Guest Blogger

My Mum wanted to know if she could be a 'guest' on my blog. You bet! I told her. So she whipped up a little something. I've got it, and a few pictures to add. So, without further adieu, here's Ama...

High River Heaven...

Beautiful, warm Fall days are such a treasure, especially when you have the wonderful gift of grandchildren to enjoy the days with you. Annually, in September, we drive to High River in the motor home for a weekend get-away with our special Mason and Madelyn.

Days spent playing at the park, tossing rocks in the river, collecting "perfect" rocks for painting, going on adventurous hikes through uncharted paths (led by Indiana Moe and his faithful sidekick, Miss Maddy Moe), marshmallow smore treats (oh, so sticky), our Saturday afternoon walk to Evelyn's ice cream shop for a tasty cotton candy ice cream cone, little feet scurrying from their bed in the cool morning to snuggle with Ama and Baba, are all necessary to make our weekend complete.

Such special times, special memories for us and, we hope, fond memories for Macy and Maddy as well.

NYC Eve

I'm disappointed I didn't get all the 'blogs' done this week, that I'd hoped to accomplish. My guest blogger is raring to go, but I haven't got pics yet to go along with it!
And tomorrow I'm heading to NYC!
Whoop-whoop!
So, it will have to wait until my return!

Travel Bound

Where has this past week gone? Seriously. A month ago I was looking forward to getting back into the September swing of things. Here I am, SMACK-DAB in the middle of September, wondering why I thought that...

Busy, busy, busy. I forgot how busy things are on a weekly basis. Gone are the lazy days of summer. And, Miss Maddy G is in preschool now, so aside from getting the boy to school daily, I have to ferry her back and forth to preschool 3x a week as well. Whew... Today was the first day that I actually came home after dropping her off, and enjoyed my quiet house.

Why so busy? Well, the main reason is this... 4 more sleeps until NYC!! Whoop-whoop. The whoops are just coming out now, I don't know when or where they might happen. And I'm starting to get that silly perma-smile more and more. It usually starts to happen when a conversation like this or something similar occurs:

Maddy/Macy: "Mummy, can we please have chicken pieces and fries for dinner?"
Me: "Sure we can."
Maddy/Macy: "Awesome I want LOTS"
Me: "I'm NOT giving you lots, I'm only giving you 4 each" [ this is EXACTLY when the tears start... because Miss Thing wants LOTS... she's starving to death don't you know]. So I give in and put a dozen on the baking sheet, just to quiet the situation down.
Then - at supper. Mace took a bite and said "these don't taste real good" [to which I took a bite and didn't totally disagree, but C'mon! already. It's chicken nuggets, how bad can they be?] Then Maddy took 3 bites and said "I'm full". [Just to bring you up to speed, her 3 little bites, don't even amount to ONE chicken nugget...]

Barry starts to lose his cool at the table, and I begin to grin that silly grin... 4 more sleeps...

I held our last clothing club here at my house on Wednesday night. I had 11 of the 13 women traveling to NYC. We unveiled our shirts, which I think are dandy. I will have to post a picture of it within the next day or two. By the way, did I mention that in 4 sleeps I'm heading here... Seriously, click on that, and follow the link. We'll be doing almost EVERYTHING listed there, and then some. And we're staying here.... Dreamy. We have an itinerary that would knock your socks off. We've got shopping to do, sights to see, Broadway tickets to use, restaurant reservations to make, we've got lists, maps, ideas and we've got 7 days to do it in...

I have a feeling I'm going to come back home not quite as well rested as one might hope. (Just kidding. I KNOW this is not going to be a restful drinks at the poolside bar, type of holiday.) But I have a week off of.... are you ready for it?

I have a week off of lunch making, breakfast preparation, dinner making (THAT in itself will be such a treat) karate classes, Beavers, dance classes, preschool 3x a week, after school bus pick up. I don't have to bath anyone. I don't have to brush any teeth. I don't have to pick out clothes for kids to wear. I don't have to cut up any food, but my own. I don't have to break up fights. I don't have to bribe kids to bed, or negotiate a bedtime snack... I have a week off... Oh - and I get to travel on an airplane BY MYSELF. And guess what, IF I feel the need to vomit, I know how to take charge of the situation! WHOOP-WHOOP!

See, they're just slipping out, just like that... And just so you know, that silly grin is plastered all over my face, right now!

