A Quick New Year Update... Part 1

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!! ;)

Almost!

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...

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!

I Suck.

I'm so sorry.

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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!

Schedule!

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!)

My Mini Grown-up!

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!

Batwoman and Astronaut

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*

Couch falls and Fevers

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!

Zoë's New Eyes!

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!

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!

Quiet time....

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!

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!

Quick Holiday Post

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!!!

Snow, Snow, Snow Angels.

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!

Illness making a wave!

My family is ill.... Just like the elephant to my left.

On Monday Emma decided it was time to calmly toss her cookies (thank goodness she was so calm about it all!)... Last night Zoë had a fever... Only 100.6, but still! And then my Hubby came home.

He had phoned me when he got off of work around 12:30am and said his stomach hurt (which was the tell-tale sign for Emma to toss) but was just going to stop off at a friends place to check out this new game he got. that's fair, when you're on night shift, being out until the wee hours of the morning is 'normal'.

I have no clue what time he got home at... I think he said he left his friends place at 3:16am and then it's at least a 20-30 minute drive home.... So what's that... 3:40-3:50am.

And then he was ill. Tossing his cookies. I don't really remember this much as I was exhausted and had been hoping to get some good sleep (not the 'Mommy ears' sleep where you can't "turn them off" because you're listening for this exact thing...)....

Then, right before I was to get up and going (and before my Dayhome Child was to be over), e tossed again.

If you should know anything about my Husband it should be this, he will do just about anything not to toss his cookies. And I can't blame him!

So now I'm stuck in a predicament. I have my DH Child here (which technically they're not supposed to be here until it's been 24 hours since the last toss session)... I explained to his father the situation. As I thought he had to go to work (can't blame him for this) but said to call him if I needed to take care of other things... he may be able to take a 1/2 day. Maybe.

Um humm....

So... I'm exhausted and in no mood for misbehaving children (this is a warning kids!)... My Husband is tossing... Emma is almost totally recovered and Zoë is still up in the air with which way this illness will go towards her.

Help!

Really??!

Who does this?

Emma: Mommy, my tummy hurts.

Me: Okay well I'll make you some soup for dinner and some other light things just in case.

After we've eaten Italian Wedding Soup, Crackers and some cheese and crackers things with water. As well as watched some TV shows (Jon and Kate Plus 8 and Little People Big World!) it was time for the girls to get ready for bed.

Emma went to use the washroom (oh yes, there's more to this story from earlier that I'll go into in another blog when I'm not so exhausted) and after whatnot decided she couldn't brush her teeth.. She just didn't feel well enough.

So I got her to lay in her bed, placed a towel on her floor (protect the 6month old carpet!!!!) with a bucket (2 actually! Why leave her there with nothing 'just in case!' They stack!) and went to deal with Zoë.

I had told Emma that I would take her temperature when I had Zoë settled in for the night.

I had just gotten Zoë to bed when I hear her out of her room asking Emma questions:

Zoë: Emma, are you sick?

Emma: Yeah.... My tummy hurts.... (then something else I couldn't quite make out)....

Zoë: Oh. Okay. (She went back to bed here)

Then I hear Emma in the hallway coming to my room so I meet her halfway, slightly annoyed* that she couldn't just wait for me to come and take her temperature as I said I would....

And then I saw it. She had tossed her cookies, held a whole conversation with her sister (this was what I missed) and was asking me if I would now take her temperature! *L*

I have an awesome child.

And she's been so well tempered throughout the whole ordeal! Even has my cleaning of the bucket routine down!

Poor kid.

*I'd like to let you know that I wasn't annoyed as soon as I got into her room! And yes, we did take her temperature!

So yes.... I just had to share this little bit of.... I don't know... Whatever it is. All I know is that I have an awesome little girl who isn't letting this little issue get in the way of her happy attitude!

ACK!

Well this week it snowed... On and off... Luckily (and I mean luckily) it didn't last and by morning the snow had disappeared.... Such.... Sadness (can you hear the sarcasm in my writing??!).

I love snow. I love watching it glisten in the light while it covers the ground in soft, fluffy goodness.

I am fascinated by snowflakes... How can there be not one the same? Not ONE! Which them always brings me back to my yearly thought of how we, as Humans, are not one alike. Even if you're identical to someone you become your own person... Your own identity. Hummm....

And I love how my girls get so, SO excited when it snows. Every year since Emma could express her over-joyness about it snowing she giggles and says 'IT'S SNOWING!!! YAY!!!! :D"... Then she asks when she can play in it! I blame that part on the fact that she's a winter baby. Honestly!

