End of April

I have been busy. I know everyone is busy. But that doesn't make it any easier to take. I haven't posted on my blog since mid-April... I never did my 12 on the 12th of Instagrams... Isn't that lame? The last time I was here, I was worried, because I was 2 weeks behind in my project life book [gasp] I'm pleased to say, I'm current again people!

This week I'm also following along with  Ali Edwards A Week in the Life project. This is the 4th time I've done it. My kids are indeed TIRED of looking at my camera... I try to be discreet, but it's not always easy. The first time I did it was 2008. It was right after we'd got back from our Greece trip. My kids were itty-bitty babies... Mason was in Grade One, and looked so little. Madelyn was only three... Mason was just learning how to ride a 2-wheeler, and Madelyn was trying to master the trike. I'm so grateful I've captured every day things, that otherwise I wouldn't have.

I missed 2009. I can't believe it, but I did.

I captured 2010, 2011 and now 2012. When you're dealing with life, every day, taking pictures of dishes might seem silly. But when you look back and see the kids 'kid dishes' you no longer have, you think... Right... I remember that. Some things stay the same [I've still got my favourite mugs] There are still chores to be done on a daily basis. Furniture is still the same. But some things have changed over the years. Vehicles, clothes, hairstyles. I'm so glad I've kept up with this.

So, I'm kind of cursing myself this week, because along with working on my project life stuff, I'm also trying to record our every day in more detail. But next when I look at this book down the road, I'll be so glad I've done it.

Today, I'm home sick this this little munchkin too...

The school called and he came home yesterday morning. Yesterday he slept on and off all afternoon, with a high temperature. This morning he still had a fever. I took him to the doctor. She feels he's not got anything that requires antibiotics. But I'm not quite as sure. He's slept almost all day... I woke him to take him to the Dr. She swabbed his throat, and told us we could phone the lab to find out results in 2 days. She also gave us a prescription in the event it comes back positive for Strep Throat. [I'm suspicious that it is indeed strep, it seems to be going around the school] He came back home and headed right back to bed. Hate it when my kids are sick... I wish I could make it go away.

A bit of Catch Up!

I'm a bit behind posting project life pages. And in real life, I'm two weeks behind... Eeks. That gets me a bit ancy... It's exactly what I didn't want to have happen. But it's OK. I'm going to catch up this week. Here are weeks Eight through Twelve:

 

 

 

 

I am still loving this project. I look on-line at other people's project life layouts, and I always feel like I could do better. Some of them are so simple... I think I tend to make mine more work than it needs to be. But it's so many little details that I wouldn't have might not have captured before. It makes me look at nearly everything differently. But I do have to say, that if my kids thought I was psycho with a camera before... Then now they probably think I've lost my mind completely. And that's just the way it is.

I have a couple of tweaks left to do on Week Thirteen, and then I have to catch up on weeks  14 & 15. Maybe those two weeks will be simpler? But I doubt it.



C.

Our Easter Weekend in Pictures

Blogger has changed it's behind the scenes format a lot little bit. I'm not happy. I'm having a hard time right now, figuring things out. Have I mentioned how much I hate change? Um yeah, I do. The darn format is completely different on my end. The part you don't see. I'm not a techy kind of girl. My Mum thinks I am. Thanks Mum. But I can assure you, I'm not. So when things change I tend to whine/fuss and maybe even freak out a little bit.

Here's the thing. Having a hard time with getting pictures and text here... So I've now taken care of the text, time to 'import' pictures. Wish me luck... Cross your fingers.... Here's our weekend in photos:

We had our Easter Dinner on Good Friday. Quick self-timer family shot!

She's still loving her glasses...

Dying Easter Eggs.

A walk up Nose Hill. Check out the porcupine bottom left.

Easter Morning, reading their new books left by E. Bunny.

So, it looks like this post is going to work out for me this time around... I guess I need to complain out loud to everyone, and then of course things will work.

I know in a few weeks, this new changed format will the the new 'normal', but right now I still fondly remember the 'old format'. Kind of like how I sometimes remember life pre-kids... Actually, no, that's a lie. Life before kids is pretty fuzzy now... And I have to be honest, on Sunday morning, when they were both reading their books, the house was Q U I E T, and it was pretty sweet...

Candy

Random Tidbits

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. I saw these random questions and thought I should do that... What makes me really mad though, is I wanted to add a picture of myself in this post, and I don't have any recent ones. None that are good any way. And I promised myself that with this new phone, I'd capture myself more. Clearly I need to work on that...

This is the one I'm going with. I'm a total wimp and don't like the cold and the kids insisted on going to the park. So I bundled up and went along.

Age: 42.

Bedsize: King, is there any other kind?

Chores that you hate: Washing the floor…No wait, cleaning toilets… No wait, dusting… No wait... ;-)

Dogs: I’m totally a dog person, but after 14 years of marriage, we still don’t have one. We have kids though, and they’re way more responsibility… But I’m getting closer and closer to the idea of a four-legged friend, every day .

Essential start to your day: Coffee and either a bowl of cereal or oatmeal.

Favorite color: This year I’m loving orange and navy.

Gold or Silver: Silver, all the way.

Height: I’ve always said 5’ 4”, but I don’t know if that’s 100% accurate…

Instruments you play: Just my voice.

