Birthday Planning -Zoë

I'm behind schedule....Sort of.

For most people planning a July birthday still wouldn't be in the works.... but the day after Zoë's last birthday I caught myself laying in bed thinking 'Now what??!'..... I decided to take some time off to focus on Emma's birthday (which was a struggle of its own! Ugh!) and now I really need to get into full planning for Zoë.

July is an insane time in our household. First off it's wedding season... Then we have Tyler's and my anniversary, Zoë's birthday and my birthday. Then just to throw in more to the mix, Tyler's parents and my grandparents' anniversaries are on the same day in July! *L*

Oh yeah, and we will have moved to our new home in Leduc. Yes, Leduc! This small detail will be fun in deciding where to have Zoë's party.

I do have a few things 'decided'... *L*... I laugh at this because it's just the cake that Zoë would like.... Here it is:


or



Yeah....I'll just get right on that.... Off to Janna I go! *L*

So now all that's left is:

Location
Theme
Guests
Cake
Gift
Grab Bags
Food
Entertainment
Decorations
Etc.

This should be a cinch!

Ideas that I've come across are:

Backyardigans Birthday Party
Cinderella Party*
Daisy Smiles
Disney Princesses Party*
Dora the Explorer Party
Dress-Up Party*
Farm Animals Party**
Summer Garden Party
Royal Princess Party*
Zoo Party***

*Boys would be Knights or a Prince
**Maybe actually go to a farm!
***Go to the zoo.... Limited amount of people though...

Any ideas will kindly be accepted... And please keep in mind that I will also be working weddings every weekend in July, sometimes two a weekend.... So the exact day of the birthday may not be on a Saturday....

:)

I'm "CHUBBY"...

Ugh.

Maybe others don't see it but who knows their body better than theirselves??! Recent photos made me go 'Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-ck'.

First off.... I hadn't noticed how low my tnak top was.... Until I got the proofs.... Yuck!
What's up with my hair on stage right??! At least I'm smiling...

'Humm.... What's over there??!'

Hair, Chest....

I like my smile/laugh... But aain, a bit too low cut (and this is coming from me! *L*)
*sigh* Must I really go on?

This one isn't bad...

I like this one as well....

Oh yeah, my nails! A day before I had them re-filled.
Are you kidding me??? Yuck! Although my tummy isn't THAT round...

Okay... So overall, not loving my photos... I would like to say that the it is not the photographers fault. Marika did an awesome job and I had a great time....

I just need to get to a gym! *L*

Goal 1: Gym membership or something... Weekly workouts!

HA!

The van that is!

HA!

(Here's hoping it will start without being plugged in after shopping tonight!)

Our NEW-ish car!!!

This update is for Jessica....Mostly.... I hadn't realized that I forgotten to inform her of something so huge in our lives until I wrote this simple update on my Facebook status:

"Mista is thankful for a second vehicle!"

(I bet some of you thought I was going to say that I was pregnant... Ha! Yeah, no....)

Which Jessica wrote on my wall:

"You got a second car?!"


*LOL* Oh dear, I had forgotten to update her! AHHH!

So yes! We bought a second vehicle around midnight the day before our crazy Ward-Christmas-Breakfast-Christmas-Play-Emma's-4th-Birthday-Party-Sarah's-Birthday-Dinner day.



It's a 1997 Chevy Lumina. Power windows, Keyless entry, etc. Duel heating... And a 15.5 Cubic-Sq-Ft trunk! And it only had 78,000 km!

So here's the story:

We had been looking for a reliable, safe second vehicle that could fit the whole family in it. This includes the car seats! At first Tyler thought about a truck so that he could haul things around (like when we get his welding business up and going) but I wouldn't allow him to get one unless it had the seats int he back.... Just in case my van craps out and I still need to get Emma to school, etc. It also had to be reliable enough for me to take my girls to and from Leduc on the highway in.

And it could cost no more than $5000.00!

I looked forever, calling people, e-mailing people, asking thousands of questions when finally there was guy selling his Cavalier.... We test drove it...

1) He smoked in it.
2) The engine was SO dirty! And rusting.... Because...
3) It was from Ontario. The difference in humidty, what we use on our groundin winter, etc. was creating rust... Already! (It wasn't that old!).....

Oh! And it was only a 2-door... Wich confirmed that we needed a 4-door... Oh yes....

I got tired. It was mostly myself doing all of this as Tyler was working. He'd talk to guys at work and get the Auto Trader Magazine, but other then that it was hard for him to keep up.... And Conor even gave us a heads up on a vehicle he saw an ad about at school... (Thank you!)...

So I placed this in the Marketplace on Facebook:



HA! Take that Facebookers!

And then I sat back and waited for the replies to come... And they did!!!! Thank goodness!

One of the first replies I received was from a woman named Eva.... She informed me that she had bought this car for her daughter but she (daughter) could not pay her back so she was selling it! It only as 78,000km on it and had been kept in a garage its whole life.

You see.... And elderly man had bought it to drive to and from the grocery store. Yup. She bought it for $6000.00, paid for an inspection fee and had new brakes installed as that was all it needed. She was willing to sell it to us for $5000.00!

