Pam N Pat's Paradise

Last night of vacation - some final thoughts

2009-12-05T16:53:00.002-08:00

As we sit here in our hotel room, almost everything stuffed into the 4 bags we brought, I can easily say that for once, after a vacation or weekend away, I'm actually happy to be going home. Usually I hate to go back to reality, but this time, I'm ready. It's been a long 10 days with grumpy and moody testing every piece of patience we have. Thanks to Pat, I wasn't the mom who was making a scene in the middle of Downtown Disney today. I've been able to sit back and let him deal with the kids for almost the entire trip and have been able to enjoy things.

A quick rant - people on cell phones everywhere in the parks and on the shuttle busses. Why do you go the parks to have fun with your family, and sit on the cell phone to talk business or whatever. Years ago when Pat and I were on our hoenymoon, people talked to each other in lines while waiting for rides. 3 years ago when we were in California with the kids, people still talked to each other in lines. Now parents and kids are on cell phones and texting while in line. Not much conversation.

And one more - people who just let their kids scream and run around disturbing other people.

What we enjoyed about this trip - the good was good and for the most part, healthy. Our room was always clean when we got back from our day at the parks. The staff is very friendly here as well and quite helpful. The shuttle busses definitely make it an easy way to get around and I think the longest ride was 20 minutes each way (DD).

You have to be willing to stand in line...a lot! But usually the rides are worth it. Just have to remember that the line will almost always be longer than the ride itself. Same with stores - there will always be another line up at the checkout and to see everything in the store, you have to be willing to change course a few times, or push and prod your way in to see what is on the shelves throughout the store.

With there being only one bathroom, it's easier for one person to wake up first, get their shower and get ready before the others are awake. That's what I did each day. It helped so that I was ready to get everyone else organized and get us out the door.

So as we sit here packing up the last few things and getting other things ready for tomorrow, overall it's been a great trip full of wonderful memories, and not so wonderful memories. I have uploaded my pictures to Costco so all I have to do is pick the ones I want to print on Monday, as well as upload the ones from the disk we purchased so I can pick those.

Then it's back to reality, preparing for Christmas, maybe writing some Christmas cards and getting a real live tree to decorate with the ornaments we bought.

We'll see you all soon. Signing out from Florida.

Love and hugs until then!

Day 9 - Downtown Disney and Magic Kingdom?

2009-12-05T06:25:00.002-08:00

It's still lightly raining here and looks cold and dreary outside. We plan to go down to Downtown Disney this morning after breakfast to finish off our shopping and then will come back here for lunch.

We hear they are filming the Christmas Day Parade today at the Magic Kingdom and are expecting 90,000 people for it so not sure we'll get over there or not. They were filming spots for the parade (musical guests) the other day when we were there. We didn't see any real close up. See...and we all assumed it was live but it's actually filmed a couple weeks prior. Who knew?

Had a better sleep last night thanks to Nyquil (gotta love our gift shop). Didn't cough all night, until this morning while washing my hair so I consider that a success sleeping through the night from 10pm last night.

Relooked at our flight information this morning. We actually fly out around 625 our time so we'll be leaving the hotel a little earlier than we had thought tomorrow but that's okay.

I think we are all ready to come home. If the weather had continued the way it was, I know we'd be around the pool today but for the most part, our vacation has been beautifully sunny and we have no complaints.

I was saying this morning I miss being able to go downstairs to make coffee. We're waiting for Pat in the shower at the moment so we can go get some breakfast and head off to the shuttle busses.

Day 8 - Animal Kingdom in the rain

2009-12-04T12:13:00.002-08:00

Yep, it was sprinkling when we left for Animal Kingdom this morning and torrential downpours by the time we were ready to leave.

We all rode Expedition Everest right away and then Pat rode again on his own. We also saw the Nemo Show and It's Tough to Be A Bug! By this time, it was a torrential downpour. There wasn't anything else we REALLY wanted to see and do, so we stopped at the stores along the way and then went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. MMMMM Meat!! Pat had ribs, steak and shrimp so he had his fill of meat that he's been craving. Kamrynne had mini hot dogs and Symanthah and I both had burgers. There was a volcano chocolate ice cream type desert that we had hoped to share but we had no room at all for it.

The packing has begun and we did laundry a day or so again, so possibly a little more laundry to go tomorrow night and then hopefully that will be it and not much to wash when we get back home.

Tomorrow we hope to go to Downtown Disney once more before the trek home for any last minute purchases that we want to make. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. Sunday is supposed to be nice again with some sun so once we check out, we'll probably just lay around the pool, the kids and Pat will swim and then we'll put our stuff in the dryer and pack up to leave for the airport by about 5pm our time.

I've come down with a cold, stuffy nose and scratchy throat so I'm coughing once again but we picked up some Nyquil so we'll see how I do with that tonight as I don't feel like coughing all night. Everyone here pretty much sleeps through it anyways but I would rather be sleeping.

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom

2009-12-03T16:47:00.002-08:00

Our 2nd day visit to Magic Kingdom to see all the rides and things we hadn't seen yet. Today we got on Space Mountain (yay, Fast Pass). While we were waiting for our Fast Pass, we went over to Toon Town to see the Princesses and Fairies. The Fairies line was 75 minutes vs the Princesses 30 so Pat stood in the Fairies line up and I took the girls to see Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty. Then we found Pat in the other line up and saw Rosetta, Tinkerbell and Terrance. We went through Minnie's house but she wasn't there. I sent Pat in to Mickey's house with the girls and picked up a couple of small Christmas gifts for the girls and then joined them to find Minnie and Mickey together for some family shots.

Back to Space Mountain - Kamrynne made it - and then back to Toon Town for the Goofy Coaster. Haunted Mansion was next along with Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean. Another visit to Stitch's Great Escape and we were about done for the day. It goes fast when we you are in line more than on rides.

Now we are tired and back at the hotel after grabbing some dinner. Pat's working on some laundry and I'm bagged.

Off to bed, and back to Animal Kingdom tomorrow to ride Expedition Everest.

Day 6 - Epcot

2009-12-02T18:54:00.003-08:00

Today we chose to sleep in because of our late night last night with the Christmas party. Pat slept til about 10 and then when all got up and going and headed off for some brunch (mmmm...quesadillas) and then to the shuttles for a fun day at Epcot.

We started off on the rides with Soarin over California and Figment of Imagination. We also hit the Nemo ride as well as Turtle Talk with Crush (totally fun for the kids, dude!!) We stopped in at the Canada pavillion where all of the cast members were commenting on Symanthah's shirt. She had a checked red and black shirt and so did all of them...I took a picture of her with one of them. It was great because we told them she'd fit in well since we were Canadian as well.

We walked through all of the World Showcase pavillions and went looking for characters but we seemed to hit them all at the wrong time and didn't find anyone except for Daisy and Stitch (a big favorite) at the front of the park when we came in.

We stopped in China for some dinner and watched some young kids do an acrobatic show that was really amazing - totally flexible kids there. Quite a good show of flips, balancing and use of hula hoops and stuff.

We finished the night off on the Test Track (really cool) and hit a couple of stores on the way out but didn't find much new to buy.

Pat and the kids went for a quick dip in the pool to cool off after the humidity of the day and we are now relaxing and getting ready for bed. There is a tornado watch so the kids are on edge (well, Symanthah's freaking out) but the wind has currently died down so hopefully it won't hit here. We'll keep an ear out for the night though.

Day 5 - Trip to the doc, pool and a Surprise

2009-12-02T06:45:00.002-08:00

Symanthah got an infected toe that we tried to manage but it just got too ugly so we phoned front desk and they had a shuttle right to a walk in clinic for us to use. Unfortunately the wait was quite long but she did get in, get some antibiotics and got back within about 3-4 hours, kinda like our clinics some days.

While Pat and Symanthah were gone, Kamrynne and I went and had breakfast together. She had eggs and bacon and I had strawberry pancakes. We came back to the room for a bit to color and stuff but before long, we felt like swimming so off we went to the pool. I think we had 2 hours in there before the rest of the family came home. They grabbed some food and headed to the room to get changed and come swim with us.

We got out by about 3:30-4 and came back to the room for showers and to get ready for our Surprise evening. We weren't too hungry but stopped in the dining hall for a snack of fruit (and chicken nuggets of course for Miss K) and we were off with the rest of the crowd for the Magic Kingdom. Oh, and we were all dressed in our Disney Santa hats...Pat in Goofy, Symanthah in Tinkerbell and Kamrynne and I in matching Minnie.

All I can say is WOW!!! Main Street was so beautiful. They had added more lights and decorations since the first time we had been there. It was absolutely gorgeous. The Cast Members were all dressed in festive attire and so helpful. We all got special passes in the mail before we went - Kamrynne chose Pluto, Pat had Goofy, Symanthah had Mickey and I had Pluto. We got wristbands once we got into the park as there were still others who were leaving the park while we were filing in. We stopped in the stores as there were sales on a few items but most of the things we had already purchased (wouldn't you know it). So back onto Main Street we went. We had a map and itinerary so we were off to Tomorrowland when they opened up the park. There was a stage show there featuring Buzz, Mike Wazowski and the girls favorite, Stitch. It was a great musical show and we got seats fairly close so Pat was able to video the show. The girls loved it, especially when Stitch came out dressed as Santa. I was able to get some pics from where I was as well so will post those soon.

After the show, we went over towards where we could get our free hot chocolate and cookies and we found The Queen of Hearts and got pics with her. We checked out Toon Town as we hadn't been there yet and we did see Minnie all dressed in her Christmas best but the line was long, as was the line to see Tinkerbell so we left those for another day and went back into the center by the castle to wait for fireworks and the parade. We had a great spot for the fireworks (right on the curb - our best spot so far this trip) so we stayed there for both events. Neither disappointed and again, Pat filmed both so we'll have those memories to bring home with us.

All over were photographers for Disney Photo Pass so we were able to get family shots with the castle lit up behind us. It was absolutely gorgeous. Pat took photos on his camcorder as well so we should have lots to post when we get a chance.

All in all, it was so worth the price of admission ($200 for all of us) and we really enjoyed ourselves. The girls had a better day and a pretty good night so we bought them light up sticks and I bought them a couple of Stitch things while waiting for the parade.

