter!

2009-05-20T12:55:00.000-06:00

As for right now I've put a status freeze on FB.

And then I remembered I had Twitter.... From A-G-E-S ago.

I signed on (thankful to remember my password, etc.) only to see that my last twitter update was March 1, 2008!!!

Ah Ha Ha Ha.... WOW!

So I'm thinking I'll use it for a bit.

If, for ANY reason, I offend you, insult you, hurt you, annoy you or anyone you may be connected to... etc. (you get the point) by using my twitter.... Please let me know (kindly, I'm not actually out to hurt any one's feelings!)...

As of now though my FB status is: . And as much as I want to agree with my ancy fingers, I will leave it that way.

And update my twitter instead! *L*

Hello World!

2009-05-18T13:37:00.000-06:00

Alright. I've had enough.

It's time to blog!

But not right this second... *L* I'm watching a movie with my girls on our day off.... Nothing can really get in the way of that!

But I've decided that I've neglected blogspot for WAY to long! Ack!

So more in the wee hours!!

This (past) weekend...

2009-04-26T13:37:00.000-06:00

So Friday Tyler and Conor left for their surprise weekend getaway to....

Calgary's Comic and Entertainment Expo!

How cool is that??! Tyler walked in last Friday and announced that he had been laid off, to which I announced I had this trip already booked for him and that he must go! *L*

So he did! But before that he bought his brand new laptop (thank you severance pay and taxes!) which was part of our prep for him to leave for months at a time anyways....

Last night the girls and I were able to Skype with him! Yay!

This past Friday I received a phone call from our builder informing me that they'll be here 9am Wednesday to fix our basement wall (build a frame and insulate it for the sound proofing).... Then he told me that they need at least 8ft to work in from the wall out... HA, HA, HA... Oh goodness! Our garage isn't built yet so our basement is storage. And because I run the Dayhome the back half of our basement is floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall boxes and our desk area set-up against said wall with boxes all over it.

*ahem*

So I made the decision not to tell Tyler so he could enjoy his last weekend away before heading to the camps for months on end.....

My plan? To work my butt off this weekend going through every single box down there and clearing it all out. Why not?

What happened?

Emma missed Thursday and Friday of school because of a fever and illness. Then Zoë woke up Saturday ill with the exact same thing. Last night I was up with Zoë until 3am.

Uggggghhhhhhh!

So here I am today rushing around to go through all the boxes and somehow figure out how I'm to lug all of our furniture and such (there's absolutely no way I can move our entertainment center -the TV alone I can't move!- in case Tyler is in the field up north starting Tuesday morning).....

As of right now I know the guys are having a blast in Calgary! Yay! Exactly what I wanted for Tyler... A weekend of no stress! He so, so deserves this.

Anyhoo.... I have two little girls watching The Backyardigans on my bed while I'm in the basement in boxville. I'll take photos!

I suppose I should get back at it... *sigh*

p.s.

While speaking with the builder he said that Tyler had asked for a couple of days notice for this... Cool..... When I said that he wouldn't be here to help he said 'Well at least you have the weekend! That'll help!'....

Yessssss.......

Uplifting Sadness....

2009-04-19T00:47:00.000-06:00

Friday, April 17th Tyler was laid off of work.

This has consumed my life... I have a two day reaction time to most things in my life (pain, tiredness, etc.) and this seems to be kicking in now. We were ready though in the way of having a 'next step' planned.

He will place his name to be sent to the field.

Not horrible but who knows what schedule he may have. And he will have to live there while working.

Which means harder times at home (my girls have been testing a lot lately with me.... Emma especially)....

I know this has happened for a reason. The field was in our five year plan anyways... It's just come a little sooner then we had hoped.

In other news:

Saturday, April 18th was officially our One Year mark in our home! We spent it rushing to get all of our items out of storage so we don't have to worry about that extra $300 payment every month.

Funny... One Year here and Tyler pulls up in a U-Haul to unload boxes that now clutter my house! *L* It's just like a year ago except better weather (thank goodness!)... I'm sure we're the talk of the hood right now! *L*

Anyhoo.... I just wanted to give you a bit of an update. I may have to extend my blogging pause for a little bit longer then I had hoped so I can spend more time with my family as a complete 'family' for the next few weeks......

And then I'll need to write a lot when Tyler is away from home while I'm going crazy with the girls!

More soon!

I Suck.

2009-04-14T12:31:00.000-06:00

I'm so sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I must apologize to all my fellow bloggers... And my followers....

I have not been keeping up on my blog very well....

Let me give you a very quick update for now....

*The Spring Dance and Silent Auction went extremely well!

*Easter was good.

*It was nice to have Tyler home for three straight days where he was able to sleep for as long as he wanted...

*We were able to squeeze in some 'family time' (between sleep schedule's of course! *L*) for swimming, dinner out and then a movie! It was awesome!

*My Dayhome has slowed right down..... right down.

*Tyler's work sucks...... *ahem* Anyways....

*It's Alberta, last night it began to snow AND rain.... It's a bit of a weird blizzard to deal with. Things are melting yet you can't see in front of you.....

*This Summer I'm turning 26... This seems to be more of a milestone Birthday for me then my 25th.... Humm.. Decisions are being made!

*I had a kick-butt time in Vegas.... I've been working on my blog about this, don't you worry!! :D

*Sister Buck and her twin we're able to come up this Easter Weekend (we appreciate the 16 hour drive you did to get here!).... It was lovely to see Sister Buck again and to meet her Sister!

*I have the need to travel.... If only I had the funds!

I could go on and on but I bets pay some attention to my youngest while Emma's at school and my Dayhome boy is asleep (not scheduled to be here until next Friday but hey, they needed care and I like extra cash! *L*)....

More soon, I promise!

VEGAS Baby!!!

2009-03-22T20:19:00.000-06:00

Oh yes baby, I'm in Vegas!!!

GEEEEEEEE!!!

Just thought I'd pop on and let all of you know that we've made it, enjoyed the last few days an are looking forward to the upcoming week!

I have a ton (yes TON) of photos to load and show you once I'm back!

Have a great week! I'll be posting more with stories next week!

Paisley Lane Giveaway - Making Room For Baby!

2009-03-21T14:07:00.000-06:00

Natalie over at Natalie's Sentiments is having another wonderful giveaway!

This one is called 'Paisley Lane Giveaway'... Which is her etsy store. She create beautiful handcrafted jewelry which is to die for.

As Natalie puts it: "I am going to send one reader a personalized jewelry package - all pieces custom chosen for the winner. The package will include a necklace, bracelet and earring set, three pairs of earrings, and some surprises. Value over $100!"

How can you go wrong???

So head on over to Natalie's giveaway!!! Follow her three rules for entries!

Schedule!

2009-03-18T08:44:00.000-06:00

This Weeks schedule:

Sunday:
1-4pm: Church
Family Dinner afterwards until the wee hours of the morning.
Drive home (about 45min's).

Monday:
Have a bit of an insane minute and tear the master bedroom apart. *ahem*.......... ALL day and night.
Emma to and from school.
Able to stand inside the walk-in closet and close the door! Geeee!

Oh! Tyler hung the mirror in our room finally! *L* Nothing like an insane wife to get you moving on it! ;P

Tuesday:
Laundry, laundry, laundry... More laundry.... Laundry, laundry, laundry and even MORE laundry.....
DH Kid.
Emma to and from school.
St. Patrick's Day Party for the DH.

Emma and Zoë in their St. Patrick's Day outfits eating a green healthy snack....

