BAmemories

Anniversary Update

2010-09-04T15:18:00.005-06:00

Now that things are little bit more settled with the kids back to school, I can finally sit down and post some of our anniversary pics. As mentioned before, this was a vacation to reconnect and do absolutely nothing; and that is exactly what we did. I can honestly say that I have never been more relaxed in my life (as I'm posting this, I have Avery and a friend of hers in this room, bugging the hell out of me to get them some craft supplies)...so much for the relaxation! We really need to do this every year! Just to get away from the daily demands and needs of the kids and work and what has to be done the next day and the next and the next.......

Our tenthouse suite, is the one pictured here #59..closest to the ocean and one of the most private as we were veered off the main boardwalk, so no-one had to walk by ours to get to another one.

To get to our tent, we started through here, and continued along the boardwalk until we arrived.

This was the inside of our tent: every view overlooked the ocean. Every night we fell asleep to the waves crashing against the rocks and every morning we awoke to extreme peacefulness.

This was our view from the balcony. We spent most of our time here, reading, sunbathing, drinking our coffee and eating our breakfast. One afternoon we ventured into Pender Harbour for lunch and tried our hand at kayaking for an hour, but other than that we stayed here. We barely got out of our robes...the most comfortable, soft robes in the whole world. You can check them out on-line at warm buddy company.

Dale surprised me one evening with a delivery of champagne, homemade truffles and chocolate covered strawberries

we also enjoyed a couples massage in this outdoor tent overlooking the ocean:

and then we had our 7 course dinner..not the typical dinner you would think of...we did alot of taste experimenting. Thankgoodness, for the 8 glasses of wine that was supplied with each course..some of them were a little hard to stomach! Needless to say, I was craving a nice big juicy steak by the time we got back to Vancouver!

Would definately highly recommend this resort to anyone looking for a special getaway, but you have to stay in the tenthouse suites...they are what makes this trip extremely romantic and special!

Pure Romance

2010-08-18T22:06:00.003-06:00

In just 2 hours, Dale and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. Dale is honestly one of the best husbands and fathers around. He has spent more sleepless nights with the kids from the time they were babies till now...he's definately cleaned up more puke than I have in the middle of the night! He shares all the duties around the house and in fact, probably does more cooking and cleaning than I do! Most importantly he always makes sure we are looked after and that we are happy.

I know that I have taken these and much more for granted.....so to celebrate our 10 years of marriage and to kick start the next 10 years, I searched for hours for the perfect place to go and get away for just a few days. Lo and behold I found it right here in our own little country.

In just a few days we will be heading to Rock*Water Secret Cove Resort...no kids...no TV...just the two of us in our own private tenthouse suite with no agenda and nothing to do but enjoy each other. I can't wait!!

Video of Blake's first waterski and knee board

2010-07-26T21:50:00.007-06:00

Kimball Lake

2010-07-26T21:41:00.008-06:00

Blake's good friend Billy came to the lake with us this year. He's never done any water sports before, but you couldn't get him off of this tube! Our good friend Lee came with us this year with a bigger and more powerful sea-doo. The kids kept him busy constantly asking for more and more tube rides. They were getting pretty cocky too, so to our pleasure, they finally got thrown off the tube. Billy went first, Blake then proceeded to bounce into Billy's seat and then right off the tube. Well, they asked for faster speed and bigger waves and they sure got them!

My favorite part: Blake tried water-skiing again this year. None of the kids wanted to try until we finally convinced (Actually Dale bribed him!) Blake to go first. After that, all the kids wanted to try. This year, he got up and out of the water on the first try and made an entire loop without falling! We were so proud of him and he was certainly proud of himself...his grin was ear to ear!

We lucked out with the weather again this year and were fortunate enough to have a beach day every single day we were there. Rylee and Avery got a "KICK" out of this extra large beach ball.

Blake was the foreman with the construction of this "Aquarium" for the minnows they caught. Complete with "algae" and fishtank toys. It kept them amused for a nice long time!

Avery decided to build a "dino park". You really can't have too many plastic toys at the beach!