We got on Pirates of the Caribean without any line before heading to the busses (we knew they'd be busy) and we got on Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride and Aladdin and Jasmine were on it with us just 2 carpets behind. Kamrynne thought that was great and they waved to her - big smiles for that one.

It took just over an hour to get back home from the park having to wait for 3 busses and we all crashed pretty quickly.

Tomorrow (well today) we are sleeping in (Pat's still sleeping and snoring as I write this) and we are off to see Epcot on a bit of a late start.

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

2009-12-01T06:48:00.002-08:00

Another day, another park!!

Hollywood Studios definitely looks like a Hollywood Backlot. The stores and buildings all have that look to them, and I loved seeing that. It was really neat looking.

We were able to go on almost everything that we had hoped to go on together. We dragged the girls on Tower of Terror and they made it through quite well. We then headed over to the Aerosmith Rock N Roller Coaster but Kamrynne was too short to ride. Pat and Symanthah went to get in line. Symanthah was nervous the whole way, even to the point of making herself close to puking but when she got off, she loved it and her and I went on it together later. Quite the ride that one. Takes off even faster than California Screamin. It's pretty dark but good music and a neat ride. I wish we could have gone on it again.

We made our way through the entire park, caught some of the High School Musical stage show. We saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid (I wasn't too impressed with this). It was more showing parts of the movie than live action stuff. Beauty and The Beast was much better as it was all live action - beautiful music. Pat got it all on video.

We caught up with some of the characters from Up as well as Cars. And we got to see Mickey Mouse and have a picture with him.

The only ride we really wanted to go on but didn't get to, was Toy Story Mania. Each time we passed by it, it was such a huge wait and we didn't get a chance to get a Fast Pass for that one.

We ended our day with the 6:15 show of Fantasmic which we felt was better than the Disneyland version. Pat filmed the whole thing as well.

If it weren't for all the moping and grumpiness of the day, I think it would have been a great day. It was one of the roughest days we've had.

Day 5 will consist of sleeping in, spending time at the pool, and then a surprise for the evening in the Magic Kingdom.

Day 3 - Downtown Disney, Swimming and some R&R

2009-11-29T14:19:00.002-08:00

Today, we took our time getting ready and out the door. I think breakfast was about 9:30 and we chose to have Mickey Waffles as Kamrynne has been asking for them. They came with strawberries and bacon and were quite good. We got 1 big one and Kamrynne got 2 little ones. Very yummy! Then it was off to Downtown Disney for some shopping - yes we actually did spend some money today. We really haven't spent much on anything other than essentials up til now. Today Pat got a new hoodie, the girls bought things with the money that Grandma & Papa gave them and Great Grandma & Great Grandpa gave them. We bought a few Christmas presents and I got a new watch - much needed since my last one gave up the ghost many months ago.

We walked all the way down to the end of the the West Side and back. We also stopped at McDonalds on the way back for some lunch, again a suggestion from Kamrynne. The grumpies showed their hand again today but not as bad as yesterday.

We managed to get in the pool for a short while this afternoon but unfortunately the sun had already started going down and it was a bit chilly but the girls had fun.

Pat has just come back from putting in some laundry and we will head out for a bite to eat in a bit. Tonight on the Disney Channel, they are playing the new Tinkerbell movie at 8pm so we plan to be in our rooms to watch the movie together.

Tomorrow, we will be off to Hollywood Studios for day and are hoping to catch Fantasmic's 6:15pm fireworks show before coming back for the night. Should be fun!!

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

2009-11-28T16:10:00.002-08:00

Another long but a good day.

Today started out much like yesterday where we were up early (but not as early as yesterday) and got our breakfast (the kids just took dry cereal with them and a couple of banana's) on the shuttle bus and we headed off the Animal Kingdom, which is only about a 5 minute shuttle bus ride away.

One thing we have found so far is that we are good at catching shuttle buses at the right time so we have minimal waits - this without a watch, we just seem to be catching them. We have also found that Disney World Resort has great smelling soap - this was announced by Kamrynne. We are also finding that the food is really good. A must with all of these people.

We took advantage of the many photo opportunities today and used our Photo Pass lots. We were able to find lots of characters and got a chance to meet them and get pictures done - today we saw Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Pooh Bear, Goofy, Daisy, Tigger and Eeyore. We also saw Lilo and Stitch - 2 favorites of both our girls.

We got the girls faces painted as we entered the park. I've attached a picture of them - they were beautifully done and they lasted the entire day and the colors stayed true along with the sparkles.

We started off with the Kilimanjaro Safari and we were able to see Lions, Giraffe's, Hippos, African Nile Crocodiles, a bunch of beautiful Silverback Gorillas, some sleeping cheetahs, ostrich's to name a few of what we saw. We took a walk through the trails and saw some other monkeys, birds and fish.

Then we went to Camp Mickey and Minnie where we saw Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, DOnald and Daisy, each in their own areas for pictures and hugs. Then we went to the Lion King show which was absolutely amazing. Beautiful colors and music...we were so amazed at how big the arena was and how many people they had filling it. Pat got the entire show on video and we're going to watch it again tonight.

At this point, we were getting tired and there was definite low blood sugar grumpiness popping up so we went to Pizzafari and had some lunch. Symanthah and I had cheese and pepperoni pizza which came with caesar salad. Pat and Kamrynne shared a hot italian sandwich and some mac and cheese.

Now refueled, we trekked to Dinoland and found that one of the rides I wanted to go on Kamrynne wasn't tall enough for (Primevil Whirl). Disappointed we went and lined up for Dinosaur which was a ride where we got on safari type vehicles and travelled back through time in seach of an Iguanadon to bring back with us. Instead we were almost attacked by a Carnosauras - the biggest of all dinosaurs. We made it out safe and alive and Kamrynne and Symanthah both said they didn't want to on that ride again.

Kamrynne wanted to go on the Triceratop Spin before leaving Dinoland so we all hoped on a little dinosaur and went soaring above Dinoland and took in the sights (just like the Dumbo ride but with Dinosaurs).

Next up was the Mickey's Jingle Jungle parade. We found it hard to believe that some parents would stand right at the rope beside their children when there were other children wanting to see. Especially those who would stand right in front of our children blocking their view. Daddy saved the day and found some nice people that would let our girls sit beside their kids and watch the parade with them. Pat videod the parade as well and I got down by the kids and was able to get some pictures.

Tired as we were, we wandered over to Expedition Everest as this was the last ride we were hoping to go before leaving the park. We stopped to get some photos done with EE in the background and noticed a train stuck at the top of the mountain. After pictures were taken, and we got closer to the ride, we noticed that the same train was still stuck at the top of the mountian. The ride was broken and we had to walk away without going on the ride but we hope to go back again before we leave and take this ride.

The grumpies were continuing to make appearances so we called it a day and have come back to the hotel. We had supper again once we got back as the dining hall was empty. Pat and I shared grilled salmon platter and grilled salmon salad (it's cool - you build your own salad with whatever you want to add to it - eggs, cranberries, raisins, etc). Kamrynne surprised us by ordering a turkey sandwich and Symanthah had a hot dog.

We have decided since we are all tired and sore to get a little extra sleep tomorrow, then have some Mickey waffles for breakfast, then spend a few hours at Downtown Disney before coming back for the afternoon and having a swim and soaking up some sun.

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

2009-11-27T15:06:00.003-08:00

This morning we got up by about 7am and headed into the dining hall to get a little something for breakfast. Pat and I had fruit salads and the girls had cereal. It gave us enough to go about our day. We went over to wait for our bus around 8am and we were off. The Magic Kingdom is only about 15 minutes from our hotel. When we got there, we had a bit of waiting to do, but we were treating to a Welcome Show where the Disney Characters came over to the front gates on the train and sang a song for us. Kamrynne was up on Pat's shoulders so she could watch.

The park opened up and our first stop was the stores to find hats. We found hats for 3 out of the 4 of us (the other one is more picky - guess who??) Our first stop was Stitch's Greatest Escape. Other than being a bit dark, Kamrynne was okay with this first ride. We next went over to the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor and watched the show there. It was quite neat as it was interactive with the audience and the kids liked the jokes. Then we went to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and we decided to make a competition between Pat and Kamrynne, and Symanthah and I. Pat and Kamrynne won by a landslide with Pat's 87200 to Symanthah and my 17000...so not a contest but it was fun to make it something more than just the ride.

Next it was over to The Tommorow Land Speedway. Kamrynne shared a car with Daddy and was in the lead, followed by Symanthah driving her own car and Mommy in the rear. We tried to take pics but it was hard with everyone in front of me. Kamrynne got her own little drivers liscence. Then we saw the Tea Cups and Pat sure had us dizzy. I did get a couple of pictures while we were on it and Pat took some video while we were spinning. We found Alice and the White Rabbit and stopped to see them. We also found Uncle Scrooge by Donald's Christmas Tree Lot and got a family picture with him.

We decided it was time for a break and stopped at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and were surprised to see some healthy options there. Pat and I had the turkey bacon wraps, Kamrynne had chicken nuggets (what else) and Symanthah had a burger. We had the choice to get apple slices or fries and chose the apple slices.

After our quick refresher, we headed out to the Dumbo Ride. The girls went in one elephant and Pat and I went in our own elephant. Again we tried to take pics and video but it's hard when you're going up and down.

We decided to head for Frontier Land and something more adventurous. We spent some time in the line up for Splash Mountain and wound up having Pat and Kamrynne in the very front of the log with Symanthah and I right behind. This was Kamrynne's favorite ride of the day and did great on the 50ft drop. This was also one of Symanthah's favorite rides of the day. Then we went to my favorite ride, and another of Symanthah's, which is Thunder Mountain Railroad. This time, Symanthah and I got the front of the train. Kamrynne clung to her Daddy as it was a bit on the bumpy side but we all had fun, despite the very long line up.

We had to stop in to see the Country Bear Jamboree. I have to say, it really hasn't changed since the first time I saw it in Disneyland but it's no longer in California. Big Al is still there Mom! Pat videotaped the show in its entirety.

Then we felt that it was a long enough day for our first day out and made our way back to the busses.

We have now come back to the hotel, have had a nice healthy supper (yes Mom, we found salad!!) We shared chicken salad, a roast chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and corn and a bun, and Kamrynne once again had chicken nuggets (I'm sure this will be the theme for the trip for her lunch and dinner).