More laundry....... (Folding).....
Missed Enrichment gathering *sigh* but had a wonderful steak dinner with my family made by Hubby... <3

Wednesday:
Laundry, laundry, laundry... More laundry.... Laundry, laundry, laundry and even MORE laundry..... (This is what happens when you tear apart the Master Bedroom that hasn't been unpacked yet for almost a year! Boxes and boxes and boxes of packed clothing.....)
DH kid.
Emma to and from school.
Drop off Emma's old glasses so they can transfer her lenses into her new ones (grrrr.....).
More laundry...... (and more folding....)
Meet Sarah at 'our store' (AKA: Wal-Mart) to pick up hair color and any last minute items for the trip......
Color hair.....
Attempt to pack.......

Thursday:
Hopefully all laundry will be done. If not, they'll do without!
Confirm packed bags.
Emma to and from school.

Emma's glasses: Get fitted in the morning.
Pack Zoë for her sleepover at Great-Grandma and Grandpa's starting on Sunday (until Thursday)....
Organize Emma for her week at school while I'm gone (I keep envisioning a week filled with missed library books, lunches...... Snow pants.... Ugh!)....
Confirm child care for Emma once again (she's going to one of her good friends house whose Mom happens to be a DH provider that I like! *L* Starting at 6:15am until 5pm with three walks to and from the school..... More later!).....
Confirm time my Grandparents will show for on Friday (they're watching the girls during the day and taking Emma to and from school as my flight leaves at 1pm).
Passport ready. Passport ready......
Last minute clean of the house (we have the professional sound checking guys coming on Monday.... Our neighbor is in control of our house at that time.... I'm a bit nervous that we won't be here.....)....
Cats food and water (I hear this keeps them happy......).
Clean out fridge...
Watch Grey's and ER.... (That ends at midnight)

Friday:
CHAOS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(More later!)

The Have Travel Will Story Contest!!!

2009-03-13T18:51:00.000-06:00

The amazing Rhonda over at 'Because Mom Said So' has thought up this wonderful thing to do for one of her lucky readers... She's decided to share her miles that she racked up while
traveling across the States last summer for her two oldest daughter's weddings (you should read about the work that went into them! Goodness!)..... (Click on her link above to see the contest).

I'm entering in hopes to win the grand prize (who are we kidding, the only prize!) of a round trip ticket with my name on it to and from Connecticut!!!! Geee!

And with how today has gone (that post will follow unless I take a break from this one, then it's before this post), I could use a pick-me-up!

So here we go..... The rules state that I have to post a "humorous travel story"... Ha! That shouldn't be too hard... Except that I don't recall traveling a whole lot in my life.... And if I did it was pretty boring in the 1.5hrs to the lake lot and then back on weekends...... I was pretty young when we did the house boating stuff.... And remind me later to post about my DQ adventure leading to Lactose Intolerance. *L*

In the meantime I shall write about the summer of 1990. I would have been 7 years of age. I remember some parts of this story stronger then others so I actually had to do some research on this! Wish me luck!

It was 1990, me being 7 years of age. My Mom, her boyfriend, her best-friend and I crammed ourselves into my Mom's tiny two-door hatchback Toyota Tercel. Have you seen these things? They're like a glorified clown car, honestly! *L* Anyhoo, we crammed the four of us and all of our belongings for the trip into our car and started towards the U.S. of A! Oh yes baby, we were heading to the USA on a single Mom's budget!

Now quite honestly I don't know a whole lot of what happened during this amazing trip we took..... Or the majority of it. But what I do remember is sleeping in a tiny hotel room.... And then near the end of our trip we went horse back riding. I was thrilled! I may not have shown it, as I was painfully shy then.... But I remember being really excited for this! My Mom's boyfriend dropped us girls off at the stables and took off for a bit. I remember walking to where all the horses were and being amazed at just how tall they were! *L* We met the leader of the trail ride and then they paired us up with a horse. I was old enough to have a horse of my own! Geeee!!!! (Remember, I'm 7 and a total city girl!)..... So off we go. We were in the mountains and they decided to take us up this one mountain cliff that they did all the time. Everything was so vibrant... Green. And the air smelt wonderful! I remember watching an eagle flying in the air and that's when I realized just how high we were.... This whole time I had been keeping my mind focused on watching the horse in front of me, watching the ground for holes, etc. and listening to my Mom talk behind me.... All of a sudden the sky started to get dark and huge rain clouds appeared. At this point I wasn't all that scared. I remember thinking that I wouldn't get cold as I had my pink little summer jacket with me! If only I could figure out a way to un-grip my tiny hands from the horn of the saddle.... Hummm.... *L* We were about 40 minutes in and then it happened. A crack of lightening and thunder happened and my lazy horse took off! I'm on the side of a mountain with, honestly, just enough width for my horse to walk on and this new, young, still being trained horse.... takes off! What in the world??!! I remember looking back at my Mom while I bounced along, up and down, up and down.... hearing her scream after me. All I could hear was "HOLD ON! DON'T LET GO!!!!". Yeah okay... My horse is running at, well horse speed on the side of a steep, rocky mountain cliff and what did you think I was going to do, a circus trick??!! ACK!!! *LOL* So I hold on for dear life! I can hear my Mom trying to catch up to me but it was hard as there wasn't a whole lot of wiggle room up there.... Eventually my horse had to stop galloping for there was the line of horses ahead of us and unless it wanted to push it's way past and throw them off the cliff, it was going to stop! And it did! Apparently from my Mom's point of view all she could see was my horse take off in a full gallop while she dealt with her heart in her throat! *L* I've been informed that she was yelling at the leader and those behind him to get their horses running so mine wouldn't try to go around them... As there was a 300 foot drop on our left side and a wall of mountain on our right. Thankfully my Mom is a quick thinker on her feet and an even quicker thinker on a horse!

We made it back to the main point where they pried me off the horse probably amazed that I hadn't cried the whole way back! *LOL*

A few days later it was time for us to pack up and head home. While in the States we had bought a silly amount of fireworks to shoot off for July 1st (Canada Day)... Well let me tell you a little secret, Canadians aren't allowed to bring fireworks back from the States. Ha! Imagine our surprise when we figured this one out.... We had been staying at the Waterton Lakes National Park and decided it would be a good idea to drive to the other side of the Park's border and shoot off the fireworks then head back into Canada..... Nothing could possibly go wrong here, right??! Riiiiiiight..... *L*

My Mom, her boyfriend and best-friend really wanted to put on a show for me.... And that they did! They found a flat space that looked like a big quarry. The 'shore' was all rocks of all sizes including boulders. I remember those quite well. Around nightfall the grown-ups started to set off some fireworks... They ended up not being 'all that'..... So us girls took a moment to stand and chat about which one should be lit next...'Cause, ya know, that's what girls do! ;P In the meantime my Mom's boyfriend decides to forgo the small rockets we'd been letting off and goes for the BIG rocket. Like boys do. He lights it and starts to run back to us. When he was about half way to where we were standing the rocket takes off.... It flew three feet in the air and then...turns... for us! To heck with this, all of us start to run as fast as our feet would go (imagine Fred Flintstone in his car or a cartoon character trying to get away.... Oh yes!).... As we're all running from this rocket that has decided to try and take out the humans I see my Mom's best-friend fall over a boulder! Do we stop and try to help her? Heck no, run like the wind! The three of us (my Mom, her boyfriend and I) keep running! Eventually my Mom and I ended up running together and this is where it happens..... My Mom looks at me... Looks behind us at the human-bound rocket and makes that split decision.