I made an appointment. So late one evening Tyler, the girls and I drove to the other side of the city to test drive the car. When we arrived, they weren't there. Huh. So we waited... And they arrived! (Not a big deal really)....

We test drove it.... Oh how smoothly it drove! It has the bench seat in the front so we can actually fit 6 in the car!!! Then we did all of our tests on it.... Signals------WORK! Engine------Clean! Trunk Space------HUGE!

We were sold.

Now for the dealing... My Mommy (yes, I said 'Mommy') kindly offered to help us out*... So after many e-mails, photos, reports, etc. we all agreed that it was best to buy a car that was newer, clean, well taken care of with low km's for a high price then a run-down-barely-holding-in-there car that's cheap, cheap, cheap (price way).

So we're getting a car! *GEEEEEEEE!*

Many late night messages back and forth with Eva and we have it arranged. Friday, December 7th we were buying the car! Tyler did all of the calling with our Insurance guy (who is in Leduc...Funny, no??!).

Now for the fun part of the story...That Friday was a crazy one for us. You see that whole week was a last minute thing for Emma's birthday party. I'll write a blog about this later on but let's just say all hell was breaking loose! In the end we found a place to have the first part of her party at (thank you, thank you, thank you Grandma and Grandpa and Kevin!) and now I had to call everyone invited to let them know of the last minute change....

I also had a very important meeting with one of my favorite clients at 5:30pm with a Wedding Commissioner. This was at South Edmonton Common and included dinner.

Then at 9pm Tyler, the girls and I were to be at our Church decorating for the Ward Christmas Breakfast and Nativity Production (play). This is Westmount area.....

And then we're to be on the north side to buy the car.

Before all of this I was to be dressed, make-up'd and such for my meeting and at the bank to get a cheque for the car.....

All was going as planned until the weather turned to crap on my drive over to my dinner meeting.... And the roads got a bit....Umm...Unsafe.

Dinner meeting went really well. Comissioner signed. Food eaten.

Picked up the family, decorations and headed over to the Church. While there Zoë fell right off the stage (turned to crawl down the stirs from the stage) and bashed her head so hard I heard the 'CRACK!' noise at the back of the gymnasium. As well, Tyler started to feel not so great... Humm...

After this we drove to the north side to make our 10:30pm appointment to buy the car (Alright, we were late as there was just not enough time in the weather to get across the city in 20 minutes).

We waited so long that we left, filled the van with gas (which I did -the passenger- because Tyler was just that ill) and got some drinks and a snack to hold us over...

Just before midnight they showed up, emptied the car out (her daughter has a child so we actually got to see how a car seat would fit in the car) and we did the payment/paper work.

There we have it! We are now the proud owners of a second vehicle... Who needs more kids when you have car payments to make??!! *L*

I drove the van home; Tyler drove the car (I'm guessing you could have figured that one out on your own....).

That's all I'll tell you about for now since we'll start getting into Emma's Birthday weekend.... Maybe Friday night while my girls are at a sleepover I'll take the time to write an extremely long blog about that weekend and the week that lead up to it....

*We're paying my Mom back... Slowly as I made a deal with Tyler that I would pay for it with whatever I make from Weddings and my monthly cheque, etc..... Merry Christmas!!! (A car and a Drafting Table... Not a bad score! *L*)

And why does Blogger always seem to make the spaces in-between my paragraphs longer and longer? That's not how I placed them! Grrr...

Winter Weather... Continued from Facebook.... (Part 2)

No relief to cold in sight

By FRANK LANDRY, CITY HALL BUREAU

Sam Stewart's face is covered in frost as he clears snow from the sidewalk along Whyte Avenue and 107 Street yesterday. Edmonton's daytime temperature hovered around -28 C with a wind chill that made it feel like -40 C. (David Bloom, Sun Media)

"Winter have you stuck in a rut? You'd better get used to it.

City officials say major arterial roadways have all been plowed following this week's bout of bad weather and the focus is now on clearing bus routes.

There are no plans to clear residential streets - some of which have become increasingly rutted and snow jammed.

Barry Belcourt, the city's director of roadway maintenance, said generally, the snow pack must exceed 10 cm in the driving lanes before that's done. Yesterday, it was at about 5 cm on residential streets.

"It's not going to be a total city-wide plowing," he said of the current effort. "But if we've got a couple of locations adjacent to an open field, and the wind's blown in, we'll go and deal with those one-off locations."

Belcourt said crews may also do the occasional back lane if conditions warrant it.

Because of the sheer ice on the roads, the city has stopped using sand and has been throwing down a sand/rock chip mixture to give motorists more traction, Belcourt said.

He said the product has been put down on arterial roads and will go down on bus routes as they're cleared today. Even more rock chips - which embed into ice - are put down on hills.

DRIVING ON MARBLES

"If you threw chip down on bare pavement, that would be hazardous," Belcourt said. "It would be like driving on marbles. You only throw the chip down when you have ice. What we're doing here is not rocket science."

Windrows - the large piles of snow found in the middle of some streets - are expected to be removed from business areas tonight.