We are now putting on pants and sweaters and going to visit Downtown Disney to see what's there and then will come back to get ready for Animal Kingdom tomorrow.

Waiting at the airport!

2009-11-26T06:48:00.004-08:00

First post of our trip!!!

We stayed at the Double Tree Inn last night which is basically right across the street from the airport. Beautiful hotel. We'll definitely stay here before we go to Philidelphia. The van is safely away for the trip and we headed up to our room. Quite big and comfy, other than the pillows were pretty soft. None of us really slept last night although we did try to get into bed early.

We put the kids in their clothes for the morning and set out our stuff so it was all ready to go. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Kinda slow service, but the waitress was really nice. Unfortunately for Pat, she didn't know what a Vodka Paralyzer was and she wasn't sure what a B52 was for me, so Pat had a Long Island Ice Tea (nice and strong on a fairly empty stomach) and I had a shot of a White Russian (I think that's what it was) again strong on an empty stomach.

Kamrynne had her favorite - chicken strips and fries and Pat, Symanthah and I enjoyed an angus burger with yam fries. Very filling and helped with the effect of our drinks :o)

We retired to our room, got things ready for this morning and climbed into bed to watch The Biggest Loser: Where are they now. Then it was off to sleep. Symanthah was awake by midnight looking for her new Ipod (Our gift to the girls - thanks air miles) and she was sent back to bed. At 1:45 I heard more whispering and sent them back to bed. I think we were all just way too excited and the 4:45am alarm came way too early.

So we packed up and hopped in the shuttle from the hotel to the airport - a 5 minute ride, and here we sit at a cute little table by the window, watching the planes go in and out and enjoying our Starbucks.

We are very excited and the girls are anxiously awaiting their very first plane trip.

Gotta love free Wi-Fi at the airport.

Sending lots of love to our family and friends. Will post again when we get into our hotel tonight and are all settled.

xoxo
Pam

3 more sleeps!!!

2009-11-23T19:31:00.002-08:00

And we'll officially be in Florida.

2 more sleeps and I'm on vacation!!! (after 1/2 days work)

Updates coming soon...

2009-11-19T16:03:00.002-08:00

...watch here next week and see what we are up to!! I will try to post an update on a daily basis as of Thursday next week...!!

Family Update

2009-09-16T10:12:00.002-07:00

School has started up again. I have one in Grade 6 this year and 1 in Grade 1. It's crazy to think I have 2 kids in full time school and wonder where the time has gone. So far, school has been going well. A bit of drama the first week but it all settled itself down and is back to normal.

Pat's work has picked back up thankfully and I'm happy to say I'm not seeing much of him right now. Not happy because he's not home much, but happy that he's working after 7 months of downtime and EI that we need to recover from. Here's keeping fingers crossed that the bridge will keep him busy throughout the holiday season and things will keep going.

I'm still working away full time but get to leave early on Thurs and Fri to pick up my girls from school (unless boss is oncall, then a family member does it for me). So far I'm enjoying it. It allows the girls to have or go on playdates which they have not had really up til now. They are back in afterschool care with the lady that used to care for them 2 years ago before my parents took over.

Mom & Dad are happily cruising around in their 5th wheel and enjoying waking up to new adventures and new places to see.

On a sad note, and it's something I haven't blogged about yet because of how upsetting it's been for all of us, we lost Oreo on August 19th. She was 14 and it was our 14th wedding anniversary. She passed away after having surgery to remove massive tumors in her belly. Pat and I were both with her when she passed and she will forever be missed by our family.

Happy 6th Birthday Miss K!!!

2009-08-10T10:06:00.002-07:00

My baby girl turns 6 today!!! I can't believe it. 6 years old already and going into Grade 1! Where does the time go?? We all say it but I really do wonder where that little baby went, that cute little redhead who loved watching her sister dance around and sing to her.

She has turned into this amazing little girl who is so full of life and then some. She keeps us on our toes. She keeps us young. She makes us old! She is the sweetest little girl. She is the most devlish little girl. She makes us laugh. She makes us want to cry. She has the craziest excuses for everything and the longest descriptions of what's happened to try and convince us she did nothing wrong. She is lovable and cuddly. She has the biggest attitude and the craziest mood swings.

We have so much more to look forward to and many more years ahead to watch her blossom and grow into an amazing young woman. I can't wait to see what she decides to be when she grows up!

Happy Birthday baby girl! We love you lots!

Summer in full swing!!

2009-07-20T09:17:00.002-07:00

Yep, we are still here and enjoying our summer so far. Pat's had some night shifts, I've had some early days thanks to my boss not wanting to work so much over the summer, and the girls have already been camping with Grandma & Papa!! The pool gets used for hours on end when they're home and has not gone to waste.

Pat's still working on his shed and gave the garage a good cleaning. We have doors on our dining room/living room area (stained and hung) so the cats don't wreck our new furniture.

Madame S has gone camping with a friend for a few days so I'm down to 1 kid. We went to a family BBQ/Grad celebration for Pat's cousin yesterday and then stopped in Langley to see the new Harry Potter on the way home. Pretty good!

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Kids Activity Sheets

2009-06-04T10:30:00.002-07:00

I can never find any Webkinz printable sheets but came across a couple of them today so wanted to share.

They are from www.printables4kids.com and here is the link

http://printables4kids.com/printable-webkinz-activities/

or try this one http://www.wacky-packages.org/how-to-draw-webkinz/webkinz-coloring-pages.htm

Have fun!

Where are we???

2009-02-26T14:18:00.001-08:00

Yes, we're still here. I'm finding I'm not posting here that much these days. Life is crazy busy as I'm trying to get in better shape this year and get healthy again for the first time in a very long time.

Pat is joining me on this crazy adventure. As are my parents and my sister and brother in law and their family. Miss K and Madame S are also in with us. We're a crazy bunch but we'll be so much healthier by this time next year.

We are back into the snow again as it just poured on us yesterday!

Hoping for spring to arrive soon so we can get active outdoors too!

Eagle Cam

2009-02-26T14:14:00.001-08:00

It's no secret that my love of bald eagles comes from my Grandma. When we were younger, we'd go to their cabin in the summer and they'd take us out in the boat and sale us down to where the eagles nests were and we'd watch them and they'd tell us all about them.

They are absolutely beautiful birds and I can't wait for the opportunity to photograph them one day myself.

Until then...

Eagle Cam

Great coloring site for the kids!!!

2009-01-09T11:00:00.002-08:00

This is a great one that I like to use to print off coloring pages for my girls. They update it when new movies come out so there is always something new for the kids to color.

Check it out here

Waiting for more winter...

2008-12-23T19:55:00.001-08:00

...to be honest, we haven't really gotten much yet. We had a fair bit I believe last weekend then a dusting a few night ago and since then...nothing. A couple of flakes have fallen tonight so far but then it stopped. I'm sure it will hit again later on but to be honest, we haven't gotten 1/2 of what they said we'd get out here so I'm not expecting too much.

Just hoping that there isn't too much to stop family from coming out on Christmas Day.

Keeping fingers crossed!

Terra Spirit Essentials

2008-12-17T14:01:00.003-08:00

Please check out my friend Shilo's new website.

She is making the products and selling them out of her home while raising her 4 (soon to be 5) kids.

Pitty Yites!!

2008-12-03T10:04:00.002-08:00

That's what both of my girls used to call the Christmas lights on the houses we drove by in search of lots of lights.

Now our house if completely finished on the outside and the inside. All the decorations are up and it looks great if I do say so myself.

We have decided to host Christmas dinner here this year with a blend of families to have everyone together which will be lots of fun...crowded...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

We are truly blessed to be able to spend time with our families at any time of the year. Even just for a few hours is wonderful to us and we enjoy each and every time we can all get together.

Spread the love and Christmas cheer this season.

Report Cards

2008-12-01T21:48:00.001-08:00

Awesome report cards today for my girls!!

Madame S got 6 B's and 2 A's
Miss K got all 3's except for 1 2 (she still needs to work on printing her name with a capital K and lower case on the rest!

We are so proud of them!!

Christmas music on the radio!!

2008-12-01T09:30:00.002-08:00

Sitting here at my desk, they are playing George Michaels' "Last Christmas"

Loving it!!!

It's totally Christmas in my house - village is up, tree is up, stairs are decorated as well as the mantles! Christmas lights got started yesterday (Pat has fans didn't you know...someone walked by asking him when he was putting them up).

Tis the season!

Are we still alive???

2008-11-13T09:08:00.002-08:00

Of course we are...just haven't felt much like blogging lately!!

Those fall blues have hit and the weather sure doesn't help much does it?

We've had a busy couple of months October/November.

My Grandma was in hospital for 12 days, Pat's quartet competed and placed 4th out of 28 quartets over his birthday weekend. Halloween, a birthday lunch for my brother.

Lots happening, keeping busy.

Pat pulled out the Christmas stuff on Tuesday night so you know my house is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The village is half way done - just needs to have the railroad track placed and the mountains so we can fill in the rest of the space with people and get it all lit up. The mantle is decorated in the family room. Still have lots more to put up and out. We got the Christmas DVD's and CD's out as well so I'm sure those will be playing this weekend.

Busy weekends ahead. Quartet gigs and coaching sessons. High School Musical on Ice. Another quartet/chorus show. Hoping to get together with friends over the holidays at some point for a turkey bbq meatfest....time will tell as we are all so busy these days.

Ta ta for now!

Lazy Sunday

2008-10-05T19:34:00.002-07:00

It was a lazy day for us today after Pat and I were gone all day yesterday. West Coast Fusion and the VOH sang on the Seattle Seachordsmen's show yesterday down by the Sea Tac Airport...was a long day but the guys were amazing as usual.

Today we lazed around for the morning and then got showered and dressed and went to Value Village to look for Halloween Costumes. If you don't know it already, they have the biggest selection for Halloween Costumes around with tons of accessories, make up, etc to go with the costumes. Miss K is going to be a Barbie Kitty and Madame S is going to be a devil. Then we went to Walmart to pick up a few household items and it was back home for nachos and some Mario Kart. A movie and some soup and sandwiches later and here we are.

The girls and I made turkeys this afternoon and they made a butterfly each. Here's a couple of shots of their crafts today.

Apples and more Apples

2008-10-03T09:23:00.001-07:00

Madame S and I peeled and sliced up a whole bunch of Mom & Dad's apples last night (or what felt like a whole bunch) and made apple sauce for the first time last night.