The next day after water-skiing, we convinced Blake to try knee-boarding. He "reluctantly" said he'd go. I think his ego was pretty inflated after water-skiing, so he once again was the leader here. He even really showed-off when he took one hand off the rope. I'll have video to post tomorrow. He definately takes after his mom for his water sport ability!

The last day we went to "Jeanette Lake" to a friends cabin. Once again my little daredevil tried his hand at rope swinging. These kids must have done it over a dozen times.

Even Dale got in on the fun! Unfortunately we couldn't convince Avery to go...maybe next year!

Calgary Zoo

2010-07-07T13:12:00.005-06:00

Last stop, Calgary Zoo. We were lucky to be there during the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. As many times as we have been to the zoo, we've always just rushed to see all the animals and have never went through the Dinosaur part. This gave us perfect reason to finally see it. Blake kept asking if they were real (even though he was pushing the buttons to make them move!)

It was sooo hot that day, that I didn't feel like pulling my camera out all the time and with all the other pics I have of the zoo, I just decided to take a few pics.

And of course, the main reason for going to Calgary in the first place. Avery loved seeing the babies again.

and that adorable puppy of Tricia's....Zana

and having Grandma with all her grandchildren at one time.

Callaway Park

2010-07-01T22:47:00.008-06:00

Next stop: Callaway park! The last time we were here, the kids were a bit too little to go on some of the bigger rides. Blake still couldn't go on the roller coaster, but he certainly enjoyed the big swings with Uncle Vern.

Avery isn't much of a thrill seeker, so she stuck to the little swings. Notice Blake in the back. Can't you tell by his face that I made him go on this ride with his sister. She wouldn't go alone and I, of course could not fit into those swings, so there was only one choice left.

Although he did thoroughly enjoy the small roller coaster and the Wave Rider with his sister. Go figure!

We finally caught up with the cousins and Blake went on the Arenaline Test Zone with Nick. I tried to convince Avery to go on with me, but no such luck.

And the most favorite ride of all: Free Fallin'. Both kids could go on this with an adult, but Avery would not go on. We were by ourselves at this point, so I asked an adult behind us if he would mind taking Blake on with his kids.
So up, up, up he went...

and Whoosh!...down he came. His smile was priceless! After we watched him, Avery then decided that she now wanted to go on it too. So back in line we went to wait and sure enough she did go on it and Loved it. I was on with her, so no pics of her to show.

To wrap up a very fun and very hot day..the infamous snow cone!

Butterfield Acres

2010-07-01T22:21:00.007-06:00

I just got back from a 5 day visit with my sisters and mom in Calgary. We had a great time. I love the fact that they live in Calgary..it gives us an excuse to visit some of our favorite places there. One of our favorites is Butterfield Acres:

This year Blake decided to try to milk the goat. He did manage to get some milk to squirt out of there, which is better than I did. Avery would not try this at all! No one could beat Uncle Vern.... of course his family does own a dairy farm in North Dakota, so he had a little bit of an upper hand there.

We were NOT supposed to pick up the chicks...don`t tell anyone!

Avery and her horsies..I really do have to get her into an equestrian camp.

These baby goats were well-behaved and friendly...

These other goats in the other pen...were not. You could buy oat-filled ice cream cones to feed them and they were desperate for them! My sister Tavia was going into the pen with her daughter Sadie and Avery. The goats hoarded around them and poor little Sadie couldn`t move and the goats were escaping. I think 3 got out by the time we could help...not a big deal as they seemed to roam pretty freely around the farm , but we were NOT going to go in there again. So, Blake had fun feeding them over the fence, throwing the cone into the pen and watching the goats fight over it.

There are lots of little picnic areas around the farm with playgrounds. We found this little gem hidden away from most of the action. It`s called a `Whirlybird`...I so want one for my backyard!

Twinkle Toes

2010-06-23T22:30:00.000-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, Kari and I decided to take the girls for their first pedicure..mother/daughter style. So off to Just For You Day Spa (a wonderful little spa just behind Beilly's). I was a little apprehensive about Avery...I wasn't sure if she would sit by herself letting someone else touch her feet. She was a touch shy to start with, but became quite talkative as the hour went by.

The girls loved it, and Avery is already talking about going back again. I better watch how often I take her...don't want her becoming a DIVA!