She. Shoves. Me.

Apparently she had hopes that I would somehow find refuge behind a boulder, sort-of like her best-friend did, while letting the mad flying rocket chase her.

Save her little girl!

INSTEAD the stupid rocket chased me! ME!!!! I'm 7, what in the world could I have possibly done to make this rocket take a sharp left and chase me??!!

So here's my split decision.....

I hit the bloody ground!!! *LOL*

The rocket just barely misses me on it's way over and crashes into the rocks.

Well then.... That's enough of that. After regrouping and wiping ourselves off (believe me I have no desire to ever run that fast again on a rocky shore like that!) we decide it's time to head back into Canada where we were camping.....

Then we realize it....

We weren't far enough out of the border for the National Park....... And you can hear the sirens of a RCMP car......

I remember everyone being very calm and not moving a muscle.

Somehow we didn't get caught..... We booted it back to our safe land without the huge fine we could have ended up with....

To this day the things that happened in this holiday are still some of my most favorite memories as a child. I mean who gets to have their horse take off on the side of a cliff and then have a rocket attempt to harm them all in the span of a week and a bit??!! Honestly! *LOL*

I would like to let my Mom know that I do not hold anything against her for the decisions she made during the above trip.... Although I may have to hold it against you for the rest of your life.... *LOL* j/j

And that fellow bloggers is my hopefully-somewhat humorous travel story that I hope you enjoyed!

*fingers crossed!*

Ahhh memories!

*Not my Mom's actual car, but exactly the same!

My Mini Grown-up!

2009-03-12T16:27:00.000-06:00

My first born has decided to take in upon herself to be a grown-up....

A few days ago she spoke with me about wanting to have Chase (yes, the current love of her life from the first week of school!) over for a play date. She informed me of this while we were on our way home. When I asked if she had his phone number she told me 'No but his Mommy said that she'd write it down for me so we could call and make arrangements!'... Just.Like.That. None of this 'can you ask for me Mommy??!' pleading crap, my little one takes charge!

So after explaining to her that we probably shouldn't have him over when the Dayhome kids are here (unless we have an open space!) but I'd be willing to set something up for afterwards or on a weekend. She was happy with this.

Then a day or so later Emma and Zoë are chilling on my bed watching some TV while I'm working on the computer.... Emma leans over to Zoë and says 'Tell Mommy.... *whisper*'....' This caught my attention so I look up in time to hear Zoë say, quite loudly, 'MOMMY!!! Lucas kissed Emma!!!!'...

Um humm.... My 5 year old has it going on... Not sure if I want her to have 'it' yet.... So I investigate by asking such questions as: Where? On the lips or cheek? Where were you guys? What were you doing? How many times has this happen? Her responses were, Cheek. We were getting ready for home time and he just kissed me! And no, it's never happened before (said with a shy look and slight giggle that would melt your heart!).....

All was well with that. I did have to inform Daddy of this. He didn't look to impressed until I mentioned that in the past I've seen her take charge and tell another little boy 'No. More. Hugs!' All while holding him away with her arm straight out in front of her chest to make sure there was some distance between him and her. Good girl!

TODAY we were late picking up Emma from school. Zoë was moving the speed of molasses (uuuuugggghhhhhhhhh.....) and then needed to use the washroom! Ack! So by the time we made it to her school she was playing with a few others that wait for their parents to pick them up. Nothing major (and her teacher stays out there until all the kids are gone)... Anyhoo, on the ride home she tells me that Chase's Mom was 'just too busy' and forgot to write down their phone number. But she will!

When I asked her if she needed me to ask his Mom she said the following (imagine some short questions from me between them):

'No! I already did! I asked his Mom if she had their phone number for me to give to you. She said she was just too busy and forgot but she'll make sure to write it down for us. That way we can call and make arrangements for a play date. And he's still allowed to come to a play date at our house! I also said that he couldn't come over when the Dayhome kids were here.... So we have to call!'

Me: 'Alright well, I'll call her and ask when is a good time for a play date once I have their number'

Emma: 'I'LL call!'

Me: 'You're going to call and ask his Mommy??'

Emma: 'Yeah! I can do it!'

Me: 'Okay then!'

And that was that.

*L* Yes.... This week has been a bit on the emotional side for Emma. She's been distracted at school, overly emotional at home.... At one point I honestly thought I might have to boot her outside just to stop hearing her be bossy and then cry at the drop of a pin! Ack! Not sure if it's the weather change, time change and/or the full moon thing but whatever it is it was wearing my down! And then she pops up with this.... Forwardness, take charge attitude... that I quite enjoy!

So that's been Monday through Today (Thursday). Emma has been invited by her friend down the street from us to go to Girl Guides with her for 'Bring Your Friend' night... They'll be playing outside in the snow today. I'm excited that Brook-lyn thought to ask Emma. They haven't hung out in awhile due to both families crazy schedules! I just know that she'll have a blast tonight!

In the meantime Zoë and I will be painting our nails!

Eeek!

2009-03-10T07:42:00.001-06:00

Quick Blog:

Woke up this morning and took my time getting on the computer... At 7:42am my weather network thing is saying it's (are you ready for this??!!) -40 BEFORE factoring in a wind chill!!

Yippee!!!

The high this morning? -34 and then we'll warm up to -24 in the afternoon.

Gotta love this.... Gotta love this.

Brrrr......

This is from Fort McMurray where I was born. -40 on a day like today is warm there. Ugh!

Drifting Away Part 2... Photos!

2009-03-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

It caked onto the stuff on our veranda...

Weird....

Snow drift on my sidewalk... I could ski on it! Perfect slope!

Behind our garbage can you can see the snow drift pattern....

Alright so on the left of this photo behind my fire thing is a snow drift as tall as my Husband. Pretty tall.

More soon!

Support Needed!

2009-03-09T17:08:00.000-06:00

Hello All!

I write you in hopes that you will please support my very good friend, Julie (some may know her from Church or through me) in her journey for The Weekend to End Breast Cancer. The last time Julie walked in 2007 for this cause (she had a beautiful baby boy in 2008), I gave her as much support as I could. We threw a fundraising party and watched her on her journey all weekend long! It turned out wonderfully for the cause and I would like to go over and beyond that this year.

I myself am unable to walk with her and most likely won't be able to watch her on her journey that weekend as I will be working on a wedding.... But I want her to understand that she fully has our support. This is not only for Julie but for all of those who have been affected, will be affected and all the people tied to those individuals as well.

I honestly believe that we will one day find a cure for this. And if my small donation will help towards that, then I will give!

As she states below, you can donate online from the comfort of your home; print off a donation form online and mail it in or, if you like, you can get in touch with me and we'll make your support come true!

Thank you for your time!

Always,

Mista and Family

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A message from Julianne:

Dear friends and family,

I don't know if you have heard yet, but I am walking in The Weekend to End Breast Cancer, August 8-9, 2009. I'll walk 60 kilometres over the course of one weekend with thousands of other women and men.

I did this walk in 2007, and I'm so glad that I did. The Weekend was not only an amazing experience, but the funds raised through it are providing funding now for research that will make breakthroughs bigger than ever would have been possible without The Weekend.

I've agreed to raise at least $2,000. Would you please consider making a donation? Use the link at the bottom of this email, and go visit my site. If you are uncomfortable with donating online, you can print off a donation form from my website and mail it in with a check to the address on the form. Any amount is appreciated!

You can help me again by passing this on to others who may donate. The net proceeds will support breast cancer research, treatment, and services through the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

Thank you so much for your help!