When Pat came home he through in some sugar and spices and we had a yummy dessert and put 3 bags away in the freezer (yep, 3, after all that peeling) LOL

Things My Girls Love!!!

2008-10-02T11:27:00.001-07:00

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

Busy weekend!!

2008-09-29T13:07:00.001-07:00

I was baking!!! Can you believe it???

Me Neither! And I'm not really sure why I've been feeling the need to bake but it's not a good thing in my house! Of course, then it makes me want to eat what I've baked.

Honestly it was a ton of fun. I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies on Thursday night after work. Then on Saturday, after visiting a Webkinz Sale and getting groceries, the girls and I went to my mom's and picked a bunch of apples off their trees and came home and made 2 apple pies (1's in the freezer, the other my parents and our family ate) and I made an apple betty (thanks again Grandpa for the recipe).

Madame S had a friend sleep over so on Sunday Miss K and I got up before everyone else and made blueberry muffins and apple cinnamon pancakes.

Was a very busy weekend with Pat's quartet rehearsal at our place Sunday morning and then we had his parents over for dinner last night as well (Pat cooked a yummy roast with veggies and cheese sauce and garlic whipped potatoes - oh so yummy).

It's not a wonder why I was short on breath on my walk today at lunch LOL

Lately...

2008-09-23T19:48:00.002-07:00

...so what's been happening??

Last Wednesday my Grandma went into the hospital. Thankfully she didn't have to stay overnight and seems to be on the mend now thanks to some antibiotics.

I have gone to limited to no caffeine per my doctors orders. I have an area that seems to be caused pain partially from the amount of the caffeine that I drink. So he asked me to get off caffeine for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference. Not easy to do, but I am dropping the daily coffees and I am feeling less pain.

I have gotten into watching The Biggest Loser again. And I loved the CSI Miami premiere last night!!! One of my favorite shows.

The girls are doing well in school and adjusting quite nicely. Madame S is learning Peer Tutoring and is doing lunch monitoring as well. Miss K is loving her gym days and her swimming lessons and is really doing well with it.

Pat is rehearsing quite a bit for his competition in October with his quartet. They are sounding so great and it's really coming together nicely so they should do very well.

Nothing big planned for the weekend...we'll see what happens and what comes up!

I am so behind!!!

2008-09-11T11:45:00.002-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long ago it was that I last blogged until I came on here to look!!!

So many things have happened and with no pictures available to me at the moment (I'm at work) I'll give the quick update.

We had a family party for Miss K and her Papa on August 10th at our place and she had such a great time. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day.

The kids got to go on vacation with Grandma and Papa for a week up by Peachland...they had the best time and got to swim in the lake and play with a bunch of kids they met there. They are already looking to go back again next year!

We had a week to ourselves but both of us were working so it wasn't really a vacation. I found more that I wasn't as motivated to do anything when I got home from work because the girls weren't there to get me going!

The kids are settled into school and love their teachers. Miss K has the same teacher that Madame S had in Kindergarten (we requested her).

I have lots of pictures from the past month so will try and get off my butt to really update my postings and get back on track again!!!

I Miss You

2008-08-07T11:46:00.003-07:00

I think the lyrics in this song really say it all. She wrote it when she lost her Grandfather.

I Miss You - Miley Cyrus

Sha-la-la-la, Sha-la-la-la
You used to call me your angel
said I was sent straight down from Heaven
You'd hold me close in your arms

I love the way you felt so strong
I never wanted you to leave
I wanted you to stay here holding me.

I miss you
I miss your smile
And I still shed a tear
Every once in a while
And even though it's different now
You're still here somehow
My heart won't let you go
And I need you to know
I miss you, sha la la la
I miss you.

You used to call me your dreamer
And now I'm living out my dream
Oh how I wish you could see
Everything that's happening for me
I'm thinking back on the past
It's tru that time is flying by too fast.

I miss you
I miss your smile
And I still shed a tear
Every once in a while
And even though it's different now
You're still here somehow
My heart won't let you go
And I need you to know
I miss you, sha la la la
I miss you.

I know you're in a batter place, yeah
But I wish that I could see your face, oh
I know you're where you need to be
Even though it's not here with me.

I miss you
I miss your smile
And I still shed a tear
Every once in a while
And even though it's different now
You're still here somehow
My heart won't let you go
And I need you to know
I miss you, sha la la la
I miss you.

Miss K's preschool party

2008-08-06T20:03:00.003-07:00

Miss K had her 5th Birthday party with her friends from preschool early due to my going back to work. The kids had a great time and played in the back yard.

Of course, it was Hannah Montana with all the decorations and even the goodie bags were HM (other than Spider man for the only boy there).

It was lots of fun and she's counting down to her family party this weekend!

July 25/26th

2008-07-26T12:55:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Webkinz Wheel of Wow held at My Little Gift Box by Minter Gardens. The girls got 2 spins each and got coupons for Webkinz. Miss K bought a little black and white kitty that she names Oreo (looks just like my cat) and she got to buy an outfit so she chose a bathing suit. Madame S got a Lil Kinz marmalade kitten that she named Orange Blossom and an outfit (she chose a hat for her snake Slinky). Ms. S got to buy a Lil Kinz and a Webkinz and bought a striped leopard (Leppi) and a striped lizard (Lizzi). So the girls played with those for most of the day. We picked up some groceries and chips for our Junk Food Night. Then they did the slip & slide and played in the back yard. Last night we watched Hairspray and had a late night.

This morning the girls slept til about 8am (good for me cause I didn't fall asleep til 3am - oy!). I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and then we cleaned up a bit. We went to the dollar store and picked up a few more things for the birthday party on Thursday and now we are at Mom & Dad's again. The girls are very noisily in the hot tub swimming around. Tonight is our junk food night so we have pizza's for dinner, jello for desert that Miss K and I made yesterday, along with banana bread, and we have chips and pop for our Hannah Montana marathon - 3D show starts at 8pm on Family Channel tonight. So I think we're all set.

Wednesday/Thursday 23/24th

2008-07-24T12:54:00.002-07:00

Yestday was quite a busy day. We started out taking Miss K for a follow up appt at the doctors. We are hopeful that the last 17 day bout of antibiotics has cleared up her bugs completely and have sent off another sample for testing. Hopefully this one comes back without any bugs and she won't have to have any more medication, or that she will just be on some medication for a bit as a pre-emptive strike against any further infections. We'd like to start Kindergarten with no sickness.

Then it was off to pick up Auntie T for her birthday lunch. We had picked up a present for her down at Bath & Body Works and it was something she was actually needing right now which was great. My little niece is growing like a weed and moving around and talking lots. She was so good. We went out to Red Robin for lunch and got Auntie a chocolate brownie sundae with a candle and the waitresses sang to her. She shared with me and the girls had their own sundae as well. It was really nice to be able to spend time with her. I don't think we've been able to do that since we met with us living out here but it was a great way to spend lunch together.

After lunch, the girls and I made a quick trip over to the mall where we ran into Steph and Christine with her boys. They had both been to The Children's Place where there was a great sale so we went that way too and got the girls quite a few more summer outfits for $56. Great deals.

Then we went to visit G&G and had coffee and some snacks with them. The girls love to go and visit them and give them lots of hugs. Miss K was espcially glad to see GG and greeted him quite loudly at the door - the neighbors heard her too!

After our visit there, we went into WG and picked up Madame S's friend and went to Scott & Stephs for a visit and were treated to a nice dinner and met up with Pat before his practice.

By about 8:30 or so, we headed for home. I was beat.

Today, we went to my office and picked up my new camera lens that I had ordered - still not too sure how it all works (wide angle with a macro that goes on the end of my current lens) so it will take a bit to learn that one. Then we headed to my mom's where are currently. The girls are in the hot tub and I'm scanning some old pictures and listening to thier singing and giggling.

Wish me luck!

Bellis Fair Tuesday!!

2008-07-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

The girls and I made the treck down South today to see what kind of things we could find for back to school or "end of summer" sales...we were quite unimpressed by what we found and came back more or less empty-handed. We bought a backpack for S for back to school but didn't find one for K that we were really liking. We bought a gift for Auntie Tamara since it's her birthday tomorrow and I got a new CD - really exciting eh?

We had a good day none-the-less. Had McD's in the mall for a break from shopping and since the girls were so good, we stopped at Ed N Aileen's Dairy and got an ice cream - boy are they yummy!!!

Over all, a great day with the kids!

Lazy Monday!!!

2008-07-21T14:58:00.002-07:00

Yes, I'm enjoying my holidays!!!

It's nice to be able to mozy around the house in my jammies, let the kids chill on the couch and watch a movie or play a video game without having to rush around to get ready and get everyone to their places to start the day.

This morning, the girls did just that...sat around, played a video game or two and then watched "Disney's College Road Trip". Not a bad movie at all - kinda cute! I like Martin Lawrence in it and Donny Osmond is quite funny. I spent the morning cleaning up my bathroom and our computer desk, giving things a bit of a dust, washed our sheets and got them back on the bed. Madame S's are in the dryer along with a bit more laundry in the wash.

We're chillin at my mom's again today - yes, the kids just love to while away the day in the hot tub. It's cooled off to be just right for them to swim around in. I've been lying out on a couple of chairs enjoying a good book and listening to the sounds around me. Very nice relaxing way to spend the day if I do say so myself!!

Sunday Sunday

2008-07-20T17:47:00.002-07:00

What a beautiful day it has been today!!! The sun is shining, there is a cool breeze now and then!!

We got to visit with Dawn & Murray this morning as they are visiting from AB! We haven't seen them in quite a while so it was really nice to get to spend a few hours with them. They have the most adorable kids - it didn't take them long to warm up and get on the swing set with the girls. Pat went to Costco last night and picked up some fruit and danish and muffins for us all to enjoy this morning. We sat out on the patio with our munchies and our coffee and talked away a couple of hours. It was a short but great visit and we can't wait to see them again.

Then I went and picked some raspberries at my mom's place and some of her cherry tomatoes for Miss K - she just loves those.

We had a quick visit with Sean & Leila after their swim at Cultas and now Pat's making waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for the girls!

Days of Summer

2008-07-19T12:25:00.004-07:00

So what have we been up to over the past few days...