Avery, of course picked out 2 colors in her usual rainbow style:

Danica went with a lovely 2-shaded purple duo:

Kari decided on a cool SHREK green:

and I settled on a bright red (which is a big change for me as I usually stick with a light pink or brown!)

The funnest part was when we were trying to take pictures of our feet. Honestly, is there a good way to take these pictures. We couldn't stop laughing. Feet really do look UGLY in pictures--too long of toes, too bony..every imperfection seems to surface in the pictures. Seriously, sit down and take some pictures of your feet..you'll see what we mean.

Preschool graduation

2010-06-14T16:28:00.006-06:00

A final field trip to Kinsmen park before Avery's preschool grad.

Avery may be shy at some things, but she's always participated in the class songs. Blake usually had a hard time with this. He'd mouth the words, but wasn't overly excited about it. Because Avery can be so shy, I figured she'd never, ever get up in front of the parents and do this. But she's a pro...she loves to sing...just like her mama!

A little catch-up

2010-06-14T14:56:00.006-06:00

Avery finished preschool the end of May and just like regular school, there always seems to be a ton of field trips in the last month. This day was a walking trip to the zoo. Notice the sun. Looking back on these pics, I'm surprised we actually had some sunny days in May!

Gotta love when those peacocks spread their feathers--don't get to see that too often.

An impromptu game of "ring around the rosie" and a quick trip to the park to end the morning.
Three of these girls were inseparable all year (there were only 5 in the class)...Avery however, will be separated from the other 2 next year in Kindergarten. But, I learned with Blake that this isn't such a bad thing. Especially when all 3 of them can be so snotty at times. The funny thing is... there will only be 4 girls in Avery's Kindergarten class next year (a class of 19/20 kids). The 2 other classes also have only 4 or 5 girls. Twas the year of the boy!

If you could be so kind...

2010-05-29T07:52:00.003-06:00

I'm looking out my patio window drinking my coffee, thinking what an awfully blah day. Thank goodness I did my grocery shopping last night so that I can just spend all day inside today hanging out with the kiddos.

I'm also thinking that tomorrow morning I will be out in this awful weather. However, it is for a great cause so it won't be awful after all. Me and the kids will be walking in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk for a Cure! So many kids are affected by this horrible life changing disease. Could you imagine having to give your kids injections on a daily basis (sometimes 5 times a day), poking them at least 4 times a day to test their sugars. Counting Carbohydrates and not being able to let them have that cookie that they want so much and you know would make them so happy. Constantly worrying and hoping that they don't get that sugar low that makes them so sick and is so dangerous that it could be fatal. I couldn't! I'm so blessed that none of my family is affected, but there are so many children out there that aren't so lucky.

We are walking for a boy who was diagnosed with diabetes when he was just 8 years old---the same age as Blake! He so desperately wants to find a cure and him and his mom have been working very hard to collect donations. While my son is playing Video Games, this boy has been riding the bus (because their car doesn't work) to different neighborhoods to see if anyone can help him find a cure. I'm trying to help him find a cure, so if you could be so kind......

visit my JDRF website HERE and make a donation today. Anything will be greatly appreciated. Just remember you never know when your family might be affected.

Thank you so much!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T21:47:00.003-06:00

There's nothing like homemade gifts presented to you first thing in the morning from the ones who mean the most to you.

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day. We certainly did. We woke up bright and early to go fishing as it was the first weekend fishing opened. Even though the weather was not as nice as we had hoped and considering that we completely forgot to grab the bag of snacks for the kids and that we didn't get one nibble and thus left after a couple of hours, we still had a great morning just being together on the boat.
The afternoon was spent watching (napping for me and Dale) Planet 51, playing the "Game of Life" and preparing lobster for supper. My friend Janine joined us as her husband had to work...this was like a pre-Mother's day for her as she's due with her first child in July (a girl!)