Sincerely,

Julianne Sanders

Click here to visit my personal page.

Drifting away!

2009-03-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

Would you believe me if I said we woke up this morning to snow drifts as tall as our car??!

Pictures to come soon!

My Secret...

2009-03-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Is that I've always wanted to be a photographer.

Since I can rememebr the thought of holding a camera and capturing whatever was on the other side of it has excited me!

How could it not???! You get this wonderful opportunity to freeze a moment in time!

*sigh*

One day... One day I may get to take a course or even save up enough money to buy a camera worth taking places to capture what I see..... Or deem worthy of my memory card space... *L*

I remember being in Jr. High looking at catalogues and trying to figure out how I could afford to buy a Nikon....

It hasn't happened. And now Married with kids I can't imagine spending that amount of money #1 on myself and #2 not putting that money towards things that we need to put it towards.

But as I said... One day I'll be old and the kids will be out of the house... And then maybe I can justify putting some 'extra' cash towards a camera I love...

Until then I shall continue to daydream that I'm fairly talented at photography... For now my Blackberry will have to do! *L*

Cashing in just under $10,000! I suppose I could do with a less expensive one... *L*

Oh yeah! My new phone!! Geee!

Shaw Grrr...

2009-02-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

We have Shaw.

We've bundled our digital TV, Internet and Home Phone with them.

Sunday afternoon we realized that our phone wasn't working.

For how long, who knew??!

So Monday I call, lucky for me they have someone spending the day where we live on Tuesday.

8am-6pm.

Wonder when they'll get here.

They come at 11:30am Tuesday.

They change a 'no good' cable.

They leave in hopes that it'll work. They'll know in a half and hour (which is awesome since I've already dressed to dig my van out to take Emma to school! And have Dayhome kids in tow!).

1:02pm. They call.

Didn't work.

Will try to get it to. Will I be home 'longer this time??!'.

Ha!

I'll keep you posted on how this goes. Hopefully it works. Or else I'll be digging a hole in my back yard.... ;P

UPDATE:

They came.

They replaced the whole main modem that controls everything I listed above.

It worked!

Yay!

Thank you Shaw!

Batwoman and Astronaut

2009-02-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

No this isn't the beginning of a bad joke...

Today my two full time Dayhome children are still home sick... So I decided to take a much needed 'moment' with my girls to ask them what they would like to be when they get older.

Emma isn't 100% sure right now but being an Astronaut is still at the top of her list.

Zoë on the other hand said 'Mommy, I'd like to be a Dinosaur'.... k...... I think she was thinking that I was asking about Hallo'ween as she was that last Hallo'ween and LOVED it!

Then Zoë says 'I'd like to be a bat!' to which Emma asks 'Which kind? The one that you hit with or the one with wings??' (all with actions of course).... 'The one with wings!' replied Zoë.

Then she looks down at her place mat, moves her plate and say 'Like this!'... The picture is Batman. My youngest has the desire to grow up and become a Superhero! That 'flies'! Or at least has kick butt technology to make it seem that way!

Ahh yes... I look forward to asking them this question every now and then to see what their answers are. And I really look forward to telling them all of this one day when they're older... *L*

Illness and Gas Lines....

2009-02-20T15:45:00.001-07:00

Long story short (I'll write more when I can):

Today none of my Dayhome children came as they are all ill.

I woke up deathly ill. So you can only imagine how grateful I was that they all weren't able to make it (although I wish it wasn't because they are sick)....

I had my neighbor drive Emma to school this morning and her Uncle Conor picking her up afterwards...

And then my neighbor phones me to let me know there's a gas line break at the end of the street and they're not letting anyone in or out (they let her as she begged to be let out since she was off to get her school bus!)...

So here I am, watching my neighbors try to leave and come home in every way they can think of... And they're stuck on the other side.

I'm grateful that Conor is with Emma right now... I would have been in too much pain to deal with such a thing!

I'll post more later. Stuck in my house for now and my med's are wearing off... *sigh*

'Odds??!' update....

2009-02-20T00:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so there... I've changed mine a little bit by creating a banner....

That should do for the time being... Until I find yet another background that I love....

Until then....

*L*

Odds??!

2009-02-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

You're not going to believe this even after I tell you about it! *L*

I have spent the last week painstakingly working on my new look for my blog. Between our crazy schedule here as a family, running the Dayhome during the day, driving Emma to and from school with all kids in tow.... I've been putting in as much as I could to getting my blog 'just about perfect'....

So tonight I decide to check out other Zaugg blogs... Why not, what could it hurt??!

Well! *LOL* I came across this blog... Yes, please, check it out!

See anything, similar?

I had never, ever seen this blog before... And then it opens (it was one of three that I looked at tonight for Zaugg's.... I stopped at this one) and BAM!

Um humm...

Odd, no??!!

*LOL*

So I will eventually find a different theme.... And add all my stuff back... But for now I may take a week to rest! *L*

Love, Love, LOVE!!!

2009-02-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

These:

Ahh Giorgio Armani, could you make anymore of a beautiful frame???!

Foggy Night

2009-02-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight the girls and I decided to eat pizza downstairs and watch TV.... And can you believe that there is nothing good on at this hour on a Thursday? I'm saving E.R. for 11pm when I have my little ones fast asleep.... Anyhoo.....

Every time I ran upstairs to get something I would pause for a moment to look out our front window. We have this great view looking down our street and then nothing really. Just the highway of fin the distance. Tonight I noticed that something was 'dancing' in front of our street lights..... Fog.

For some reason the idea of fog makes me excited. I like fog. I think doing a photo shoot in some fog would rock. I like how it's mysteriously rolls across the street and engulfs everything in sight.

I'm not a fan of how it makes driving a bit more difficult... And since all we do is Highway driving out here at all hours of the day/night.. Well yeah. Wildlife better stay home on foggy nights!

Tyler is on nights... He'll be getting off work at 12:30am and heading home shortly after... Unless he does the 'guys night' thing (PS3 games!) with some buddies from work... Which means he won't be heading home until much, much later. I hope that he drives safe.... I can only pray that nothing happens!

In the meantime I'll just take these quick moments to enjoy my foggy world.

Couch falls and Fevers

2009-02-10T23:04:00.001-07:00

So tonight while I was making dinner I ran to our second floor to check my e-mail.... To which I heard a loud crash and just knew I should start running...

Sure enough by the time I was at the top of the basement stairs Emma was at the bottom starting to yell 'MOMMY!'...

Zoë had fallen.... big time.

I dig (oh yes!) my way to her and lift her off the ground where she instantly monkey hugs me.... Oh dear.

I guess she had been walking along the top of our L-Sectional couch (the back part I suppose) and had turned to look at Emma instead of where she was going. She fell right off the end of the couch landing in the back portion of our basement (where all the chaos is still as we have no garage yet)... And to make matters worse, she landed right on the plastic kid sized grocery cart (which is done for) and on our cement floor. If only she had fallen forward from the couch onto the rug portion of the basement! Ugh.

And then it happened, she asked me to get Daddy.... Daddy! Mommy was not enough to solve this issue... The hurt back of the head, neck, back..... It needed Daddy's love.

Luckily for us Daddy was on his dinner break at work and we were able to get him on the speaker phone. She kept asking him to come home which slowly broke my heart at every try... He promised her that when he got home from work he would wake her up to make sure she is better and to give her cuddles.

What a great Daddy!

We had a late dinner, watched a movie and seem to be doing okay. Zoë did mention that she was tired... So every hour tonight I'll be waking her up just to make sure she's alright... And to calm my mind as well.