Well on Thursday we went to Dinotown. We took one of Madame S's friends along as well as my friend and her little guy who turns 1 on Miss K's birthday in August. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful but not too hot. We were able to catch some breeze throughout the day and were able to find shade as we went around the park. I took Miss K on the canoe's while the 2 girls went in their own. It was hard to paddle with just 1 person but we managed to make it around. Afterwards, the girls took Miss K for a paddle. The girls all tried their hand at a game of mini-golf and the bikes. We took in a couple of shows and I did take lots of pictures but have yet to upload them.

Madame S got to sleep over at her friends place Thursday night which she loved and then they dropped her off on Friday morning. Then we were off to run some errands and went to my Mom's for a bit so the girls could enjoy a dip in the hot tub. When we came home, we started to cut down the "flags" in the front garden as their leaves were overgrowing into all of our other flowers. The girls helped to clean them all up and Daddy definitely noticed a difference when he came home. I was able to get some of the house cleaned up as well and vacuumed up the new floor. Got some laundry done, played some Mario Kart with the girls and it was the end of another day.

Today the girls and I basically just relaxed for most of the morning. I got some of my typing done for this week. Then we went out and weeded the front garden and it looks so much better. Washing of feet and hands in the tub and we are ready to make some lunch. For the girls hard work today, I promised them a trip to DQ. We have some coupons from their dinner bags from past visits so I'll be able to use those.

We were thinking of going to the Vancouver Zoo but the prices for the day are really making me rethink that idea. I'm not sure if we'll go or not.

Will upload some pictures soon.

A little fun in the sun!

2008-07-16T20:52:00.002-07:00

Sli-ip, slip & slide!!! The girls were having a great time in the backyard yesterday on the slip & slide and in the sprinkler. I'm on holidays right now and it's great being able to spend time with the girls and just let them have fun!

I'm In Here - The Austism Anthem Song

2008-07-16T09:56:00.002-07:00

Have a listen and a read of the lyrics. I just heard this on the TV for the first time this morning, and with a nephew who is Autistic, I couldn't ask you to forward this video enough to everyone you know.

The more people that know about this and understand it, the easier life will be for my nephew!

Flooring update!

2008-07-14T20:03:00.002-07:00

The first part of our floor renovation is now, for the most part, completed!!!

We still need to do the trim and moulding but that will take more money so we may do it room by room if necessary as long as the trim is a fairly new product and not going out anytime soon.

Here are a few pictures. Pat's worked incredibly hard and I know it's been so worth it!!!

Tearing up more floor!!

2008-07-09T20:44:00.003-07:00

I came home from work today and spent 3 hours ripping out the carpet from the hallway and the wooden square thingies that were in the front entrance way. We still have the carpet in the cats room, the lino by the garage and under the washer/dryer, and the bathroom to tear out but at least the hard stuff is done.

I forgot to take before pictures but it was still the same ugly grey carpet from the family room.
Tomorrow night hopefully Pat will be able to pull out the rest of the lino and prep for laying down the floor in those areas.

This is the front entrance way where there were these "wooden" squares. This whole area will now have the same laminate as our kitchen/family room does. (Wide angle lens, why haven't you arrived yet???? Sorry for the crappy pictures)

This is looking from the other direction. The door on the left leads to our downstairs bathroom which will have the laminite as well. The hallway is to the right as well as the cats area and the washer/dryer - all shall be laminite!! Whoo hooo!!!

We have a floor...

2008-07-08T07:26:00.002-07:00

...and I have one tired and sore hubby who's going to take a couple of days off the flooring to re-cupe!!

But it looks great and was so worth it!

And a bit more...

2008-07-07T19:45:00.001-07:00

Here's what was done when I got home from work today - it's looking so good!!!

A little bit of hardwood on the floor...

2008-07-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Pat got a bit done last night and was able to move the table back in and the pantry so that the girls could have somewhere to sit for breakfast this morning.

Mid-demolition

2008-07-07T19:39:00.001-07:00

Here is the kitchen mid-demolition. The lino was glued to the subfloor which was then glued and stapled to the flooring itself. It has been the biggest job of all to get it all off and Pat and his dad were still taking it off today. The stove and everything else from the kitchen is in the living room.
Here's what was underneath the carpets. The dirt we found under the carpets was just disgusting - hence the vacuum cleaner.

And so it begins...

2008-07-06T15:15:00.002-07:00

We found a great closing out sale yesterday at King of Floors in Abby and found that the deal was just too good to pass up.

So we have now started tearing out the carpet and the lino in the family room and kitchen. We will also do the downstairs hallways and front entrance way as well as the bathroom. We would also like to do the stairs leading upstairs and the hallway up there. Hopefully we will also get to the living room/dining room as well.

Here is the kitchen pre-demolition. (sorry, I don't have my wind angle yet)

And here is the family room pre-demolition

Science World - June 29th

2008-06-30T12:26:00.003-07:00

We decided to take the kids to Science World yesterday. Luckily for us, we had 2 coupons (thanks to the school and Gin) so we only had to pay for ourselves, the kids got in free!

We got there right as it was opening and were lucky enough to get a parking spot right out front that was quite shaded by some trees.

Once inside we were able to play with all of the stations without too many other little hands trying to play with the same things. It was nice and quiet and we quite enjoyed ourselves. They have an exhibit right now which features Disney - the magic behind the music. We went into the theatre and saw the little movie and when we came out, it had definitely gotten busier but we were still able to look at everything at each station and the kids did really well taking turns with the other "not so polite" children. Pat and I even tried out a few of the exhibits.

When we were done, the van was still fairly shaded and not too hot, which was great because the temperature had definitely risen and we pulled out some waters from the cooler and rolled down the windows. We went to a Restaurant/Pub called The Two Parrots in Port Coquitlam which had really great food and air conditioning. It was pretty quiet as we got there after 1 so it was nice to have a quiet meal.

A visit with the inlaws (and their new air conditioning) and we were ready to come home. The girls and I had slept in the van on the way home, but Pat needed a rest too.

All in all, a fun day with the kids.

My Little Graduate

2008-06-23T19:28:00.003-07:00

Miss K graduated from preschool today. She is under the weather yet again but thankfully, like a true performer, made it through all of the graduation activities before coming to sit down with her Daddy and then was ready to go home for a rest. Here are some of the pictures from today's activities!
K as "Cool Cat" in the play about the Little Red Hen with teacher Pamela.
Cool cat being asked if she helped to make the dough...nope, she didn't!

Here's the little graduate looking very happy and proud.

Axe the Carbon Tax

2008-06-18T10:13:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to the online petition that the NDP's are putting out.

Anything is worth a shot right now...aren't we paying enough as it is!!!!

How to speed up your blog reading!!!

2008-06-13T09:29:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Cathy's new friend Shawna, I was able to find Google Reader which is a great program that allows me to add in all my links to my favorite blogs and read them all while I'm checking my email - how cool is that...and time saving - WOW!!!!

You've got to try this!!! For us busy moms, it's the best thing I've found in a while when we you want to stay caught up on your blogs, but just can't take the time to flip between them all.

Yes We're Still Alive!!!

2008-06-10T13:14:00.002-07:00

Just haven't had much time for blogging...and still don't.

I'm at work today and it's a busy one, as per usual.

So check back from time to time and hopefully I'll get back to updating our busy, crazy little life!

Mother's Day and all...

2008-05-14T13:48:00.002-07:00

Last weekend was very nice for the most part.

We were invited out to D&T's place for a Mother's Day Lunch as it was T's first Mother's Day. My little niece is growing and is now over 11lbs. I had seen her the weekend before and there was a definite difference in weight which is awesome to see. She's starting to get a couple of little fat rolls on her too :o)

My van broke down while I was out there so we had to leave it there for the weekend until the repair shop opened and I could get it towed (thanks D&T for keeping it for me!). Luckily it was only a couple of belts and the repairs were within my budget. Thanks to Mom & Dad for going out and getting it for me, for the "rental car" and the great wash and vacuum job! I should leave it with you more often!

I was treated to a very nice Mother's Day breakfast of Disney Princess waffles, strawberries and whipped cream, croissants and bacon - so yummy! We were hoping to get out and do a photo shoot with Pat and the girls but the weather didn't co-operate so I got to lounge and do whatever I felt like doing for the day. I played with my camera and the flowers that I got and just vegged.

On the Friday, I got to go to Mother's Day tea at K's preschool which was so cute. They sang us a couple of songs, we played a game and they served us some cake and iced tea which we all just loved.

I did take pictures of all this but haven't had time to upload them yet. Hopefully soon.

I am also starting up a site just for me to post my favorite pictures on so watch for that soon to get up and running! Going to try and pick up a new photoshop program to help me along as well in the next few weeks!

More camera fun

2008-05-07T19:37:00.002-07:00

A couple of pictures from my class.

6 Things

2008-05-05T20:38:00.003-07:00

6 Things
I was tagged by Cathy

The meme topic is to share six unimportant things about myself and then to tag six other people to do the same thing.

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you. (I will learn to do this one day)

2. Post these rules on your blog.

3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry

So here we go...

1. I want to get a boob job and a tummy tuck once I've lost weight.

2. Growing up, I didn't want to have kids.

3. I am only 5'3"

4. I'd quit my job in a second if we won the lottery.

5. I love to watch CSI (all of them)

6. I dislocated my knee on my first few days of Grade 8.

Tag:

Kelley

Kristi

Carol

Just playing with the focus!

2008-04-27T12:46:00.002-07:00

Cookies and a playdate

2008-04-27T12:43:00.002-07:00

We had a playdate yesterday with some friends the girls used to go to daycare with. We made cookies to take with us.

I told them hands off until we got to our playdate.

Miss K was helping Cam with her "flower problem" at our playdate!

Webkinz!!!

2008-04-27T12:37:00.002-07:00

My girls love them. This weekend was the Webkinz Celebration so we went out and bought them each 1 more Webkinz and then we got a free one. The girls got to play some games and win tickets and things.
When we brought them home, the girls introduced them to each other. It was quite fun!
Miss K has Cutie (black puppy), Shadow (charcoal kitty) and Dorinda (white puppy named after the Cheetah Girl)
Madame S has Stripes (bengal tiger) Rainbow (kitty), Snowy (husky dog) and Slinky (snake)

Unpredictable Weather

2008-04-19T10:03:00.002-07:00

What to do on a day like this when you don't know if it's going to snow or not? Honestly I don't believe it will snow out here today but...

in case it does, I don't want to go too far!!