Today I woke up very early to get to my first Pilates class at 6AM. I will be doing this twice a week for 7 weeks. I can already tell it will tone me in ways the gym just can't do, so can't wait to see the results! Then Dale and I were supposed to have a morning golf game (with the new golf clothes Dale bought me for Mother's Day), but the weather cancelled that pretty quick. Instead I spent the day baking 4 zucchini loaves, 3 dozen zucchini muffins and a ton of mini brownies (the ones from Jessica Seinfeld's book...they are baked with spinach and carrot puree). My kids love them and they're healthy, so I'll spend the time baking them!

Tomorrow will be a busy day....field trip to the zoo with Avery. Ball with the kids at 5:15 and then off to an evening of scrapbooking and "GLEE" watching with my girlfriends. Can't wait!

2010-05-05T21:02:00.004-06:00

I'm sure it wasn't much more than 2 weeks ago that the kids were riding their bikes to school in shorts. Yesterday was a different story...

Went on a field trip with Avery's preschool yesterday. One of the dad's is a city bus driver, so he took the whole class on a bus ride.

We got to tour the garage where they work on the bus's. We also were the first people to step foot into a brand new 2010 bus. This new bus is one of those that kinks in the middle and it's extremely long (I think they said over 60 feet)

We also drove through the bus wash, which was a favorite for most of the kids.

Finally the trip ended with the kids getting their very own city transit bus. What a fun field trip!

A nice Surprise

2010-05-03T22:36:00.002-06:00

With Avery waking up throughout the night having coughing fits and Blake waking up in the middle of the night throwing up from a migraine, it was sure nice to find this in my mailbox in the morning. Thanks Kari, it sure perked me up after a rough night!

Poor Girl

2010-05-02T22:30:00.002-06:00

Avery started to get the cold that Blake and Dale have had. Always seems like that darn coughing comes out at night. So, here I am lying in my bed with her after she coughed so hard that she threw up twice. She was so upset that the crying was just making the coughing worse. I finally got her calmed down with some ice chips and we are currently now watching "The Never Ending Story" on TV. She just turned to me and said that she feels much better now, so perhaps it won't be as long of a night as I thought.

I need some serious help..this is not a joke!

2010-04-23T23:17:00.003-06:00

I've known that over the past year, I have gained some weight and my body has decided to change itself. I know that I am still petite, but somewhere over the last year I have developed hips and an ass. I no longer have that boyish figure, which is great...I always wanted to have some curves and now that I've turned 35 , I'm getting them!

The dilemma here is that I literally need a whole new wardrobe. For the last year, I have had trouble getting into my pants, so I've bought a couple pairs thinking that once I got back to the gym full-time, they would fit again. Not so! This past week I cleaned out my closet and tried on every single pair of pants and shorts I had. Except for sweatpants and sweatshorts, not one article of clothing would pull up past my thighs...I AM NOT EXAGGERATING! All my clothes are now in a pile on my floor waiting for me to get rid of them. I have literally nothing left in my closet.

My other dilemma...I HATE SHOPPING!...yes, you heard me right. I don't know anything about fashion..I grew up on the farm (sorry, mom!) I don't know what is in style, I don't know what my style is, I don't know what color looks good on me, I don't know which clothes are appropriate for my age...you get the picture.

What I need is a personal shopper..I need someone to take me to the right stores, sit me down, throw clothes at me and tell me what to buy. I don't want to have to make any decisions. Do you LOVE to shop or know someone who does 'cause I would LOVE to have you be my personal shopper!

FIRE

2010-04-19T22:09:00.006-06:00

A fire started in the Natural Grasslands behind our house somewhere between 3 and 4 PM. I was just putting hamburgers on the BBQ when I noticed a whole bunch of people gathered in the school parking lot...I looked to my left and Holy Shit! The fire was only about 200 or so yards away..the wind was blowing at an angle away from our house, but in the direction of all the houses that continued along the road to the west of us..which meant they were in immediate danger. Some fire fighters had to be called from the Wanuskewin fire to get this one under control.

Dale was at work and I had already called him to tell him about it...he said not to worry, it sounded like our house was not going to be affected. Once the flames were getting to about 20 feet high and closer to our house, I frantically called him back and told him to come home...I was panicked and worried....I had begun to throw clothes into garbage bags and was thinking of everything I needed to salvage. In the meantime I still had food cooking and didn't know whether to feed the kids or get them out of the house. I wasn't thinking straight. Thank goodness Jason showed up to see how we were doing...he got the hose hooked up and started to water behind our fence. I phoned Cindy and Steve and they immediately came over as well.
Finally a firefighter walked our way and told us that they figured the fire could come close to us, but the worst that would happen is that we'd have a melted fence and not to worry. Finally, Dale arrived home...the boys went on the roof to keep an eye on the fire.