Oh - and some exciting news... I have a guest blogger... Isn't that mysterious. Watch for that post coming shortly...

A Quiet Weekend

It's been quiet around here. My kids went camping to High River, AB, with my Mum & Dad this weekend. The weather has been AMAZING, they couldn't have ordered it up any better. Last night, I had some girlfriends over to scrapbook. It was a bit of a bust though, because Stephanie and I were hard at work on our NYC t-shirts, and nothing was working out right! It was one of THOSE kind of nights. So I'm afraid we didn't get in the good quality chatting we would have normally. Sorry girls. Barry was in his own element of as good as it gets, he golfed late yesterday afternoon and last night. A night out with the boys.

We got up this morning, after a delightful and uninterrupted sleep in. Again, Barry went golfing, and I had the house to myself. [It just seems so quiet, when it's for longer than a few hours]Stephanie and I managed to solve our t-shirt problems. There'll be an unveiling here, shortly after our 'official' unveiling. They turned out super cute. I'm sure our group will wear them proudly. Like I mentioned in a previous post, we've come a LONG WAY from fabric paint and foam stamps.

It's hard to believe that this trip to NYC, that as a group we've been talking about for years, is actually a mere week and a half away. I'm SO excited! We've got so many things planned, and we've got so much to try and cram into a week. I just KNOW we're only going to scratch the surface. I am trying to figure out what clothes to wear, and what to bring. I hate bringing too much stuff. I also hate not having enough. I feel more anxious about what to bring for a wk in NYC than I did for 2 wks in Greece. Of course, there I KNEW the weather would be warm. I'm not so sure what we'll get in NY.

Any way, I'm going to do some more scrapping. I've kind of taken over the kitchen table. How dreamy!

1st Day of Preschool

"I wonder if Daddy’s going to come with us, to take me to the bus stop…"

That’s the question Madelyn asked me, mere moments before we left for preschool. That’s right, preschool. It’s her first day, and I knew in that instant, that she was going to be disappointed, right off the bat. This is what it means to have an older sibling riding the bus to school every day.
Today is the day we’ve talked up so much, had so much hype about, and eagerly anticipated. Little Miss Maddy G started preschool today. Last night, I went through her closet, and picked out 2 outfits. (One outfit was for a chillier day, the other for a nice day) I came home from an appt first thing this morning to find she’d dressed herself, and the ‘school’ clothes were nowhere to be found. “This is what I’m wearing Mummy, I picked it out myself.” (I was thankful that she picked an outfit that matched) So she attended her first day of preschool, in the outfit SHE chose, not me. (Having said that, she was dressed pretty darn cute. Just a tad more summer-y than I would have gone) But what the heck, we only have a 4 month-long hiatus from winter, we might as well utilize the summer outfits while we can! So this is what she looked like, her first day of preschool. Then I began to think about Mason’s first day of preschool. That WASN’T actually 4 years ago was it? But it was. I’m sure you’re wondering, with baited breath, “did she cry?” (Meaning me, of course, the mother) and sorry to disappoint, but: NOPE. Neither of us cried. I wondered briefly if the tears would come, but they didn't. I was definitely feeling a bit nostalgic, and in complete horror that she’s old enough for preschool, but the tears abated.

Here she is, trying her hardest NOT to smile. She ran all the way up to her school, she was so excited.

She came home today with this craft. They read the Kissing Hand. She had a smooch stamped on to her hand and exclaimed “I LOVE PRESCHOOL, do I get to go every day?” So I would say it was a success. (She even did well when she found out we were walking to school, and not waiting for the bus)

So here we begin, another era. Once these kids get into school, there's no turning back. I can't believe she's here already. I'm really glad it's only 3x a week.

This and That

I wish that I could brag and say that my house is completely de cluttered. That I feel a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, that it’s miraculous, because it only took 15 mins a day for a week. But that would be a GREAT BIG LIE.

What I have accomplished however, is worthwhile. So far I’ve tackled the kitchen and removed kid stuff (old plastic cups and divided plates). I went through and discarded old ‘papers’, drawings, and things that came home from school last year. Of course I have to make room for all the stuff coming home from school this year.