So far this morning, we've started cleaning up around the house. I've cleaned out both of the girls dressers and gotten rid of all the summer clothes from last year that won't fit this year and all the other things that are just getting too small. 1 whole big garbage bag of stuff to go to the V&V Boutique on our way to let out Candy this afternoon!

Pat got the rest of the kitchen painted and the first of the hallway walls done last night so the kitchen is now somewhat back in order, minus all the paint stuff around. So I'll give that a good clean this morning as well.

Was hoping to get out to visit "baby girl" today but we'll see what the weather is going to do and if they are home or not!

Hope everyone's getting lots done this weekend so far!

Where is the spring?

2008-04-18T10:59:00.002-07:00

I know I've seen it around. It's shone it's head a few times. The cherry blossoms on the trees tell me it has been here....but today? I think Spring has gone underground and doesn't plan do come back for a while.

We woke up to chilly weather, some crazy rain, followed by hail and then snow. Looking out the windows at the office when I got here, you'd think there was a blizzard out there. And now...it's gone and it's just between rain and no rain.

My "little sister" is taking her family to Disneyland this weekend - I hope you find the sunshine girl...and please bring some of it back with you. It must be in California. That's where Mom says she's moving if it doesn't get any better. I say Great - somewhere to visit that's close to Disneyland. Better service than the hotels by far right!!! LOL I doubt she could move that far away from us!

What a beautiful Saturday!!!

2008-04-12T13:34:00.002-07:00

Wow - is it gorgeous out today or what???

Last night, the girls and I met up with Pat after work and headed to Costco - you'd think we should have gotten 2 buggies - it was loaded down pretty heavy - that's what happens when you have to pay your bills and wait for a big paycheque to come to get stocked up on your groceries. We are still behind from the winter - can you believe that??? It's taking longer than we thought to get caught back up.

After Costco we went to Boston Pizza for a late supper. We had gift cards for free pizza and a soft drink that we won at D's hockey fundraiser and last week when Pat and I went for early dinner before contest, I got the wrong dinner so they gave me a gift certificate for a free dinner - talk about a cheap way to have dinner!!! We made use of them and had a nice dinner together out for a change.

Today the girls and I got up early and went out to pay off Pat's tickets so he can get his truck insured again. We got a birthday present for Mr. M who turns 10 tomorrow!! And we picked up some fruit and veggies and things and back home we came.

Before it got too hot, the girls and I went out front and weeded the entire front garden so Pat wouldn't have to do it when he gets home from work. I think he'll appreciate that and it will give him more time to spend with us instead of having to do the gardening.

It's pretty warm out now so we've finished up and come inside, gotten the dirt out from under our fingernails and we are cleaning up our rooms so Daddy will really be impressed when he gets home.

We've charged some paint so we can get the walls done downstairs as we'd like to get some wood flooring in eventually. I'm still looking around for a second job to try and help us catch up quicker but havent' found anything yet that suits our schedules. You'd think with the amount Pat works, we'd be okay - OY! If the electricity, gas and other companies would stop raising their rates, maybe we'd all be able to live a little better eh?

Oh well...not letting bills ruin this beautiful day. It's sunny and warm and we're enjoying every minute of it...hope you are too!!!

Slowly coming down off the cloud

2008-04-09T11:29:00.003-07:00

....but not completely yet! I'm still a very proud wife! The weekend was great and will never be forgotten!

Life is slowly returning to normal (I've set up a group page on Facebook for WCF and the VOH!) and we are back to Musical Theatre and Ballet for the girls! It's something that they both love so we will continue to put them in it as long as they'd like to do it. Madame S has already has 1 class and seems to be happy with what is going to happen for this season. Miss K has the same teacher as the last set (who she just loves and I like her too) so we're all set for the Spring for now.

Now if we could just get this weather to warm up (or at least stop raining) we could get the rest of life back to normal. With the rain brings less chance of pouring concrete so Pat hasn't had any work yet this week but seems to be catching up on some much needed sleep lost on the weekend and from the last couple of weeks of work...do we ever really catch up?

Both girls have play dates after school - I'm so happy that they both have a couple of close friends that they enjoy spending time with. Next year will be a little different for Miss K as she enters a school where the only kids she knows are the older ones...but maybe that could be a good thing too - someone to watch out for her. Most of Madame S's friends really like her so it's all good.

I've got a photography class booked for the beginning of May - it couldn't come soon enough for me as I'm frustrated with all the functions of the camera and no sense of what to do with them. I have some books no order from the library but they haven't come in yet...soon I hope!

Sun is predicted for Saturday so maybe I can get the girls out to the park and take some new pictures of them! I think my camera likes the outdoors the best!

Just a quick update!

Could a wife be any prouder???

2008-04-06T20:59:00.002-07:00

Pat with his quartet West Coast Fusion

This weekend started out to be just like any other "barbershop" weekend. I worked Friday and then Pat and I went for an early dinner before his competition that night. We knew that there would be some competition that night but that the guys had a good chance at doing well. We got our registration and looked over the program and the other competitors. 2 members from another quartet automatically brought up some "competition nerves". They were a new quartet but Pat knew them well and how well they could sing. So there were now a couple of quartets to worry about. Well the guys sang so well and they wound up coming in First Place!!! We were so proud of them - we being all the guys from the chorus that came as well as all the ladies that come to support our guys!!!

Saturday was the chorus competition and because our guys don't have the numbers, they competed in the "Very Large Quartet" category and took First Place for that as well. We are hoping that the powers that be will still admit them to District because of their scores....Time will tell.

So Quizno's for lunch in between evaluations and an order of Chinese food in for dinner (yummy but wow...a ton of food!!!) and it was time for the evening show. Both the Quartet and Chorus were going to be singing and so was Realtime (2005 International Champions). Unfortunately after 3 songs their Lead could no longer sing (he'd been sick for the last 4 months already) so they asked if anyone else could sing lead and knew their songs.

I'm so proud to say that after a bid of prodding and pushing from me (I believe in the talent of my husband!!!) Pat got up on stage and helped Realtime finish their set off and did so amazingly well. The crowd was right behind him and came up to him afterwards to shake his hand, give him hugs, and tell him how well he did!!! I think he was in shock until the drive home that night and then he finally realized just what he had done that night!!!

This morning, picking up Miss K for our trip out to see Horton Hears a Who (very good by the way), I couldn't stop smiling. I must be the proudest wife in the world!!!!

Way to Go West Coast Fusion and Voices of Harmony!!!!

Pat with the 2005 International Champions, Realtime!

We're celebrating!!!

2008-03-28T21:53:00.001-07:00

We are celebrating this weekend with 2 sleepovers, 2 parties, some karaoke and pizza, and some good ol' family fun!!!

My oldest girl turns 10 on Sunday - where has the time gone? I can remember it all as if it was yesterday. And we're having her first birthday party with boys invited tomorrow night! Wish me luck...I'm glad Pat's going to be around for this one. And thanks to my parents who are going to take Miss K out for a while for her own fun.

Then on Sunday we will celebrate Madame S's birthday along with my Grandpa's birthday (his was on Thursday). It's awesome that we get to celebrate them together. The whole family should be there and we will enjoy every minute of it and take it all in as we create more wonderful family memories.

So the camera will be in full usage the whole weekend - better make sure my battery is charged!

Wish us luck!

xoxo

An update...

2008-03-20T18:25:00.003-07:00

well...honestly I've been keeping pretty quiet lately and a bit to myself. There are things going on with my family that I'm not wanting to discuss. It's looking like things are getting better and back to the positive so I'll just keep thinking that way. Positive thinking attracts positive things.

I went to Harrison for a girls weekend with my trenny girlfriend (you had to watch SNL!) and had a very relaxing and fun time. Froze our butts off coming out of the pool, walked on the beach and wrote in the sand, posed with the bear, had a few to drink, went for tea and cookies and played Deal or No Deal! Here's to making this an annual event. We're already planning where we want to go next year.

Celebrated my birthday and my mom's with family and was able to get a picture of the family all together which I love to have. I had it blown up for all of us to treasure and see everyday. We made a makeshift tripod out of a table and books and it worked out just great.

I was given a gift certificate to attend a photography course in town that I'm looking into registering for so that's exciting. I had the opportunity in Harrison to do a lot of photography out on our walk in amongst the trees and it felt amazing. I wish I could do it more often but I still need to learn the unlimited things this camera can do.

Looking forward to having a restful Spring Break weekend with Pat and the girls, a bit of music, a bit of shopping and some turkey planned in there somewhere. Next weekend my oldest turns 10 and is having a karaoke/pizza party - this time with boys (thankfully Pat will be home!) then we have a family celebration for her birthday and my Grandpas.

Every day should be treasured, every moment taken advantage of. Family should be the most important people in your lives. Life can be all to short. Seize the opportunity and tell them you love them!

What a great weekend!

2008-03-03T14:18:00.001-08:00

Well what can I say... a weekend spent with family and friends...who could ask for anything more than that?

Not me, that's for sure. I got taken out to Milestones on Saturday and met up with 5 other couples for dinner and drinks and I got spoiled (you guys are awesome - I love ya!!!) and then on Sunday I got to celebrate my "28th" birthday with my mom's "54th" with my Grandparents and my brother, sister in law and sweet little niece. We got a family photo with all of us in it this time and I can't wait to get it blown up for everyone!

Such a wonderful weekend. I think Grandpa would have been proud of me!

Out of the Mouths of Babes!!

2008-02-28T07:21:00.002-08:00

Miss K - Happy Birthday Mommy...here's your birthday cards!

Me - Thank you Miss K...I'll be right there.

Miss K - Okay, I'll put them on the table.

Miss K whispering to Daddy - But Daddy, where are her presents???

One Year Ago Today

2008-02-27T10:52:00.003-08:00

It was one year ago today...

I have so much to write...

And yet nothing to write...

I am sitting in the same spot where I was when I found out...

And I remember everything...

Everypart of that day...

Everypart of the evening before that day...

There are so many things I wish I could have changed...

So many things I wish I had said or done...

It wouldn't have changed the outcome...

But maybe the regrets would be fewer.

Grandpa, I miss you so much and wish you were still with us. I know you are there with Grandma and dancing the night away together. Somewhere My Love!