On the other side of things... Emma's cough will not go away. Ugh. I asked the pharmacist which cough medicine would be best for her (I had three options all for the same symptoms but one was night, one was all day and the other I threw in for a different company choice)... Did you know that Health Canada is now suggesting that we no longer give our kids medicine for things such as coughs as there have been one to many over dosages given (as well as other reasons)??! Ack! They suggest just letting them cough it out and if it's a major issue, go to your Doctor. Unless your six, then it's okay to use cough medicine 'cause apparently parents get their acts together when their children are this age an no longer do the sleep deprived, were-on-a-four-hour-schedule, over dosage... Huh, go figure. I'm sure there's many other reasons... But personally I hate giving my kids medicines.. So I'm quite picky about when they get it.

Anyways, I bought her the night time one. *L* For my own sanity and hers. We're not getting much sleep at night, we're up much earlier then we've ever been before (on a regular schedule)... We NEED sleep! Especially when Dayhome children are here at 7:30am! And we have school! I promise that I will not give my child an over dosage! Honestly! I'm the parent that has a schedule posted on the wall with the last time the medicine was given, how much, what medicine it was, when the next is to be given and who gave it to her! I'm a bit of a freak that way. *L*

But yes, sorry to ramble there.... You can check out the articles on the cough and cold 'ban' under 6 here, here and here.

Anyhoo, I should get going! Must clean the house, switch laundry over, prep for tomorrow and check in on kids before goign to bed tonight... Ugh! *L*

More soon!

Emma's Cough....

2009-02-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

My poor Emma has been battling a cough for days now. Yesterday I finally found our long-lasting kids cough medicine and gave it to her... And off to school she went. Apparently it didn't help. We tried again an hour before bedtime. She was up until the wee hours of the morning coughing.... Uggggh! Why can't the sill long-lasting cough medicine hold up to it's promises???!

Anyhoo, somehow today I will have to drag all the kids (only four today!) to Wal-Mart where we'll get the strongest kids cough medicine around! Lets hope THAT will help! *L*

I just feel awful that she's coughing sooo much! Poor thing! And she's being so good about it!

I better go! More later!

Here we go... Again!

2009-02-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Ashley over at Our Front Porch Looking In is doing a Valentine's give-away of sorts.... *L* And I love it!

So what I'm to do is offer you this (from here):

"The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you....my choice...made especially for you.

Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2 What I create will be just for you.
3 It will be done sometime this year.
4 You have no clue what it will be... it may be a story; it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something; I may bake something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure.
5 I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!

Oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!"

Who would like to play along??! Don't forget, you have to offer the same thing to your readers on your blog!!

Geee!!!

I'm BAAAAAAAA-AAAAACK!

2009-02-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Well I'm starting to feel a bit better health wise. I needed a break to recoup with my new schedule and such before I could fully commit to blogging once again... As sad as that may be!

I'm hoping that I'll be able to blog at least once to twice a week and then work up from there. My kids have gotten into a better routine day and night (as we were forced to be with my Dayhome) so hopefully I'll be able to schedule in some good old (and much needed) blogging time!

I promise to take a full day and respond to every post that I may have missed while I was recuperating! Just you wait!!!

In the mean time, here's the 'new me' from my last photo shoot with Chelsey. We had our third 'Girls' Night In' at my place this past Friday and she was kind enough to take some photos of us!

Catch you soon!!!

Still Alive!

2009-01-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

I promise!

Be Back Soon!

'Nuff said.

2009-01-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.dose.ca/features/twilight/story.html?id=c8f53484-dd91-4d0f-9bbf-ac372c1ec20e

(Sorry I haven't been around... I'll be back soon, I promise!)

Zoë's New Eyes!

2009-01-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Proudly introducing Zoë and her new eyes!

(They look HUGE in this photo but aren't really, I promise!)

Isn't she adorable??!! :D

The Eye Doctors office called this morning before I took Emma to school... So when I told Zoë to go and talk to Daddy on how to fix the downstairs TV she instead informed him that she 'GETS HER GLASSES TODAY!'.... With just that much bubbly excitement!!! Geee!!

We picked up Emma from school and went straight over to the Eye Doctor....

After a few fittings to make sure they won't fall off her tiny face, we were ready to go.

Even our Eye Doctor was impressed with just how excited our girls have been about having to wear glasses everyday and the responsibility that goes along with it....

Oh yes, I have awesome children! *L*

I'm just glad that Zoë is excited about having glasses... Ones that she spent days deciding over (yes, days!)

So there we have it. Three out of four humans in our household now own glasses....

*L*

Pure Joy!

2009-01-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

If you ever want to see pure joy on my children's faces all you have to do is sneak up to their rooms while they're watching a movie downstairs, move one mattress to the others bedroom and set it up for an unplanned 'sleepover'...

Then not tell them about this, make them do their bedtime routine without going to their rooms (although in this case Emma had to keep the secret while Zoë finished up in the bathroom since her PJ's were in her room) and tell Zoë to go to her room.

She opens the door, looks at the extra mattress as if she's confused to why it's there and then turns around with the greatest smile a 3.5 year old could have on her face!

Pure joy!

With the excitement of the unplanned 'sleepover' sinking in Zoë runs into Emma's room where both girls burst into giggles!

Ahh yes... To be that joyful!

2009-01-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'd like to apologize to all my fellow bloggers... I just haven't been able to find the time to blog recently... Which actually make my heart sad!

This week is a bit crazy with a Dayhome Interview tomorrow, a funeral tomorrow and life in general.

I hope to be back into the blogging world sometime next week...

Miss you all!

True Love!

2009-01-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Real!

No love in the sun … Anna-Lena and Mika, with Anna-Bell at left, in a photograph taken by German police in Hanover. Photo: AFP

Kate Connolly in BerlinJanuary 7, 2009

IT IS a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries - eloping to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his seven-year-old sweetheart, Anna-Lena, who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from Germany to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes in Hanover at dawn next day while their parents slept and took along Anna-Lena's five-year-old sister, Anna-Bell, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink Lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train for the airport before a station guard alerted police.

Anna-Lena later told the German TV station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought, 'Let's go there'." Mika said: "We wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun." Anna-Lena's mother, who has not been identified publicly, said she had known nothing of the plan, saying: "I'm still in a state of shock."

Asked why they had not let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.

Mika and Anna-Lena "are very much in love", said a police spokesman. The idea for the romantic trip began when Mika told the two girls about his recent holiday in Italy while their families celebrated New Year's Eve together. "From this, the children began to make plans for the future," the spokesman said. Two police officers managed to convince the lovers they would struggle to get to Africa without money or a plane ticket.

To allay their disappointment at the change of plan, Hanover officers gave the children a guided tour of the police headquarters, where they were particularly fascinated with the detention cells.

Guardian News & Media, Agence France-Presse

Okay World....

2009-01-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Conor are engaged!!!

GEEEEE!!!

And I 've been given the great honor of being the Maid of Honor!!!

GEEEEEEE!!!!!

Congratulations you two!

(Just you all wait until you hear their engagement story!!!)

Quiet time....

2008-12-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one right now:

I have two sleeping beauties right now... And am so very thankful for that. After a very hectic month, birthday's, parties, Christmas gatherings, late nights, many turkey dinners and family staying with us at our new home my girls finally broke down.

Emma threw a tantrum that would have sent everyone into shock.

Zoë snuck into our room and ate the chocolate I had been saving.

I know this all happened because my girls are exhausted... Just like their Mommy and Daddy.... But let me tell you! *L*

I'm just happy it happened after our guests had left!