Job title: Which one to choose from… Wife, Mummy, Daughter, Sister, Niece, Auntie, Granddaughter, Daughter-in-law, Godmother, Friend, Homemaker, Baker, Chef, Crafter, Driver, Photographer…[I'm sure there's more]

Kids: 2. Lovely in every way. I’m very blessed to have one of each.

Live: Calgary, Alberta. I suspect I’ll be here my entire life.

Mother's Name: I still call her Mum, but if she’s not paying attention, I get it by saying “Candy”.

Nicknames: Candycane, by Barry. Can or Cand. Really though, Candy just isn’t that long. [But I have to admit I shorten everyone’s name, whether they like it or not]

Overnight hospital stays: Thankfully, the list isn't long. When each of my kids were born. Mad was a 1 night stay, Mason 3 nights. [There were baby not eating and latching issues with him] Also, one night when I was a teenager and got my tonsils out.

Pet peeves: Drivers that don’t give you a thank you wave, when you let them in. OH, and people that press the cross walk button and JUST START WALKING… C’mon people, isn’t your life worth more to you than that???

Quote from a movie or tv show: "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!"

Right or Lefty: Righty.

Siblings: my little brother, who towers over me.

Time you wake up: I’ve NEVER been a morning person… Ever. But lately I’m waking up around 7:15 am, that doesn’t mean I hop right out of bed, good gracious NO. But my body naturally wakes up then…

Unusual: The amounts of journals I have, at any one given time... And they've all got something in them. It's silly really...

Vegetable you hate: I’m pretty open to most vegetables… I love brussel sprouts and turnips… But one thing that scares me, is cooked spinach… I like it in salads, but all steamed and wilted… Nope, not sure that’s right at all… [Even with the butter added]

What makes you run late: Miss Madelyn. Getting her anywhere on time is a challenge.

X-Rays You've Had: Lucky me, all that comes to mind is the dentist.

Yummy food you make: My kids often request my own homemade ‘Vietnamese [Pork & Noodle] Dish’, my sweet heart often requests my Buffalo Chicken Dip.

Zoo Animal: The otters, maybe I'll come back as an otter. It looks like they have so much fun.

Test Driving Barry's iPad

I'm posting this from my couch from Barry's new iPad. I'm continually blown away by technology. I can't imagine how things will be as the kids grow up.

Already the kids know more than me, it's kind of scary. But this really cool. Now... Can I add pictures? We'll find out!

'Biever' Fever...

Someone in my house has the Bieber Fever, and no, it's not Mason. Last year, when we were looking for birthday supplies, when she came across Justin Bieber plates/cups/napkins/invitations etc. and asked me "When will I be old enough to have a Justin Biever party?"
[Keep in mind, that she calls him Justin Biever, not Bieber... Refuses to add the 'b']
To which I thought for a nano-second, and replied with "Well, probably on your 13th birthday you'll be old enough to have a Justin Bieber party" [smooth aren't I?] She accepted the answer without argument.

I can honestly say, I'm just not 100% sure where this fascination about him came from. She's watched Treehouse until just recently [another big score for Mum] But she talks about him, and she indeed likes him. In September I broke down and bought her this t-shirt:

Yes. It's her very favourite, the only t-shirt she actually requests on a regular basis. [I refused to buy a t-shirt with his name and face all over it, which she had seen and BEGGED me to buy] I know, mean Mum, but come on, she's 6 years old. So when I saw the one above, I gave in.

I rented the Never Say Never movie in November/December, and she watched it over and over and over and over... In fact, she liked it so much I bought her a copy of it for Christmas.

This year, Barry took the kids to Chapters one night, and let the kids pick out books to give each other for Christmas. Mason picked out this book:

It came with a 3-D poster, which is on the back of her bedroom door. Again, her mean-old Mum wouldn't let her put it up on her wall.

She also drew a picture and used some stickers to put on the front of her door.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked Mad up from a birthday party, and we just quickly ducked into Shoppers Drug Mart. As we entered the store, we saw the Beebs, in life size... Madelyn was absolutely smitten. She asked if I would take a picture of her with Justin. [Truly, it didn't matter that he was made out of cardboard, she got a picture with Justin Beiver...]

Now, coming back to this past weekend. Barry and I were tucking the kids into bed, and he picked up her Justin Bieber book, and as he did so, a little note slipped out...

She was terribly embarrassed and didn't want us to see, until Barry told her she did a great job on her letter, and we could actually send the note to Justin. Then she was all ears... So to get back to the point of this blog, we're still very into Justin Biever around here, and she has just sent a letter to his fan club address.

[She told us that "He's older than I am and I know it's un-appropriate for me to be his girlfriend"]

12 Instagrams on the 12th, March 2012

I'm a day late in posting this, because I KNEW I wanted to include a couple of pictures from last nights Bachelor finale... [which was absolute crap] However, we had a girls get together, and as always, the company was excellent, and the munchies were great. And like Nicole pointed out, Stephanie didn't shush us once, so obviously we weren't totally gaga over dorky Ben, and his evil counter part, Cruella Deville oops, I mean Courtney...

I was up late last night, and then had to be at the school first thing this morning to volunteer in grade one. So here it is...