Primary Colours

2008-02-16T14:48:00.001-08:00

Needing something new for your kids bedroom walls? Changing the theme and looking for some help??

Check out www.primarycolours.ca This is a website of a friend that I grew up with. She's an amazing artist and is doing something for my girls walls. I'll post photos when I have them!!

Please check her out and pass along the word...word of mouth is the best advertising!!!

My little dancer

2008-02-16T14:43:00.002-08:00

Look at me mom!!!
...and we bow!!!
Here's my little dancer in her class, dancing with her teacher and taking her bow!!!

Still trying it out!!!

2008-02-16T14:38:00.001-08:00

One of these days I'll get some lessons...but in the mean time, it's fun trying out the different settings and seeing the world through different eyes!!

Valentines Presents!!

2008-02-16T14:32:00.003-08:00

The girls opening their Valentines presents from GG & GG

Stylin in their new hoodies!!! They love to pose these days!

About time for some new pictures!!

2008-02-13T20:09:00.001-08:00

The girls got outside to play on the swings this afternoon before it got dark!

Had a good weekend!

2008-02-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Another weekend come and gone and it was pretty good.

Saturday morning I spent getting the house cleaned - what a workout that is - about 3 hours and I needed a shower when I was done. But wow - was I satisfied with the results. I felt like I was turning into my mother. I was helping Miss K get her sheets pulled up and said "see, now doesn't that look better"...it was like what my mom used to (and still does sometimes) say to me!!! LOL

Took Madame S to a birthday party/sleepover in Langley with one of her lifelong friends (they met when she was about 1 1/2 years old) and she had a great time - it was a Fear Factor party - very cool. Miss K and I went and did some shopping at the mall and she was so good so she got a treat. Then we visited with GG & GG and headed for home.

Sunday Pat and I took Miss K to White Spot (on D&T's christmas gift card) and had a yummy breakfast before heading out to get Madame S. Stopped in at the mall and checked out cell phones as our plan is up in a week or so. Then had a great visit with A&K while the girls put on a fashion show. Stopped in at Costo and picked up a Swiffer Duster (very cool little thing and works great) and headed for home. Had a yummy salmon salad for supper, played some video games, and hit the sheets early (well I hit them, watched TV in them until I fell asleep! LOL)

Good weekend overall. Here's to a great week everyone!

Love ya!!!

Will the snow ever go away???

2008-02-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

We had more last night apparently while I slept but thankfully it turned to mush before I had to go out...only thing was there was lots of puddles and I came into work with wet feet (note to self, stylish boots aren't necessarily good in the rain).

I should take a picture of my backyard. The kids were out playing in it last weekend and I swear there is enough that if it wasn't for the rain we've had, they could go back out and play it in some more cause there is more than enough.

Miss K has 2 more dance classes left and then gets a break until after Spring Break and we've just found out that Madame S will get to start Musical Theatre again after Spring Break as well. Hopefully the times will be on the same day so I'm not (or Mom & Dad aren't) trecking there every day of the week. We've found a great little company (that's brand new but growing in leaps and bounds) and the kids really enjoy the classes that they put on there.

Had a trip into the dentist yesterday after 4 years of being away from it (didn't want to go without extended benefits) and boy did I pay for it. No cavities but lots of scraping away and I was in the chair a lot longer than I had expected. Not something to brag about for sure and I've realized that flossing needs to become routine for myself and the kids in order to keep our teeth as healthy as possible.

I've been having trouble with my knee and ankle since all this cold weather hit. I twisted the knee last week on a walk to the hospital in the snow and it hasn't been the same since. Hopefully it's just a little arthritis and once the weather straightens itself out, it will feel better.

My little niece is growing - I saw pictures of her last week and can't believe the change. We've had colds out here so haven't wanted to go see her and give them to her so I am hopefull that when I go see my doc next week that I'll be able to take a visit over to see her and Tam.

Valentines is coming up and Steph was down at Target over the weekend and found the coolest cutest little Valentine's for the girls. They are candy valentines and the girls just love them!!! Thanks so much Steph!!

Oh...and did I tell you about my girls weekend coming up? Steph and I have booked a 2 night stay not too far from home (but far enough to feel like we're getting away) and we can't wait!!! Just felt that I needed a couple of nights away to refresh and have a little fun (do I even know what that is???).

And...we will be having house guests next weekend too which should be fun. Scott and Steph's son plays hockey and he'll be in a tournament out our way next weekend so we'll finally get to go and watch him play and cheer him on!!! Should be lots of fun and will be nice to have them all out for the weekend with us!

We've been doing lots with S&S and the kids lately - we're already planning the Canada Party for this year and the kids love to find all kinds of things with Canadian flags on them. We've started a new tradition so it should be fun this year, just like last.

What else...I guess I'm just hoping for the snow and rain to go away so that Pat can get back out there and get the hours happening again. He has a great job - just not great in this weather!

Ta ta!!!

Updates Updates Updates

2008-01-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, It's been a while since I've been on here. My faithful readers (I love you all!!!) have been asking so here goes....

Not a whole lot to report to be honest. I've been trying to work walking into my life and healthy eating (see the other blog for all that stuff) and keep up with everything else. Not the easiest thing to do but together, Pat and I are changing our eating habits and I'm trying to work in some exercise when and where I can.

Miss K is taking a little dance class for 4 year olds and just loves it. Their teacher is lots of fun and makes everything into a game while the kids are learning ballet positions and having fun. Grandma bought her a little pink leotard after the first class and she has little pink ballet shoes...very cute.

Madame S is taking a break from extra-curriculars at the moment and we are hoping that they are able to find another teacher for Musical Theatre - she loved that class and did so well at it. If there are no updates shortly, we will work on something else for her. She is interested in the guitar so we may start there next.

My photography...well, I can't say I'm doing extremely well with it. I really need an operations class to show me how the camera works and what all the settings do. I can work a couple of them but I'm not really getting the results from it that I'd like so far. I am also hoping for some money for my birthday so that I can take a trip down to Leo's in Vancouver and maybe get a new lens or get a proper camera bag for it and all the future lenses that I've love to buy....first things first...gotta learn how to get the most out of it cuz I know it can do so much more than I'm doing with it. It's a labor of love so I'll keep at it until I get the time to learn. In the meantime Miss K's dance class and a recent birthday party have been where it's been out the most recently (sorry I'm at work so can't post any pics at the moment).

We had a bit of snow on Saturday and the van doesn't like the snow. A sliding sideways down the road I went while trying to stop at a corner. I had gone out to get some groceries just as it started and by the time I started to come home, the roads were covered in snow and ice underneath them. It's pretty chilly here now and on the way to work I saw some little flakes of snow trying to come down. We'll see what the nightfall brings.

Pat can't work in this crazy weather which isn't much fun on the bank account but we're doing much better than we have in past years just simply because my parents are taking the kids and we aren't paying daycare. The kids miss our daycare provider but right now it's for the best and the kids love to go to G&G's and play with the furball.

I guess I should start my work day now. Hope you enjoy the update!

Love to everyone!

Jan 1 2008

2008-01-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Today I spent the day shopping with Madame S and we stopped at the cemetary to bring flowers to Grandma as it would have been her birthday tomorrow. Madame S picked a bouquet of 4 white roses that encircled a yellow rose and a blue rose (painted with glitter). I felt like it symbalized the 4 members of my family circling around my Grandparents so she made an excellent choice. There was no vase there anymore so we put rocks beside the flowers and then filled the whole with leftover snow in the area to help keep them watered and cool.

Then we went and had a visit with G&G McD and had lunch with them.

We stopped for a bit more shopping on the way home. Then came home and got ready to go to Mom & Dad's for New Years Day supper. Thanks Mom & Dad for the mush and the boobie cake! It was great.

No resolutions for me this year. But remember that the holiday spirit doesn't need to exist only at Christmas. Make sure you continue to find those you've lost touch with, pick up the phone to an old friend or family member, write a letter, an email...something...but don't let the opportunity slip away to talk to, to see, to spend time with those that you haven't seen in a while. Take the opportunity while you can and make the most of it.

Don't forget to tell them you love them.

I love you all!

Playing with my new toy!!

2007-12-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

For my Christmas present this year, my hubby and girls, my parents and my Grandparents all chipped in together to buy me the camera that I have been wanting for the past year. I've been having fun trying to figure it out as there are a ton of buttons on it. 1 setting at a time. And once I'm more comfortable, then I can sign up for a course to help me out. And after a while, I'd like to pick up some more lenses and backdrops and start doing my own photography. Worked out this year of my girls so hopefully I'll get to do others in the future.

Here's a few of my first pics with it. Sorry I didn't rotate them :o(

Christmas Morning

2007-12-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

2 More Sleeps

2007-12-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

2 more sleeps until Santa comes to visit. The kids are so excited.

There will be presents under the tree. But the real present for me is the safe delivery of my niece and the recovery of my sister in law. I don't think we need more than that this Christmas.

I'm sitting here thinking about this tremendous blessing that we have received this year. And I am so thankful for this amazing gift of life.

But I can't help to think back to my post of last year. I can't go back to read it because I don't want to cry tonight. But last year was the last Christmas with my Grandpa here. We sat side by side at the dinner table. And we talked. And we laughed. And we smiled. And we remembered Grandma lovingly together.

This year, we will sit around the same table...but he won't be beside me this year.

But I think he'll be there with us. With Grandma this time.

And we'll still laugh. And we'll still talk. And we'll still smile. And we'll remember them both lovingly this Christmas.

And be thankful for the blessings we have now and those we've had in the past.

And for that, we are forever greatful.

We have a new member of our family!!

2007-12-19T17:48:00.001-08:00

Talia Eve Marie was born this morning weighing 4lbs 6oz.

She is currently in an incubator and sounds to be doing well.

Mom had a rough go and had to be put out for the c-section but sounds to be resting well tonight.

We will go in on Friday to meet our new niece and then I'll post pictures. Unfortunately being way out here, with Christmas Concerts, etc., we aren't able to visit sooner but I think it will give her time to rest and recover after the surgery.

Welcome to the family Talia - you were loved from the very beginning!

She's in labor!!!

2007-12-18T20:46:00.001-08:00

Oh I hate the waiting but it will be so worth the wait!!!

Will give you all the details when she's arrived!!!

Inductions!!!