As well, crews will continue to smooth out some of the ruts caused by snow and ice on both arterial and bus routes, Belcourt said.

Officials have said the cost of this clean-up will be in the millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, anyone looking for some relief from the frigid weather is going to require patience.

Daytime highs until Friday are only expected to reach the high -20s, while nighttime lows will be close to -30 C.

Saturday's forecasted high of -19 C will seem balmy by comparison, but Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak said that's still nearly 15 degrees below seasonal norms. The average high this time of year is -5 C.

"When the cold air moves in it tends to stick around for awhile," Kulak said.

He said the temperature could reach the minus single-digits early next week.

ODDBALL

The frigid weather wasn't enough to keep one oddball from heading out for a run in his underwear.

Four police cruisers and an ambulance were called to 50 Street and 93 Avenue shortly after 9 p.m. when the nearly nude sprinter was seen disrupting traffic.

"When the weather is this bad and we get a report of a man outdoors in his underwear, we need to get him inside, even if he doesn't want to be," said a cop, who couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Apparently he really wanted to be outside, he resisted arrest."

The man was later taken to hospital by ambulance."

Kindly taken from:

http://www.edmontonsun.ca/

**As a side note... Sarah and I were driving W. on 149st and our lane just ended because of the snow pile jutting out from the sidewalk.... No warnings or anything... At least give us some warning that it's now a one lane road! Especially right after an intersection!**

Frozen Vans....

SUCK!

Yup, that's right... They suck!

My poor frozen van... Was plugged in since Tyler got home last night. I unplugged it when I went to start it (and that was a fiasco) but it wouldn't start... And then I couldn't' get the plug to go back in!! AHHH! So I stole Tyler's cord and it still wouldn't work! GAH!

This was our original schedule for today:

We were to get up, go out for breakfast, drop Emma off at a friends Birthday Party (1pm) while Zoë and I picked up items needed for the crock pot meal I need to make tonight (I'm helping in our service activity -Church- which is to make one freezable meal for someone who just got out of the hospital -due Wednesday at 12pm)... Pick up Emma (I assumed around 2-3pm) and head home. Once home I would get the girls down for a nap (3:30pm) while I prepped the crock pot meal and started it..... Then I would get myself ready for the consult that Sarah and I have on the north side tonight (6:30pm).

The girls would wake from their naps just in time for me to get them ready for their dinner with Daddy and the Missionaries.

In the meantime Sarah would show up at our place around 5pm. Tyler is dropping Derrek off at home on his way here and then picking up the Missionaries before coming home (5:30pm).

He would walk in the door, I would kiss him and then Sarah and I would walk out the door.

What actually (has) happened today:

• My van wouldn't start.
  
• Couldn't get to the Birthday Part.
  
• Couldn't get to the store to get the ingredients for the crock pot meal and have no idea when I will be able to... Humm...
  
• Realized that Tyler will need the van to drive everyone to dinner tonight (Car seats x2 and Boy Missionaries will not fit in the car!)
  
• And driving conditions are a bit slow... Which is fine but now we'll be a bit behind schedule.
  
• Oh! And the girls don't want to nap.... So I'm really behind schedule and not ready for my meeting tonight.

So all in all.... Things are sucking a bit today. The girls were devastated that they didn't get to go to the party as well as get out of the house... I'm not going to be able to make my promise of a single freezable meal by tomorrow at noon....

OH YEAH! Tomorrow at 10:30am is Emma and Zoë's hair appointments (think we'll make it??!)... This is very important since it's Zoë's very first hair appointment! (Did anyone else hear my heart break a little??! No? Just me.... Huh....)

*sigh*

Anyways..... I guess I should go and try to get the girls down for a nap. Here I go.....

The Sister Visits!

So back in December we had Sister Peavler (AKA 'Peavler') stay at our place for about a week... And it was great times! We got to show her our soon-to-be house, hangout and chat girl talk until the wee hours of the morning (until the 'man' would come home from his shift work... Then he'd join in! *L*) and all around just had a good time!

We miss having her here!

Yesterday I received an interesting text message, it read:

"So uh if a certain sister missionary was to come into town and wanted to see her favorite zauggs could she come by say tomorrow night?"

WELL DUH!

So tonight Sister Buck (I call them 'Sista') came on by... As to our usual tradition, the night before she flys out! *L* We hung out, she brought gifts, we ate pizza and gummy bears (at separate times! *L*).... It was fun! She also played with our girls.... A lot! *L* It was awesome times.....

And, just for you Peavler.... She got lost on her way here! Not her fault, but it made me giggle!

But yes.... Now she's on her way to the place she's been staying at... The long slippery drive to the north side.... (Please, please drive safe!).....

And I already miss her!

*sigh*

This is one of the gifts Sista Buck got for the girls.... I adore them! (Mini-Sister Missionaries!!! *GEE!*)

Here's the second gift to the girls.... How cool is this??!

And then there was THIS.... It's beautiful and has so much meaning to me... One day I will make it to Logan.... And I cannot wait! One day....

Thank you for the lovely gifts... And for bringing tears to my eyes when I saw this!