Birthday Girl

My baby is turning 5... I used to say I had a a 5 year old and a 2 year old... Now the 2 year old IS the 5 year old, which means now I say I have an 8 year old and a 5 year old... Wow. One minute they're babies, the next minute they want their own independence... (Just to keep the story straight, Mason isn't actually 8 for 2 more months, I'm rounding up).

Last weekend, we celebrated Mad's birthday at the Art Centre. It was terrific. The kids all had so much fun making their own clay projects. Now, we just have to wait to get them back.

Our theme was butterflies this year. That's what she asked for, so that's what she got. The invite, the cake, the party theme. Her invite turned out super cute. [If I do say so myself]



We'd been to a birthday party at the Art Centre in December, and it was such a great idea, we copied it for ourselves. It's the first party I've had for Madelyn, out of the house. It was nice to arrive, party, and leave. My house didn't look like a war zone when we returned home. Funny how that happens, even with a bunch of little girls!

This weekend will be her actual birthday... She will be five. My baby. It's no wonder people keep having babies... That gets over really fast in the whole scheme of things.

Safe & Sound

I'm pleased to report that the parental unit have arrived home from sunny Arizona safe and sound. They left warm weather, to come home to chillier weather, but I'm sure they're glad to be home. We're glad to have them home!

Ta - Da!

Before:
After:


Not exactly what I had in mind... Quite a bit more layered than I hoped for. But I've spent a week moping and feeling sorry for myself. I now EMBRACE this new cut, and will try to make the best of it. And we all know, hair grows back...

Working on my Week in the Life, after Ali Edwards. You can see her 2008 example here.

It is a HUGE commitment, but goes nicely along with my word of 2010 which if you remember is DOCUMENT. I'm still keeping up with my 365 days project. [That too is a huge commitment, but I'm doing a lot of it digitally, so that cuts the stress right down for me]. It will be so neat to look back and see a picture for each day of the year.

I spent the weekend scrapbooking with girlfriends, and I finalized my 2008 Week in the Life project, looking back at it was fantastic. So that made me realize I indeed wanted to do it again. It's hard to remember to bring the camera every where I go. And I do feel silly setting it up for self portrait shots, but looking back on the photos, I know I'll be so glad I did. I'm trying to capture myself a bit more as well, in some of these pictures. After all, I am documenting MY life!

I should try and post more pics, or at least some of my layouts. Maybe later on today.

For Today - Wednesday April 21st

Outside my window...A totally gorgeous day [yes, it was a touch breezy at times] but it was 23 degrees, how can you possibly complain about that?

I am thinking... The week is almost over, and I'm running a bit behind. That's what happens when you take an extended weekend.

I am thankful for... having a husband who knows how important spending time with my friends is to me. Thanks Hon...

I am wearing...capri pants (yippeeee!) and a layered tee!

I am remembering... I completely forgot to send a birthday card in the mail for a friends birthday... Which is TODAY! Happy Birthday friend! Watch for your card in the mail!

I am going... to take Madelyn to the park in the morning. It was the only way I could get her up to bed.

I am currently reading...Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. [And I'm not lost in it like I was the other 2 before it]

I am hoping...that spring and summer will be awesome for us this year. We deserve it.

On my mind... I feel so bad about the recent owl incident in our neighborhood, and I hope that the baby owlets survive.

Noticing that...The days are starting earlier and lasting longer... I LOVE this time of year.

Pondering these words... You know you're an artist when you go through a glue stick faster than lipstick.

From the kitchen... Got the ole bread maker out, ready to make some raisin bread tomorrow. Mmmmmmm...

Around the house... My house is clean today. I'm looking at things very critically. I'm very motivated to unload stuff.

One of my favorite things: Seeing the kids play outside after school. Bubbles blowing, scooters scooting, bikes getting ridden, chalk drawings on the driveway, bug catchers and nets, oh my!

From my picture journal...

The Reveal...

I haven't posted a picture of my new 'do' yet, because I haven't perfected it. Let's just say that my hair dresser and I had a different vision...

I took a few pics today, and will try to post them later on. The picture is coming... but don't get too excited.

A Day of Transformation...

I'm getting my haircut today. I'm getting a cut AND highlights, because all the natural highlights I have right now are getting a bit out of control. [And if I keep pulling them ALL out, I'm going to be in trouble] I have a dream...

I want to have hair like this:

I mean come on... The waves, the length, the color, the thickness... It doesn't help that I find Ms. Evangeline Lilly absolutely DROP DEAD GORGEOUS either. But that hair... Straight or wavy, LOVE IT.

I can actually picture what I'd look like with this hair on my head, and believe me, it's nice... In the category of hair, I have always longed for what I don't have. My hair is bone straight, I want curls. My hair is a bit frizzy, I want smooth. I truly wonder if we are ever happy with what we've been given, because I know for a fact a couple of my 'curly-haired' friends, wish theirs were straight (believe me girls, straight is nasty)

I have had hair that I didn't complain 2 times in the past twenty years. Both times it was a heck of a good run, something like 9 months each... Yep, you got it, pregnant hair. It was gorgeous and thick, and looked healthy.


Here - preggy with Mason

Here - preggy with Madelyn. Oh my... look at that little boy, just a baby himself.