2007-12-17T20:33:00.001-08:00

Well, my beautiful, strong and amazing SIL is back in hospital again and this time, she is not leaving without the baby.

They started gel inductions today so we'll see how they take. Hopefully they'll take right away and she won't have to wait long to have her daughter but only time will tell.

Will keep you posted!

Click for Children's Hospital

2007-12-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.bchydro.com/holiday2007

Please click on the link above. BC Hydro is raising money for BC Children's Hospital. Each time the card is activated (put the coin in the slot and watch it go down. It's cute and the kids will love watching it), money will be donated to Childrens.

Childrens has helped my nephew since he was born, 2 of my 2nd cousins (who are more like my nieces) and now my brother & SIL.

Please take a moment to activate the card, let all the kids do it a few times, and help to donate to a great Hospital!

Tis the Season

2007-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

The Holiday Season is upon us and now, more than ever, it's a great time to connect with loved ones you haven't seen in a while, friends who you haven't seen because your schedules were "too busy", and old friends that you've been meaning to connect with.

In general, most people are slaves to their schedules, and some need to be slaves to their kids schedules (I know I am) but are we really that busy that we don't have time to pick up a phone and call someone we haven't talk to in a long time? Are we really that busy that we can't send off a personal letter to someone and let them know that we are thinking of them. Or how about an email just to say Hello and I miss You! (and the FW emails that go around the world 100 times don't count?

Life can pass you by so quickly and you can turn the corner, and that person that you are looking for won't be there any longer. Over the holidays, please make time to connect with family, friends and those that you've been thinking about lately and let them know that you do still care, you'd like to get together for coffee (and actually do!).

The Food Banks are collecting through the schools, the malls, the radio stations, etc. Please make sure to give them something for those less fortunate than us, even if you can only afford to give 1 can of beans, 1 jar of peanut butter, or 1 box of macaroni. It all helps and will help someone to have a dinner on Christmas. If you have old blankets, coats, mittens, scarves that are still in great condition but you know longer want, consider giving them to the drives that are looking for those right now. There is always something we can do to help out those less fortunate, but we need to choose to do so.

I spoke with my girls the other morning as we were watching Global's toy drive. Madame S was telling me how her school has a competition for a food drive (which is great) and that they would get a cake or something for a prize if they won. I sat them both down and talked to them about why they were doing a food drive, and why there was a pile of toys on the tv that morning. Then we looked around our house (which to us is small but to others would be a mansion) and I helped them to realize just how amazingly blessed we are. Talk to your kids - there is another reason behind Christmas than just getting presents. We have so much to be thankful for - heat, clothing, food, roof over our heads, jobs, vehicles...I could go on.

But most importantly, we have our health, our family and our friends.

We are truly blessed.

Season's Greetings Everyone!

Christmas Pictures

2007-12-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

The Countdown to Christmas

2007-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

It won't be long and it will be here - can you believe how fast it's gone.

I feel like last month felt more Christmasy than this month does for some strange reason. Maybe it's because we set up our house so early...we might have to rethink that next year since the village went up so smoothly and quickly this year.

My niece is still nestled snug in her oven and is showing those doctors that she's just not ready to make her appearance until she's due! Tam's doing amazingly well and all seems to be stable at this point in time. Tomorrow makes her 35 weeks and she'll have another appointment with ultrasound on Friday so we'll get out next update then.

Work has been slow for Pat with the blast of snow we had over the weekend (I did get some pictures but have yet to think about posting them LOL). So Miss K has been enjoying some Daddy-time this week as he's been picking her up from school. I think everyone knows who her Daddy is when he shows up - she's so excited to see him there.

Madame S has been working so hard on her upcoming Musical Theatre production. They gave the kids learning CD's with all the music on them so she's been up in her room singing and practicing her dance moves every day to make sure she gets them right. She's so excited to be doing this and we can't wait to go watch her. Just over a week and she'll be up on that stage! We're hoping to get some video footage but don't have a camera other than my digital so we'll see how that goes.

Other than that, all is well in the valley today.

Updates Updates

2007-11-29T15:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we took the kids to Disney Princesses on Ice on the 25th and I was able to get my camera to upload (it wasn't working, very frustrating) so I will post some pictures from that fairly soon.

Baby update - will know more tomorrow but it's looking like we'll get to meet my niece sooner than later at this point because Tam's pretty swollen and her kidney's aren't working as well as they need too. She is constantly being monitored and the nurses and doctors have been nothing short of amazing throughout this entire pregnancy so I know she is being well taken care of which is a huge relief for us all out here. She has an appointment tomorrow so the doctor will check things out and then we'll know more but she is 34 weeks today which is totally amazing for what she's been through. Will post more when I know more.

Got the office decorated a bit today so it looks at least a little bit festive. Did some cleaning.

Trying to get things done around the house and continue getting things ready for Christmas. I am so close to being done but we have parents that are very hard to buy for and I have a husband who is hard to buy for so there's just that little bit more to do and then I can say I'm done. Will try and get some more wrapping done tonight and I'm working on a Christmas Craft at home as well that needs more attention before it's ready.

Tis the season to be obnoxiously busy! Fa la la la la...la la la laaaaaaaaa!!!!

:o)

Angels watching over us

2007-11-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

My parents caught this the other day after leaving my place. We always knew that there were angels watching over us, but they truly showed us they were there.

This was taken across a field not far from our house...no photoshopping, no fancy photography...just what they saw.

Congratulations Cathy & Cliff!!

2007-11-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Cathy and Cliff on the birth of their 5th baby girl! I was on the blue team but I think Cathy knew her body best because she called it months ago.

Now Cameron has 5 sisters to protect as they grow up and I know he'll be as great a big brother to little Courtney as he is to the rest of his sisters!

Thanks to Allyson too for posting and Cynthia for the facebook post so I knew to go searching!

We have another Star!!!

2007-11-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Madame S tried out for the solo in her upcoming Christmas concert and just phoned to tell me that she got it!!!

I don't think my mom's car can contain this girl on the way to her musical theatre course!!!

Way to go!!!! We're so proud of you!!!

It's not too early to decorate

2007-11-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

We have had a long-standing tradition to decorate on Remembrance Day because for so many years, Pat was working out of town or long hours and we'd never have time to decorate. RD was the only day we knew he'd be off for sure.

So this weekend we got under the house and took out boxes and bins and table pieces, etc., and got the village set up. On Monday when we got back from S&S's, we finished the village and set up the tree for the kids to decorate.

Here's a couple of pics.

Awaiting babies...

2007-11-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

Nothing like the suspense of waiting for babies to arrive.

There are a few of them I'm waiting on...

1 is my blogging friend Cathy who is due with #6 anytime now. Probably will be sometime next week as she's dropped pretty low and there isn't much room left in there - I'm pulling for a boy as she only has 1 boy and 4 girls.

Another is Darrick and Jen who are awaiting a son I believe. They have 1 girl.

An old friend from school is expecting twin boys in a couple of weeks (and the girl looks amazing!)

The last and most important is my new niece. She's already a tough little cookie and we all can't wait to meet her. Hopefully she's done some growing this week and can stay in the oven at least another week. It goes literally week by week and has done so from about 18 weeks or so until now but they have had some amazing care by all the doctors and nurses. I'm going to hopefully get out and get some shopping done for her this week and make sure to have a Christmas present awaiting her arrival.

Update...or not much of one??

2007-11-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I don't have much to update at this point. Life has been very much regular and non-interesting for the most part.

This weekend however, we did get a chance to go to Langley and finish off most of our Christmas shopping before heading to Dave & Tam's for a birthday gathering for Dave. It's great to get together with the family when ever possible so I'm glad we could do this. Things are going pretty well for them, although my niece may be making her appearance in the next couple of weeks...we'll see. She has been surprising us throughout the entire pregnancy.

Then we went out to a fundraiser for Pat's 2nd cousin's hockey team and had a great time with S&S, M&T and some others. Good food, nice pub, some fun and friendly wagering on the silent auction, the twoonie toss. Hopefully the team was able to make some money to help them out for the season. D really loves playing and we're hoping to go out and cheer him on at a game in December!

We spent the night last night at S&S's place and Pat made some yummy waffles this morning along with berries and whip cream and bacon - so yummy!!!

Drove home in the crazy wind - lots of trees broken in half and over power lines...scary stuff.

The village and tree were finished up tonight. Pics to follow sometime soon.

Sorry nothing Juicier!

Halloween pics

2007-10-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Madame S had a Halloween party on Friday and both girls went to a Halloween Party at S&S's place last night. What a blast that was. Lots of fun for the kids, pinata's, goodie bags, crafts and games. Very cool idea guys!!!

Dr. Phil Transformation.

2007-10-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the transformation for Pat to becoming Dr. Phil. With hair, as Dr. Phil, with a hat to get to the theatre and then shaved once again.

Our trip to Bellevue / Dr. Phil

2007-10-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

Pat had competition over the 19th weekend in Bellevue and the headquarters hotel was the Hyatt Regency. They had a skywalk over to the big mall right across the street which was great for me so I didn't have to walk alone on the streets. I didn't go to much of the contest. Only when he was scheduled to be on.

Here's a picture of our room. It was beautiful.

Pat's quartet made it into the top 10 the first night. I stayed back at the hotel and enjoyed some quiet time to myself (hard to come by when working full time with 2 kids).

On Saturday morning, I got up with Pat and we had room service. He had to get to the theatre early for warm up so I enjoyed the room again to myself and had a nice long hot shower then off I went to the mall to get some Christmas shopping done.

I went to watch the chorus sing - 12 guys on stage and they won Most Improved and were the Small Chorus Champs - YAY!!! Then it was back to the mall for a bit more shopping. I bought myself a shirt for the evening then went to Sephora and had my make up done so I looked nice for the evening. The quartet won 4th out of 26 quartets and did a great job. Pat had to shave his head for part of the song. I'll post his transformations in the next thread.

Did some more shopping on the way home at the outlet stores and really enjoyed ourselves.

Updating Updating

2007-10-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well I really haven't written much lately about what we've been up to.

So here's a few things and some pictures since I am having problems emailing pics right now.

On the 23rd we celebrated Pat's 33rd birthday (or 23rd as he likes to say)

We had supper at my mom & dad's and I picked up a Deep & Delicious cake (he loves them) for us to have to celebrate. I had a seminar to go to so we celebrated the night before.