This year was neat watching both girls.... Emma did her usual excitement about the snow falling (and she didn't care that it was melting when it hit the ground.... White stuff was falling from the sky!) and then Zoë piped in! She was excited too! Looking out our front window with wonderment written all over her face.... And secretly hoping that this meant Santa would be coming soon!

I myself dread... DREAD going out into the snow. I hate being cold, I hate having a chill.... I hate the feeling of coldness taking over my body no matter how much I bundle up... I hate it! I like the idea of playing in the snow, making snowmen (and women!) all over the front lawn.... Snow angles and all that good stuff.... But quite honestly I'd prefer to be inside with a good book and some hot chocolate!

I hate (Uggggggghhhhh!) wiping off and scraping off my van windows only to make my way to the front again to do the process all over.

I hate shoveling.

And I really don't care for how ANY winter jacket (or at least one that will make my body heat attempt to keep me warm) adds at least 20lbs to my figure. Bah! *L*

Yup. Winter.

I am looking forward to more excitement from the girls... Maybe some sledding for them as well (if the wind cooperates... Oh the wind!).... I'm looking forward to nights in with popcorn and hot chocolate while watching those classic Christmas movies....

I'm looking forward to the feeling of Christmas... The spirit of it as I like to say. How you can just see the goodness of people (and some who may surprise you here!) radiate off of them.

I'm looking forward to Christmas decorations (Oh yes, I'm 'one of those people' who get SOOOO excited when they put out the Christmas decorations before Hallowe'en is over! But I refuse to buy until after Hallowe'en of course! ;P)...

I am looking forward to Christmas... Just not the 'Winter' part....

You?

Friday Flashback... On a Monday!

So I totally missed Friday's Flashback as it was Hallowe'en and my day was REALLY busy! (I'll blog and post photos of that later!)

But yes... As most of my photos are on my other computer's hard drive I'm dealing with not to far in the past photos for now.... Sorry! *L*

Emma and Zoë November 2007

This photo was taken at Chelsey's new home... It was one of the first photo shoots that we did with Chelsey that was 'Professional'.... And it was awesome! My girls had their photos taken in their Christmas Dresses and then some relaxed photos in their normal clothing.

As well it showed everyone Chelsey's amazing talent with children!

I was very thankful that Chelsey was kind enough to take time out of her day to take such wonderful photos of my girls. Some of my favorite photos are from this shoot!

Thanks Chelsey for taking photos of my beautiful little girls!

And now you're Rice Photography!

$$$$$

So today I filled up my car with gas.... Today is payday so my Husband and I make a point to rush out and fill up as soon as we can before our money ends up elsewhere (ya know.... Like.... Bills)....

As I stood there filling up my car I played hand games with Zoë through her window.....

And then....

It stopped....

At....

$43.00!

Imagine! $43.00!!!

THAT'S IT!!!

Yes, it's true... I'm excited for a $43.00 bill. I mean in all honestly I still think that that price is sickening.... But for the past while we'd been filling our car and van and they were only about $1 off of each other.... Ringing in at $70-$80 a week.

So $43.00 seemed like a mini blessing!

*LOL*

I was so excited that I smiled the whole way home and couldn't wait to tell my gas filling up price to my Husband when I saw him next!

And the really funny part... We both agreed that it's still a gross price to pay but we're happy that it was only $43.00!

Ha, Ha, Ha....

We may need help!

Shingles Vs. Wind - Part 2

Tyler collected a few of the shingles that took flight off of our house.... Made it 5 houses down (and quite possibly more, this was all he could find in a calm break):

I have had to move Emma into Zoë's room as the major part of the 'wave' banging from the shingles is right over Emma's bedroom. Sweet huh??! You can hear the 'wave' (as I like to call it) throughout the whole house... And our neighbors can hear it in their house as well (lucky us for the next few days).....


I predict a few days of no sleep (as the girls aren't used to sharing a room)... And a lot of trouble on Monday dealing with the Builder.


The funny thing? A few days ago in the mail we received our survey on how our experience has been with our builder. We have to rate them... And it's a huge deal! *LOL*


Yup.


OH! AND it snowed. Yippee!

UPDATE 6:30pm: So I went for a quick stroll around our neighborhood... Found two more sheets of our shingles. Lovely color, just wish they would stay stuck to our dang home!

Grrr....

Who feels like the loser of the hood??!! I do, I DO!