PL2016 - Week 15

The last week was rather a blur. Our sweet little Libby was under the weather. I'm not sure exactly what it was she was ailing from, even the vet was unsure. To find out that kind of information means handing over your first born Visa and running 'tests'. If you don't have a pet, you would be shocked to see just how quickly dollar signs accumulate, when you begin to run tests on an animal.

Since she wasn't in distress, had no temperature, wasn't dehydrated, and her heart rate was normal, the vet went with treating her for a possible Gastrointestinal Bug or a possible Pancreatic Bug. We began treating for both...

In 4 days, I made 3 trips to the vet.

By day 4, I was feeling slightly frantic. Because I'm WAY MORE ATTACHED TO THIS DOG, than I should be. Especially KNOWING, I'm going to outlive her by a good 20-40 years...

By day 4, I was willing to do whatever it took to get her back to normal again.

This all started in the wee hours of Tuesday May 16th, and FINALLY, on Sunday, May 22nd, she seemed more like herself. By Monday, she was obviously on the mend... Thank GAWD...

My heart SO can't take this. I therefore, hereby proclaim, this is to be my first and last dog. Ever.
 

Confined to the kitchen, she is, not very happy at all. 

And if she thought she was unhappy before... Well, the blue, cone of shame, most definitely didn't add to her self-esteem.

This was the arsenal that had to be dealt with, for 10 days... All of these had different instructions of course.  I had to make charts so I could keep track of what she'd had, and what she needed to have.

Like I said, LAST DOG.

Onto less stressful things, like my project life album. Here's a look at Week 15.

This takes us back to the week before Barry and I went to Mexico. This girls room... It's in shambles most of the time, and she's okay with it. I on the other hand, am not. But we could battle about this day and night. So, I try to close her door and ignore it. Something we weren't counting on, before we left for Mexico, was our sink backing up. The afternoon before we left. After hours of trying to fix it ourselves [and by 'ourselves' I mean, my husband] we ended up having to call in a plumber. Thankfully, he was able to fix it, so we could go away, not having to worry about that issue. This was the week Miss Madelyn got Stump, her hamster [happier days, because Stump is already no longer with us... He only lasted 5 weeks. That's a heart wrenching post for another time] Walking girls did a great big walk from Sandy Beach into Mission, the day was incredible. Miss Libby got a hair cut. Waiting for a haircut. Barry and I in Mexico. Life IS good indeed.

I was not pleased about the hamster, even though it was my own doing [I made a deal with Madelyn at a weak moment] However as far as hamsters go, he was a cute little fella. When it was clear something was wrong, I felt really bad...

I love the 'high' and 'low' point tags from this kit. So many ways to use these embellishments. I chose to highlight the high and low of our week. [Although another 'high' for sure, was our arrival in Mexico]

The following Sahlin Studio product was used:

Highs and Lows - Elements
Highs and Lows - Journal Cards
Highs and Lows - Papers

PL2016 - Week 14

Keeping up with my project life album, here's week 14:

This was the week our exchange student from France came to spend the week with us. I did document our week, and I will be including it as an insert. Much nervous excitement as all the kids at the airport, waited for their french students to clear customs. Enjoying the morning sun in my kitchen again. Madelyn sold Girl Guide cookies at Canadian Tire Saturday morning. Crocus have begun blooming on Nose Hill. Cousin time.

I love how this turned out. I put a layer over the entire photo with a low opacity which makes it appear like vellum. Then I clipped out the portion of the photo I wanted to showcase.

I also utilize templates which are intended for 4x6 size, and shrink them down, to be able to add a few more photos. Sometimes you just want to include a few more images. This is the perfect way to do that.

The following Sahlin Studio Product was used:

Documentary Kit
4x6 Templates Vol. 1

WITL - Sunday - Photos + Words

Well just in under the wire of a week... These are pictures from last Sunday, the last day of participating in week in the life.

I'm glad I captured it. I looked through last years album, and that's always inspiring. So who knows, maybe I will just create something for this years week in the life after all. Because now I've got all my photos recorded and the words behind the pictures...

Today was not a day that we could all hang around together. It was a beautiful morning. I was enjoying my coffee on our deck in the sunshine, Miss Libby was enjoying the warm sun, and the boys were getting ready to meet up with the Scouts and go river rafting. They left around 9 am. 