But they are asleep now.... the house is silent. It's snowing lightly outside and my home is warm. I've been reading my new book from Tyler ("Multiple Bles8ings" by the Gosselings) and am quite enjoying this silent time to myself.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (will write a HUGE blog about this another time) and just in case, an amazing New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And 200!

2008-12-25T02:32:00.000-07:00

First off I'd like to wish every single one of you out there a very Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year!

These past few weeks (well... All of December really) have been insane for us... Just as it is every December. This year though I found myself *gasp!* too tired to blog! In fact many nights Zoë would crawl into my bed to sleep beside me while Tyler was on his night shift. She'd fall asleep to whatever kid program I could find on TV (unless Daddy made it home first to tuck her back into her bed) while I would pass out before the remote hit the bed!

So to say the least, I'm a bit exhausted... And all my blogging plans haven't come try for December.

In the end though that just means I'll have to do a wonderful, amazingly long blog to 'catch up' in the New Year! Geee! :D

On another note: this is my 200th blog! Oh yes! Slowly but surely I've written 200 blogs (with some in waiting!).... I wanted to celebrate my 100th blog but totally missed it... So for my 200th I'd like to do a mini giveaway.... What I be giving away? Excellent question! *L*

If any of you out there know of someone who is looking to giveaway something in a giveaway and would like someone else to do all the 'dirty work'... Send them my way! ;) I'm not quite sure how to go about this....

Otherwise you will get some form of wonderful gift from me....

I promise to give more details in the New Year...As for now please bask in the glory of my blogs *L* and know that I've made it to 200 on Christmas Day! (I'm thrilled!)

As well... if any of you have a favorite blog of mine, please let me know! I'd love to 'showcase' them again just for you!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and, just in case, an even better New Year!

The 'Zog' Family!

More Christmas Stuff and Emma's Room

2008-12-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Late, late last night I was still decorating... And after rearranging my front room in every possible way (and ending up with it exactly how it was.... Honestly, it's the best design for the room!) I decided to decorate the girls doors a bit... Just slightly so they could get just a little bit more excited for Christmas!

Then this morning after my kids had breakfast and were playing nicely with our Dayhome child I decided I would put away Emma's gifts from her Birthday Party.... Well this lead to me organizing her room a bit... *L* I'll explain the changes after the photos in case you don't notice them...

Now her dresser is here (instead of in the closet)...

This tall blue dresser used to be where the dresser is now... I like it angled...

And her desk (used to be where the tall blue dresser is now) is in her closet. This actually freed up more room in the closet as the desk is shorter and can be pressed right to the side wall (no drawers to hit the closet doors)...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What actually started my re-organizing was that lovely pink and purple hanging organizer in the closet (who gave this for her Birthday? I totally missed her opening it, sorry! It's lovely though!)... So I really re-organized her whole room just to fit that in the closet! *LOL*

But I think it looks wonderful!

Quick Holiday Post

2008-12-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided (after going shopping with the girls when Emma got out of school today, and buying many breakable decorations...) that the little tree we have in our kitchen would be for the girls. They could decorate it any way they'd like.... It's all theirs!

And the big tree in the living room is all Mommy's! *LOL*

When I asked the girls how they felt about this.... Well they were all over having a tree to themselves! *L*

Here's some photos of the girls decorating their tree. I pulled out all the 'old' decorations that have been passed down for generations and let them take turns adding to it one-by-one.

They did such an awesome job! And I'm totally in love with the photo of Zoë and her hands... (#3). Every time she placed and item on the tree she'd hold her hands as if she was praying... Adorable! *L* As well... I didn't realize just how far up Emma could reach until she decided to place one of her bows near the very top! She did it all on her own!!!

Friday Flashback AND Happy Birthday Emma!

2008-12-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

Today at 10:50am will officially be Emma's 5th year on Earth! And how lucky we are to have her!

Emma celebrating her 1st Birthday (she had her very own cup cake!)

Blowing out her candle! (cake for the adults!)

Kisses for Kitty (which she still sleeps with every night! Thanks Auntie Sarah & Uncle Conor!)

Emma getting ready for her first day of school... Silly girl!

I'm so very excited for Emma to be 5... What a wonderful year it should be!

Her Birthday Party is Saturday, I'll post photos as soon as I get back on the computer!

Happy Birthday Emma!

We are truly blessed to have you in our lives!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Zoë

Schedule

2008-12-11T08:20:00.001-07:00

*Tyler is on nights!

Yesterday:
Pack Emma's backpack and snack bag for school
10am: Emma's Doctor's appointment in the 'old city' (about a 45 min drive)
11am: Lunch and Shopping at Ikea with Emma in the 'old city'
12:00/2:30pm (leave times): Emma to and from school (Remember $ for Bake Sale!)
Prep for the girls to make invites at Activity Days
Make dinner while the girls have 'Quiet Time'
Pack up dinner (Yum KD!), snacks, toys, etc. to preoccupy my girls while I'm helping with Activity Days
7pm-8:30pm: Activity Days at Church (20min's away); Pick up Stuffing supplies for Ward Christmas Party

Today:
Dayhome child 8-5pm
Book girls' eye appointments for January
Call regarding Party Room for Emma's Birthday Party (Make sure it's still booked!)
Safeway to order Cupcake Cake for Emma's Party Saturday
12:00/2:30pm (leave times): Emma to and from school with kids in tow
Wal-Mart: Groceries (very much in need!), veggies for Ward Christmas Party Friday, Goodies to decorate Gingerbread Houses (Emma's class Friday)
Buy things for Party Favors, etc.
6:15pm: The CPR Christmas Train will be here! Taking the girls for the first time!
7pm: Be at Church to help decorate for the Ward Christmas Party
Make Rice Krispie Squares for Emma's "Class Party" as she's 5 ON that day!!! :D

Figure out why the camera won't work.. And fix it!

SWIM SUITS!!! I must find our swim suits!

Friday:
HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!!
Dayhome Child 8-5pm
Make squares/cookies for Ward Christmas Party
12:00pm/2:30pm (leave times): Emma to and from school with kids in tow (Don't forget the Rice Krispie Squares!!!)
Make Stuffing for Ward Christmas Party
Make Veggies for Ward Christmas Party
Prep for Emma's Birthday Party Saturday
6pm: Ward Christmas Party! Stuffing must be there by 6pm! *L*

Saturday:
Emma's 5th Birthday Party!
10:30am: Pick-Up Cake
11:00am: Arrive early to set-up Party Room (if they'll let us) and meet everyone in the lobby.
Take head count of everyone to pay for their swimming pass
11:30am-12:30pm: Party Room Booked
12:30pm: Swimming! (Pretty Penny! *L*)

BREAK!

8pm: Sarah's Birthday Dinner at a wonderful Greek Restaurant in the 'old city'.... (Belly Dancing here we come! Loud, Loud music!)

*Must remember ear plugs for the girls!

Sunday:
11am-1pm: Church
2:30pm: Family Dinner in the 'old city'
(I hear it's supposed to get down to -31!! Yay! :P)

Monday:
How I wish I could sleep in! *LOL*

LATE!

2008-12-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

So I have worked very, VERY hard at making sure Emma is not late for school. Very hard.

I've had her eating ("more") lunch as we're buckled in the van just to get her there on time.

I've created a routine with her that gets us up, fed, ready for school, then play time...

But this week has nearly killed us... And it's only Tuesday!

Today got the better of us... I had her in the van at 12:13pm (class starts at 12:15pm)... If we had just driven away then she may have been considered 'not late' as the attendance would not have been done then.