This picture is of the fire about 3 houses away from us and just in front of the Meewasin Fence. This is what they were battling first along with the area further west of us.....that's why they hadn't come anywhere near us...these houses had the fire right up to their fences!

The firefighters then came back to our fence and told us that they were getting 911 calls from the other side of the grasslands....the fire was now blowing in that direction...he told us that if the fire got to the creekbed just in front of us, we were to call 911, give our house # and he'd know that they needed to get back to us right away; if the fire got past that creekbed and hit the bigger trees right in front of our neighbours house, then our homes would be in great danger.

Here's a picure of the wildlife moving away from the fire.

Here's our buddy Steve Shannon making an on-line broadcast to his radio station to describe what was happening.

We were just coming back from a quick bike ride to the school to check things out there when we saw this fire truck pulling up in front of our house. Dale yelled to us that the fire had hit the creekbed, so he had put the call in to 911. Within seconds of his phone call, the truck was there and the backhoe had made it's way over to dig things up and smother the flames.

These pics are about 50 yards from our back fence.

Thank goodness everything turned out alright. The flames are out, but alot of the natural grasslands is now charred black. Thanks to all the great firefighters...they saved alot of homes and thanks to my wonderful, wonderful friends who dropped everything to come to my emotional rescue.

Kristy, if your husband was out there, then personally thank him for me...if he wasn't on duty today, then tell him to thank all of his co-workers out there that did such a great job!

Big Foot

2010-04-13T22:55:00.001-06:00

Thanks girls for the laughs tonight.....can't wait for next month...scrapping and GLEE, what could be better!

Dexter the Dinosaur

2010-04-12T17:31:00.004-06:00

This is Dexter. Dexter has been with us for 11 days. Dexter came home with Avery from Preschool before the Easter Break. All the kids get a turn in taking Dexter home...finally Avery's name was drawn. She was so happy and so proud to take care of Dexter.

This is blankie. Blankie has been with us for 5 years (well 8 if you count Blake's years with her, which I don't, since he never became attached to her). Avery is verrrry dependent on Blankie...she carries her all around the house (and if we let her, she does get to take her out in the van and sometimes into some stores).....if she's upset, she always asks for Blankie and for her milk. She sleeps every night with Blankie and we have to make sure that Blankie is packed if we ever go overnight anywhere.

When Dexter came home with Avery she said to me "I have to take care of Dexter now. I don't need Blankie anymore. And when she went to bed that night, she took Dexter with her and threw her Blankie on the floor. "I can't sleep with Blankie, I have to take care of Dexter." Poor Blankie.

However, you'll be pleased to know that Blankie was back in Avery's arms the next day. Dexter was the center of attention until we arrived at my sister's in Dickinson. Once we arrived there, Dexter stayed in the bag and was there for the next week. He wasn't thought about again until she had to finish drawing her pictures documenting her time with Dexter.

She drew this first picture the day she brought Dexter home...she was so excited...Mrs. Simpson said she had to draw a picture, so she wanted to get it done right away. Of course, it's full of color.

This picture is one that Avery and I did together as I wanted her to show her friends that Dexter got to go to a different country. Actually Avery did most of the drawing, but she didn't know how to draw the babies, so I drew them.....hey, I never claimed to be an artist!

So anyway, if looking after Dexter is indicative of how she'd look after a pet she wants so badly, we will NEVER get one!

Dickinson, N.D.

2010-04-07T22:40:00.005-06:00

We spent Easter long weekend at my sisters in Dickinson, N.D. When we crossed the border our trip started off with a bang when a darn pheasant decided to fly right in front of our van. Dale had just remarked, "look there's another pheasant right there" which he soon followed up with "look now there's a dead pheasant!" The kids wanted to see it, so we turned around, found it in the ditch and Dale held it up so they could see it...he then pulled off a couple of feathers for the kids as "keepsakes"

The main purpose of this trip was to finally see those twin babies for the first time who are now 6 months old. Oh, my gosh, they are sooo cute! So chunky and so content. In these pics, Blake is holding Amelia(pink pants) and Avery is holding Mollie (white pants). I know this only because I dressed the girls that morning. Otherwise I have a hard time telling them apart.