Boys getting ready to set afloat. They boated from Bowness Park, down to Shouldice Park. 

Mason was in the boat full of cubs moving up to Scouts. They had a great float down the river. The water is not yet moving very fast. It was monitored very closely for the few days leading up to them rafting.
 
Madelyn had her last 'spring ring' session, she's played for the last 6 weeks, they do a half hour of drills and and a half hour of scrimmage. There were 6 girls from her team that participated. It was a nice way to end off the season, while keeping her on her skates a little while longer.

The Tsunami Mommies, well, 3 out of the 4 of us. We certainly made the most of all our Sunday afternoon get-togethers. I'm pretty sure our 'getting together' will not end. Love these girls!

After ringette, our plan was to head to Bowness Park, to meet up with the boys. However, Barry called and said 'DO NOT COME'. The day was gorgeous, and apparently, everyone had the same idea to go to Bowness to enjoy the day. We were going, because it was the Scout 'swim up'. Beavers moving to Cubs, Cubs moving to Scouts, Scouts moving to Venturers etc. So, being told not to come, suddenly gave us a bit of freedom.  

Mad asked if we could go to Menchie's... Which was ironic, as yesterday I took Mason. I agreed, and said, 'this is our little secret'.



Mad's is on the left, she knows how to do it. Vanilla yogurt, sprinkles, coloured chips, cookie dough bits, mini M&M's and brownie chunks. Mine is on the right, butter pecan yogurt, cookie dough chunks, Reece's chopped up PB cups, sprinkles and coconut. [Regretted the coconut after my first bite] I don't often 'change it up' but the butter pecan flavour was delish.

 First attempt at yogurt capture, saw she was coming in for a 'photo bomb', so I went with it.

Me and my girl, a Menchie's selfie. The wall colour in the place though, not great with skin tones.

We got home, and decided to take Miss Libby for a walk. Madelyn wanted to look for garter snakes. So she got all her needed supplies and away we went to Split Rock.

Taking Madelyn and her net, you have to be ready to do a lot of 'standing around waiting'. Which is okay, until the first hour is up. I finally said to her "COME ON... Let's walk" and she told me, that I should just be happy that she wanted to be outside exploring, rather than being at home playing video games. Touche Madelyn, touche...

Lots of water striders, and buzzy things, but no frogs, or fish, or snakes. And we just missed the muskrats, that the people ahead of us saw. We also saw lots of evidence of beaver teeth in the area.

This t-shirt, is a riot. It says "I still live with my parents" and when I saw it, I knew it was a must have.

When we were getting ready to head home, Bar texted me that they were heading home. 

As were we. Libby is exhausted for the ride home.


Today I collected all the of the stuffed animals Libby brings us [she sneaks them out of Madelyn's room, if her bedroom door isn't shut. You can perhaps surmise, she often forgets to close her bedroom door] Libby comes downstairs, very proud of herself.  Every single time. Obviously Libby has some kind of fascination with the ones that have the large eyes.



We grilled steaks for dinner and had salad. The evening was lovely. Suddenly Madelyn heard the ice cream truck. She patiently waited and waited, until, it headed down our street...

This just makes me anticipate summer even more...

A little light reading in bed. This boy is very eager to get his learners license and will be eligible to do so in 6 short weeks. Eeks! Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome. But how can he possibly be old enough to drive a vehicle already?

Some reading before bed.  Love that my kids love to read.

There's a look at my photos + words for Sunday, and I'm really glad I documented them. I knew I would be.

WITL - Saturday - Photos + Words

I got a little bit behind. Here are Saturday's photos:
 

I love Saturday. I especially love Saturday morning. They're even better if we're all home, and don't have to rush out of the house first thing. Madelyn had an invite to a birthday party, and was being picked up at 10:30. Barry left shortly before that to head into work. But for a few early morning hours, we had nothing going on. It's still not as warm as it was last week, the sun was shining, so I went out and checked out my planter box.

This peony came up so early. Can't wait for the blossoms to bloom. The ants are hard at work.

With Madelyn at a birthday party and Barry working, Mace and I hung out. He asked me if I would take him to Menchie's for frozen yogurt. How could I say no?  Mine on the left, Cake Batter frozen yogurt with peanut butter sauce and a sprinkle of M&M's. Mason's was vanilla yogurt, with caramel sauce and skor bits. We keep things simple. We're also keeping this trip to Menchie's just between us.