I overhauled my master bathroom cupboard and drawer and ruthlessly threw out old cream, samples, shampoos and body washes I KNOW I’ll never use. I did however keep the bath salts I’ve had for at least 5 years. Do they expire? Anyone? I'll probably throw them away in my next purge, or maybe not.

I also wish I could say that I kept my word on the blog surfing. I actually went through and deleted a bunch of ‘crap’ off my favorites. Believe me when I say, that trying to slash that list wasn’t easy to do. (After all, it’s taken me a year to work up to the impressive favorites lists I’ve accumulated after our computer fiasco last year) I have tried to keep my blog surfing to a minimum, but let’s be honest. I waste WAY TOO MUCH TIME, reading stuff, which in no way benefits my life. (Though having said that, it usually makes me feel like I can be a better Mum) I suppose there could be worse addictions.

What I did do, was finish these layouts. I’m very pleased with myself. I had a very productive Friday night.

Don't let the cat out of the bag or anything, but can anyone see I have a thing with kraft cardstock right now? I'm loving the new capability I've discovered sizing and cropping photos, and then sending them to costco to print. LOVE IT! My one page, multi picture layouts!

I’ve got a never-ending laundry basket of clothes to wash. I’ve got under the kitchen sink, under the main floor bathroom sink and under the kids bathroom sink, in my line of fire this week. The de-cluttering is coming along, but I wouldn’t say smashingly. I just have a friend who could quite possibly come over at the end of the month and say “Prove it, let’s see what you’ve done” (That’s right, YOU know who you are…) I’ve got a meal plan to sort out, and groceries to pick up. And I’d like to whip up a fresh batch of muffins for the boy to take to school this week. A homemakers job is never done... ;-)

Motivated, but Not so Much

I have a problem. And I KNOW I've mentioned it before. I'm going to touch on it again. Blogs. Not mine. My blogs are relatively short and sweet, right to the point. 5 years down the road I'm the only one that's going to look back and say "right.... Maddy used to say buttnins, mittnins, marvels (for marbels) and eyebulbs..." And that Mason calls New York, You Nork. One day, I'll read back and be overcome with nostalgia. One day.

But for now, I am just trying my hardest to keep up with our current memories. I'm trying to document our lives, through scrap booking. I have so many stories and ideas I want to share, and then something funny happens. I sit down at the computer, I start to go through my favorite blogs, and darn it, before I know it, I've spent 3 hours 'surfing', and I've got NOTHING to show for it. It makes me so darn mad at myself!

I'm going to try very hard, to finish up a few layouts I'm working on. I want to do a few of this past summer, a few of last summer, and of course, now I have Mason's first day of Grade 2 under my belt. [I'd like to have that finished, before Madelyn starts her first day of pre-school next week!]

And if being behind on layouts, and catching up on blogs isn't enough. Lately, I've been trying to come up with a neat decal or idea in photoshop, so my g/friend and I (we'll call her Squeak) can make up shirts for our clothing club girls. It means countless hours farting around with programs and trying to create something just right. And then, while I'm doing that, I think...

Holy cow! My trip to NYC is a mere 3 wks away! The idea of it, actually makes my stomach queasy (in the best way possible). We've been talking about this trip, to New York, for 5 years now. There is a whole group of us gals going, 13 to be exact, and it's going to be AWESOME. We made up shirts when we went to Seattle in 2005 (my sweet little Maddy G was a only 4 months old back then) And what can I say, we've come a LONG way from fabric paint and t-shirts! This is what we all looked like in September of 2005:

Aren't we a great looking bunch? With our C.C.D.S shirts? Which of course stood for Clothing Club Does Seattle... I can guarantee we'll be in with the times this trip, and our shirts will be very tasteful and professional looking.

Here was little Miss Thing, our first night in Seattle. We were at P.F. Chang's, and she was happy as a clam, fast asleep in her bucket. This trip, I'm going sans kids... Laaaaaaaaaa (angel's are descending, in case you were wondering)

All jokes aside. Maddy was the best baby. She spent 5 days being carted to and fro. She was on OUR schedule, not the other way around. She napped when she finally fell asleep, and she was a terrific sport. Not everyone would have been able to do that. Thanks Mad. Oh, how I miss those days...

So I'm going to take a break from the blogs, if I can. And finish off a few pages. I'm going to try an not get wrapped up in other people's lives, and inspiration. I need to inspire myself, and I'm planning on starting that RIGHT NOW! [wish me luck]