Instead I had to scrape our van windows (I'm short... I always find this a challenge! *L*), make sure my wipers were done being frozen together, drive behind a huge truck hauling two beds of dirt who decided to pull over at the stop sign and then turn on his blinkers after a bit (I honestly thought he was going to turn right, just like us!)... Wait for the never ending long light and then head to Emma's school.

And because I'm one of those parents that refuses to park in the marked off 'yellow' area (Means "DO NOT PARK HERE!") as I have the wrose luck and that's when the Bylaw Officers would come! *L* I had to park across the road and run carrying Emma to class.

12:20pm

I sent her to class with no socks on (they got stuck in her boots and I refused to let her put them on in the doorway in hopes that she would get to class before attendance was done). I then noted that another Mom was getting a late slip for her child in Emma's class.... So I did the same. As soon as I stepped out of the Office there was Emma with another child from her class (who was holding the dreaded attendance book)... I guess Mrs. Kerr had sent Emma with her to get a late slip.

UGGGGGGH!

Hopefully tonight goes much better! *L*

Look Ma! I can make things!

2008-12-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, everyone... Please remember to breathe after that huge gasp you just took! ;)

So quickly, here's a few things I've taken to making... Sorry for the crappy photo quality... I was lucky enough to have been able to pull Emma away from playing with our new Dayhome Child to even get these shots! *L*

2008-12-06T00:14:00.000-07:00

Flashback Friday

Tyler an I were married on July 12, 2003.... It was wonderful for the most part. At least we ended up married in the end! *L*

My Bridal Shower. Thank you Sarah and Heather for being such great sports!

Thank you to Heidi for doing my hair and make-up!

We're married!!

In the background is almost every theatre person we graduated with! *L* AND our instructors!

It was a very hot (really hot) day and I'm thankful to have made it out alive! *LOL*

We're very grateful to those friends of ours from school that helped out (Sarah, Heather and Heidi we're from our grad class to name a few).

Sorry about the quick one today... Next week is Emma's Birthday so I'll so my best to remember to give you a good one!! :D

No. No, No.... (sighed) Yes.

2008-12-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

It's snowing.

Didn't snow all day.

Thankfully.

Espcially since I drive Emma to and from school in the span of just under 3 hours.

But tonight we're driving into the city for dinner with friends....

Friends that actually bought our old house! *L*

And I was really, really hoping that the weather would stay somewhat non-snowing for the drive in and out.

Can you tell I'm in a funk?

Ugh. Stupid yesterday's realization.

More later!

Thank You!

2008-12-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

This blog is a quick one...

I'd like to thank my Hubby for doing something that I didn't expect him to do...

He took the garbage out!

Not only did he do this, he also gathered all the garbage's beforehand & tossed them into a bag without a single question towards me.

Me who was asleep at 1:30am.

Why was he doing this at 1:30am? Well this morning is our garbage day and if we miss it we're screwed until next week. And there's a 'garbage law' here that states we're only allowed between 3-4 bags a week on our curb.

Um hummm...

So my wonderful Husband noticed that I had fallen into a deep sleep and without asking me a single thing, took the initiative to do the whole garbage thing on his own!

Yes, I would like to thank him!

Thanks Hon, you rock!

Snow, Snow, Snow Angels.

2008-12-02T14:32:00.001-07:00

Quick thing...

We were late getting Emma to school as it started to randomly really snow today. After brushing off the van I had all the kids get their jackets, boots, mitts, hats, etc. on while the van warmed up....

And then we started to drive.

This is a whole other blog, believe me... But back to my main story.

By the time we got to Emma's school all the parents were leaving (which means all of her afternoon class had already headed in! Ack!)... I'm quite proud of the fact that we have no (yes, NO) lates so far! Bah! Or missed days! None!

Anyhoo.... I tell the kids to double time it to the front doors (as there's no parking in front of the doors so I had to park even further away!) while I'm carrying the dayhome child.... I turn for a second to look behind me and by the time I look ahead again Zoë is on the ground in the middle of the crosswalk making a snow angel!

IMAGINE!

*LOL*

Yeah... Emma was the last one that I saw heading down to her class... Gosh I hope she doesn't get a late. We've worked soooo hard! I'm sure kids were still putting their stuff into their lockers when she walked in.... *fingers crossed*

I did realize about an hour and a half (enough time to clean and make fudge brownies) later that we forgot to take her library book with her to school. Today is her only library day of the week....

UGH!

Not sure what happens with this... Is she banned from taking a book out this week? I'm taking it with us to pick her up... Can she get a new one then? Oh dear, I may have a very heartbroken little girl on my hands.....

Off we go to see what drama may have happened today... I'll keep you posted!

HAPPY BIRTH-day JULIET!

2008-11-29T23:31:00.000-07:00

Well it FINALLY happened! Jessica and Kevin over at November Baby had their little baby 'J'....

Why 'J'?? Well Jessica made a deal with Kevin that she could tell all us eager friends and family the first letter in the baby girls name but not the whole name as that was to be a surprise!

Honestly, for their Thanksgiving cake that they made she did this:

*LOL*

But yes, back to the wonderful news!

Friday (November 28) at 2:04pm baby Juliet was born! She weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 21 inches long!!! I think that's a wonderful weight as my children were in the 9's! *LOL* makes you feel like you won't "break them"... *L* :P

Of course Juliet didn't make the labour easy! It was 48 hours of labour with 36 of it being medication free! Total "ACK!"....

After the doctors decided that Juliet's head wasn't going to drop a C-Section was ordered! Both Juliet and Jessica are fine! As well as Daddy Kevin! *L*

And I know that 'big sis' Ophelia Glinda McSnuggles is waiting for the chance to give Juliet a big lick at home! *L*

Here are some wonderful photos of baby Juliet Isabella Rain McDonald meeting her Mommy and Daddy for the first time!

(Jess, I hope you don't mind that I stole these! Let me know if it's a problem!)

I am SO proud of these two! You've done excellent work prepping for baby Juliet and I just know that you're going to be awesome parents!

Congratulations you three!

Special Friday Flashback!

2008-11-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I'm actually doing my Friday Flashback ON Friday! Ha! *LOL*

Today's photo is a very special one to me. Whenever I find myself completely overwhelmed by Emma I try to take a moment to look at it. First the photo.... Then the story.

First off: Sorry about the photo quality. I had to take a photo of a photo... I'll explain in a second.

When Emma was born at 10:50am on December 12, 2003 she was a happy, healthy 9lbs 2oz baby!

13 hours later while I woke from a painful sleep and Tyler was changing her diaper the nurse and I noticed that Emma was blue. Very blue.

She had been very quiet, slept lots and wasn't at all hungry... the almost perfect baby... *sigh* But it took her turning blue for us to realize that something was wrong.

After a few moments she was rushed away from us (she had been an emergency c-section)... And we were left to wonder what on earth was happening....

SO I decided to take a much needed shower... I remember getting out to the shower and barely getting clothing on when a bunch of nurses came into my room. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:30am, on the dot. Emma was there as well.

They explained to us, quickly, that Emma was having breathing problems and they weren't sure why... So they were rushing her by ambulance to the NICU at another hospital (the one we were at didn't have one... Great hospital though, went back to have Zoë!). They would hopefully be able to find me a room at that hospital. Then they handed us the photo above (it's a Polaroid) and left.

As you can see she was in the incubator with bunches of tubes attached to her. They did mention that they were pretty sure she was going to be okay as she was strong. Look at her fist alone!