I'm getting a lot of leverage with opening up every sentence with "Take a photo with me, it's 'week in the life." He's been a pretty good sport about it.

Since we were at Menchie's, we popped into Winners to look for t-shirts and shorts for Mason. He's growing out of all his current clothes. He'll say I tricked him into going to Winner's. I may have withheld information, but I wouldn't say I 'tricked' him.

I also made Mason do a mirror selfie with me in Winner's, to add to the torture of course. And yes, he's that tall now... [sigh] To be honest, until I saw this picture, I guess I've been in denial that not only is he taller than I am now, but that he's that much taller than I am. He's a good kid.

After Mad got home from her birthday party, we hung out in the front.  The wind was chilly today, but we were totally sheltered from it. We enjoyed the afternoon on the patio.Much too bright for photos with out sunglasses though.

 

Then this guy came home from work, and we all enjoyed some time on the patio.

These two are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today. My Mum sent me this screenshot of their photo shoot on the beach. You guys rock. I know marriage isn't always easy, especially in the ebbs and flows of life. But the values you taught your kids and grand children are definitely your legacy. I'm so glad you two are my parents. Congratulations!

The kids are finally old enough to stay home by themselves for a few hours. We picked up a pizza for them to enjoy, while Barry and I went out to the pub for a few hours.  It seems like it's taken a lifetime to get to this stage of our lives. Yet, looking back, the years have gone by in a flash.

Hot tub time.

All week long, we push the limits of bedtime. And then it seems on a Saturday night, we're in bed early...  Love this shot, of us reading in bed. Both of us with our readers on...

There's a look at my photos + words for Saturday.

WITL - Friday - Photos + Words

This week as gone by quickly. It's been a lot less stressful capturing our 'week in the life' in this format.
 

Mason only has a half day at school today. He's not crazy about the 1/2 days. They don't have regular classes, but rather 'health classes'. On the agenda today: Nutrition.

Speaking of health, Grade 5's are working through the 'human sexuality' unit. And we forgot to do last nights homework. So we need to go through the crossword puzzle this morning. 

Mad didn't get her lunch made last night [which has only happened a handful of times since September] I quickly cut up some ham and cheese and made her lunch.

Homework getting done at breakfast. 

 

Grade 5's also decided to run a pajama day at school. On Friday, for a small donation, kids could wear their pajama's to school. It was recommended that students bring a loonie or a twoonie, or even just loose change to school. All proceeds are being donated to the Red Cross, to help the community of Fort McMurray. I love that this school supports other communities so willingly. The leadership, thoughtfulness and compassion these kids show, is awesome. They ended up fundraising $1737.50. Which, considering was a campaign that was spear headed on only Monday, was pretty impressive. The government is matching contributions, so our donation will become $3475.00. Well done!



I went to Costco this morning for a number of items. I'm still in a state of shock as to how busy it was. It was absolute bedlam in their... Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if everyone knew something I didn't, and if I should be stocking up on water and non-perishables...

My lunch. Left over burger. In my happy place for sure. 

 

Apparently instagram has changed their icon with their latest upgrade. I'm annoyed. I LOVE this icon. In my opinion, it doesn't need changing. Somethings should be left alone.  

 

I met a friend for coffee. Sometimes last minute coffees work the best.

Picking up after school. She wore onesie jammies and a bathrobe. This girl is in her element in pj's. These once in a blue moon 'pajama days' are totally up her alley. 

That face... I laid down on the couch right after school, for a moments. To warm up and to snuggle my little dog.

Taking Mad to the pool for her swim class. The jammies are still on... She's still in heaven of course.

This little boy loves Vietnamese just as much as I do. We dropped Mad off at the pool, and then the 3 of us went and had a bite to eat.

 Pre-carwash spray. It's really handy having a teenager on hand.

 My driver.

Picking this girl up from the pool. Having a few driveway selfies before going into the house.

 Also taking a few solo selfie, unbeknownst to me...

I found this hilarious article, on how to be a classy drunk, which I promptly sent to my ringette Mumma's. Because if there's one thing I've learned over the ringette season, it's this: we can most definitely classy it up a bit. Oh how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall while each of them read this silly article.

There's a look at my photos + words for Friday.