The only problem, once those kiddos were born, I started to shed the hair. In ridiculous amounts. Like I've been to the doctor numerous times over the past 7 years and been quite alarmed. I think I even alarmed my dermatologist last fall when I pulled out a lot of hair during an appointment. She gave me a prescription, of stuff to smear on my head (it has to stay on, and it's greasy she said, so you'll have to do it on the weekends) And I thought, "Awesome. No problem." I started to visualize my Evangeline hair, and THEN she said...(as she handed me the prescription) "This could cause hair to grow in other places as well, you might notice an increase in facial hair". And I thought, Whoa. Stop the boat... I don't want to have beautiful thick Evangeline Lilly hair and man face... So needless to say, I never filled the prescription.

Any way, today is the day, I come to terms with the fact, that I don't and won't ever have Evangeline-like hair (no more babies for this cat). So I'm going to work with what I have, and get a trim. I'd like it to look nice on a regular basis you see. So here's my before picture...



A bit frizzy, not totally dry from a hair wash. Because you might think, there's a bit of a wave there, but if I go out in public and come back home, it's flat as a pancake... Look closely, you can see the fuzzy's at the top of my head...Also referred to as my 'natural' highlights. Sheesh... The girl should have put on some make up too!

Stay tuned for the after!

10 on the 10th - April 2010

1. The wind COMPLETELY sucks my will to live. And to be totally honest, I don't recall a day that we haven't been blessed with it's relentlessness (including our time in ArEEEzona)

2. It's humorous trying to explain what 'sarcastic' means to my kids. For example, when I woke up this morning and surprise, surprise it was windy, I said something along the lines of "Excellent, another windy day". And Mace said "But I thought you didn't like the wind..." And I said, "You're right, I don't" and he wanted to know why did I say it was excellent then...

3. Since coming home from Phoenix (only Wednesday) I've been in my capri pants. Yes it has snowed since. Yes the storm would have been considered a blizzard had the temperatures been colder. Yes there is STILL snow on the ground... But I will not be discouraged by the cold. (And I'm sure my capri pants and Uggs are going to make it into next years fashion trends)

4. When we left Ama & Baba at the airport Wednesday night, they stood and faithfully waited as we meandered through the security check. After we finally got through and were ready to make our way to the gate, we waved good-bye one last time and turned around the corner where.... BOTH KIDS BURST INTO TEARS about how much they were going to miss Ama & Baba.

5. What is it exactly about the weekend? 5 days a week I have to pry myself out of bed to get Mason up and ready for school, but come Saturday morning, my eyes pop open at 7:15am. [Of COURSE I don't get up...] I'm just say'in, it would be nice to sleep in without waking up.

6. After living in very tight quarters for 18 days, with 3 other people. Now back at home I feel a bit like royalty. We can all be in the house together and actually NOT see one another!

7. I have some serious catching up to do with my 365 documenting... But I am caught up to March 19th, which I think is pretty darn commendable.

8. Tonight for dinner I made Lettuce Wraps and I have to say, I think I'd give Joey Tomato's a run for their money. They were THAT good. I might even be finished ordering them when I go to Joey's because I think I'll just be disappointed.

9. I am a procrastinator. [that's the lead in to the following story] I had intended to treat myself to a new pair of sunglasses during our trip to the USA. I shopped and looked, I tried sunglasses on. I tried on more. I found a pair I liked. But did I buy them? No... Why on earth would I do that? Partly because the high cost... Partly because I don't do anything that rash... Partly because I still LOVE my 14+year old sunglasses...[that's right people 14+ years with the same glasses] So as were stood at the airport waiting for our bags to come off the luggage carousel (at 12:45 am with two VERY sleepy kids) my old faithful sunglasses fell off my head and onto the tile floor. And this is what they now look like. But do I have a replacement pair? No, of course not and now I'll have to pay Canadian prices to get new ones.... Good-bye old friend, indeed you'll have your own scrapbook page.

10. Madelyn was in a fowl mood today. In fact, she even drew her thoughts in a picture for us. Can't say that this girl doesn't know how to explain her feelings can we?

Ear Infection

I thought I was pretty smart, I'd blogged a few times... I might have even bragged about the weather, and then Madelyn started to complain about her ear. Her left ear to be exact. I'm the kind of Mum that doesn't like to get too worked up about little things. I don't like to ask too many questions such as: "Does it hurt more like a pain or a stab?" or "Does it feel like things aren't right?"Or "How about now? Does it still hurt?" She complained in the morning a few times after waking up, but as the day progressed, she said it felt fine. Well, when she woke up last week crying and said she thought there were cactus prickles in her ears.... We knew we had a problem. To ensure that this was indeed a real problem, I might have said something like "Well, you won't be able to go in the pool again if there's something wrong with your ear" Her response to that zinger was "I never want to go in the pool again!"

We knew right then that we had a problem.

So yes, we got to experience Urgent Care in America. And that was fine. We waited a much shorter time than we would have at home. The staff were very kind to us. And for an undisclosed amount of cash we left having seen a doctor and antibiotics in hand. Making us all the more grateful that we were indeed in a position to pay for care, and feeling very fortunate to be from Canada, where we're taken care of and take it a bit for granted.

So we had a rocky few days [why is it ALWAYS worse at night] but things are on the up and up. Thank God. We've got a few days left here in sunny AZ. I think I've hit my shopping max. It's all good.