Don't ask me which one is which in this pic...if I could zoom it in, I might be able to tell as Amelia has a small storkbite between her eyes.

I'm pretty sure, that Avery is holding Mollie in this pic...she always asked to hold Mollie. Not sure who Blake is holding. Avery fell in love with both those babies...she always wanted to hold them, but then said they were too heavy after awhile....and if she had her way, I'd be pregnant by now with a "baby sister for her"

Of course, there was still time for coloring eggs and easter egg hunting. This year he brought each of the kids one big basket.....and then they hunted for eggs at a community easter egg hunt.

Blake and Avery had alot of fun with their cousin Sadie....especially outside with her bubble blower she got from the Easter bunny.

It was a great trip...been over a year since I've seen my sister and her family...can't wait to see them again in June!

Blake's eight!

2010-03-27T21:46:00.005-06:00

Blake turned 8 on the 25th and this year decided to have his birthday at FuddRuckers/Ruckers. He originally would have loved to have rented a place to have a baseball tourney, but unfortunately in March everything is booked up for soccer or slowpitch. Worked out great for us as Ruckers gives you a party host who takes care of everything for you, so we didn't have to worry about a thing!

The above baseball cake was made by Cakes G'lore....I decided at the last minute on the 24th to make something for Blake to take with him to school to celebrate. Since I made a rainbow cupcake cake for Avery, I figured I'd do the same for Blake. Thanks to Saucy's easy recipe for cupcakes and her no fail frosting, I was able to whip these up in no time. It helped that I didn't have to add any coloring to the frosting! With a quick phone call to Dale at work to have him bring home some red decorating gel, I was able to finish this up by 11PM. Dale gets the credit for the red stitches....I never would have gotten those things right! And thank goodness, Blake turned 8....I had 2 extra cupcakes that wouldn't fit into the circle, but I needed them so that everyone in his class would have one....wouldn't you know that 2 cupcakes makes a perfect eight esp. when your husband can decorate it so nicely!

Blake was so excited to see his cake in the morning that he didn't even notice his present sitting right next to it...we had to tell him about it before he noticed it!

Busy doing a whole lot of nothing!

2010-03-02T22:27:00.002-06:00

Haven't been doing a whole lot in the evenings except catching up on the first season of GLEE that my husband bought me for Valentine's Day. I was surprised at how many episodes I actually missed (no PVR in this house......yet!) It was alot of fun watching it with Dale who hadn't seen but maybe one episode...I miss the old days of Degrassi Junior High, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place where you'd get together with girlfriends just to watch the show or at least call them at every commercial to chat about what happened.....Dale was a pretty good substitute...at least I didn't have to watch it alone. Stayed up until 1AM last night to finish off the last DVD...although I honestly could have stayed up all night the first night watching the whole season...I was so disappointed everytime one was over and and the credits would roll....I don't know how many times I talked Dale into "just one more episode!" Can't wait for the new season to start in April...anyone up for GLEE nights!?!

I've also been kept busy incorporating "Try new foods Tuesdays" into our household. It's not that my kids are EXTREMELY picky eaters, they just don't have a variety of fruits and vegetables and they are pretty particular about how certain foods are prepared. Plus we just get so used to cooking them the same things over and over, we get ourselves into a rut. Today was the 4th week...and the first day that Blake said "I hate Tuesdays". I'm actually very surprised at how good it's been going and how little they complain...when they ask me what we're having for supper, I say "It's try new foods Tuesdays, we're having...." and they just know that that is what we are eating. The first time we had sweet & sour spareribs, white rice (they're only used to chicken fried rice) and raw cucumbers and peppers. (Blake now loves raw peppers). The second time we had pork cutlets, roasted baby potatoes and peas. The 3rd week we had stuffed pork roast, thinly sliced homemade potato chips and yellow/green beans. Today we had barbecued steak, garlic roasted mashed potatoes and peas, and raw peppers again. Not sure what I'll do next week......NEED SOME IDEAS, so please let me know what you give your kids to eat and what you usually prepare for suppers. Would love your input.