Long story short (for today) after a week in NICU and a bunch of transfers for me we were able to take home out bundle of joy.

I forget sometimes just how lucky we are to have this little girl. And just how lucky we are that we caught her turning blue. If we had been discharged that day she may have been considered a SIDS baby.... And I have a lot of trouble thinking of that.

Emma pushes me everyday.... And sometimes she pushes a bit to much. More often then not. So every now and then I like to take a single moment to look at this photo and remember what we've been through already and just how very lucky we are to have her in our lives.

I am very, very grateful for my Emma.

Happy US Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well now... It's Thanksgiving all over again in our household! *L*

We live in Canada... Thanksgiving for us was in October... But today is a special day for us all!

I signed up (with the brilliant idea...) to feed the Missionaries today! Thought it would be neat! Our girls get to learn about a different Country (and their holiday) and the Missionaries get a little piece of home.

As well, one of the Missionaries that helped me become baptised is flying in (from the States) and joining us for today's Thanksgiving dinner! Geee! I'm so excited to see Sister Buck!! :D

On the menu today are the following (nothing 'fancy'):

Main Course:
Turkey

Stuffing

Homemade Cranberry Sauce (a first for me!)

Veggies - Green Beans and Corn

Homemade Gravy

Homemade Mashed Potatoes with Chives (all on my own, Tyler's at work and this is usually his specialty!)

Buns

Dessert:

Homemade Pumpkin Pie! (Geee! I even used my mix master for the first time ever! Only took four months!)

Whipped Cream

Drinks:

Pop - Coke, Pepsi, Ginger ale (w/cranberry too!), Sprite

Juice - Peach, Apple

Water

Cranberry Fizz (First time trying it out, hope it works!)

Soda Shop Cola (Sooooooo good! And easy to make!)

I'm really hoping everything turns out. I've already made the pie, have the potatoes scrubbed... veggies are ready to go.... Drinks are in the fridge... And the Turkey will go in the oven right before I take Emma to school!

Today's schedule go as follows:
Decorate
Make table bigger
Take Emma to school and DH child goes home
Cook
Clean the house
Make the basement ready for Sister Buck to sleep in (bed prepped, etc.)
Organize the house
Run to store
Pick up Emma from school
Keep cooking, cleaning, laundry
Tyler home from work
Place table (including the homemade menu's I made!)
Missionaries and Sister Buck show up for 6:30pm dinner (they really can't be late because...)
Zac's Birthday Bash Concert in Edmonton (starts at 7 goes until 11:30pm. We'll be late and Sister Buck is coming with us!)

We have a ton going on tonight! And then tomorrow I have the DH Kid coming at 7:15am and Emma has school! *L*

Here's hoping that I can have everything ready for 6:00pm.... This will be the first holiday dinner that I've made... And mostly on my own! Geee!

I'll keep you posted! And take photos!

More soon!

2008-11-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

Christmas Favorites:

Song: Silent Night, Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree… The list goes on!
Dessert: Chocolate anything!
Dinner item: Tyler’s Family: Sweet Potatoes! My Family: Mom’s Caramelized Carrots (Yum!)
Drink: Oooo… Well Egg Nog of course. But also Cherry Cola!
Colour: Red… And gold. Might be the only time that I enjoy seeing gold around!
Tradition: Don’t really have one since being married. We’ve traveled so much. Used to be that my family would stay up all night Christmas Eve wrapping the final gifts and such, always fun… I guess now it’s Santa’s Letter! :D
Childhood memory: How the tree and gifts looked when you finally got to see it! My family puts a lot of effort into their gift wrapping and tree decorating! It’s insane!!

Christmas quiz:

When did you stop believing in Santa?: I was younger… I remember hearing my Mom and Grandparents discussing Santa’s Letter… *L*

Do you love gift giving, or gift getting?: Well both of course… But I thrive on the gift giving!

How many Christmas's do you have?: Since being married… Two, nope three! We are either here with my family and have Christmas and then Christmas with Sarah and Conor at New Years. OR we travel (changes every year) to Tyler’s family, then have Christmas with my family the following weekend and then have Christmas with S&C on New Years!

How many people do you have to buy presents for?: Oh my goodness… A LOT! Lets see…Over 20.Who is the hardest person to buy for?: This year? Humm…. Not sure yet.

Who is the easiest person to buy for?: My girls!

What do YOU want for Christmas this year?: New glasses! (Ha, Ha, Ha… Sarah!)

Who will you be sharing your Christmas memories with?: Tyler and our Girls… Then my family for sure and hopefully we’ll get to travel to Tyler’s family!

Will you be traveling for Christmas?: Hopefully! To Cardston!

What is your Christmas wish!?: If I tell you, will it come true?

TAG:

Chelsey

Kristi

Jessica

Rhonda

Natalie (from Natalie's Sentiments... Soemthing fun to do!)

Heather

Better Home Interiors Giveaway @ Natalies Sentiments!

2008-11-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Natalie's at it again!

This time the giveaway is with Better Home Interiors! They're kindly allowing us all to have the chance to win a $25 gift card for their store! How cool is that??!

What exactly do they sell? TONS of stuff!

From Natalie's Site:

"Need a gift for your mom, sister or close friend? I like the idea of getting loved ones something they can display in their home and remember you thought of them. I heard about Better Home Interiors from people who love the furniture they sell, but I was thrilled to find a fantastic selection of home decor as well. I just picked up the Joy Blocks for my Christmas collection, and they are so cool (and huge! photo doesn't do then justice) I had to display them early."

Head on over to Natalie's Sentiments for your chance to win!

Deadline: Thanksgiing for the USA (Thursday, November 27th!)

It's a Zog World!

Last One?

Goodbye Wisdom....

Super Saturday!!

Test

DELAY!

Heads Up!

Theme Thursday

Introducing......

Do you have a secret?

Family Nights

Details. It's all about the details, right??!

Mope.

NS Giveway!! Dail Decals!

NS's GIVEAWAY!!

R-E-L-A-X!

LOOOOOOOOOOVE washed away...

Take my breath...

Yay for Eww??!

If you could....

Breakfast for Dinner??!

The Lorax

(Home) Movie Day 1

Comic Fear??!! *L*

G-O-L-D!

Carnival!

Heartbroken Greece.

Valentine's 2011

A Quick New Year Update... Part 1

Happy New Year!

Go!

Missing...

One Of "THOSE" Days!

Frustration...!

Kelly Moore Bag GIVEAWAY!

My Strive to be a Unicorn....

Cookie Toss

Too Late?

Almost!

Update from the last Update...

Update 2010

Catch Up!

New Blog.....By Me!

Happy Canada Day!

Please pass along....

Natalie's Sentiments at it again!

This Morning.... So far...

Early!

Twitter, Twitter!

Hello World!

This (past) weekend...

Uplifting Sadness....

I Suck.

VEGAS Baby!!!

Paisley Lane Giveaway - Making Room For Baby!

Schedule!

The Have Travel Will Story Contest!!!

My Mini Grown-up!

Eeek!

Drifting Away Part 2... Photos!

Support Needed!

Drifting away!

My Secret...

Shaw Grrr...

Batwoman and Astronaut

Illness and Gas Lines....

'Odds??!' update....

Odds??!

Love, Love, LOVE!!!

Foggy Night

Couch falls and Fevers

Emma's Cough....

Here we go... Again!

I'm BAAAAAAAA-AAAAACK!

Still Alive!

'Nuff said.

Zoë's New Eyes!

Pure Joy!

True Love!

Okay World....

Comic Fear??!! L