2010-02-15T21:42:00.008-06:00

This past weekend we went to Table Mountain and took the kids skiing for the very first time. Blake and his friend Hudson took a lesson first thing in the morning which was the best thing we could have done. Great value here...they got an hour and 1/2 lesson for $45 which included their rentals and their lift tickets for the day. It's amazing how kids can pick things up so easily. Blake had a bit of rough start...the first time they went down the bunny hill we noticed he was crying at the bottom....he said it was too hard, but the next time they came down the instructor stayed with him the entire run to build up his confidence and right after that him and Hudson were up and down the hill entirely by themselves without any help from the instructor.

While Blake was in his lesson, Dale and I took turns going down the hill with Avery. At first we put her between our legs and held onto her, but then after about an hour or so, we started to ski beside her with her hanging onto our pole guiding her down. In the afternoon, I took a parent and tot class with her and by the end I was skiing backwards in front of her barely guiding her down the hill. She definately can't go down on her own as she still doesn't know how to snowplow or stop, but she was making turns on her own and the instructor mentioned that she was doing really, really good and was very impressed with the progress she was making. I'm sure it won't take her too long to catch on as she's a pretty "go-to-it-girl".

We stayed in North Battleford at the Tropical Inn. We had a poolside room and the kids spent hours watersliding and swimming both Friday and Sat. night. Highly recommend this hotel. Most of the pool is not deep...Avery can stand...so we could sit in the hottub and watch the kids coming down the waterslides and swimming without being right beside them. Avery was like a fish! She kept wanting to do "swimming lessons" with me being the teacher. She would swim under water to me and have me help her do front and back floats. This is great as we have her registered in swim lessons in April and I was worried that it would be like last time where she wouldn't do a thing as she was so shy and scared.

Today for family day we went to the golf dome with our friends Cindy and Steve and Blake's best friend Billy. We gave both the kids a set of golf clubs for their birthdays and we've been anxious to get them using them. Blake is really catching onto the swing nicely and makes contact most of the time. This was the first time that Avery has golfed and once Dale helped her get the feel for it, she was hitting the ball most of the time too.

Of course can't get the kids out of the golf dome without them wanting to mini-golf. After supper, we took them to movie "The princess and the frog" and then they both zonked out as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

win some scrapbook supplies

2010-01-26T20:00:00.000-06:00

Just found this giveaway for some great scrapbooking supplies. But hurry, contest ends tomorrow! Just click here to enter.

A Rainbow of Colors

2010-01-25T22:10:00.006-06:00

Everything that Avery colors,

or crafts,

has to be done in a multitude of colors (or rainbow) as she calls it

So I could only think of one thing to make for her preschool birthday snack tomorrow that she would absolutely love! Can't wait for her reaction in the morning!

Avery's 5th birthday

2010-01-23T22:23:00.003-06:00

Avery turns 5 on Wednesday, so today we celebrated her party with her friends. We took 7 girls to the Walmart build-a-bear and then next door to the McDonalds for lunch.

Avery picked a penguin and named it "Keta"--(she also has a white cat named Keta as well--named after her very favorite white cat she's known since it was just a tiny little kitten rescued off of a farm)

All the girls got to decorate a white T-shirt for their animals. Avery of course colored hers in rainbow colors. She was the last one to finish and I'm sure would have sat there all day coloring it if she could have.

I was very, very, very impressed with the staff at this location. She was excellent with the girls and the whole thing ran so smoothly. She even came next door to the McDonalds to see how the girls were doing. I would definately recommend this for a birthday party to anyone!

Finally cake--in rainbow colors of course--and presents. Then home to open all those difficult boxes and play with each and every gift she got.

To end the day, Kari and Danica came over for supper and brought a just finished rainbow cake over--see her blog here. It looked awesome and tasted soooo good. Then the kids headed back over to Kari's for a sleep-over which left mommy plenty of time to play with her laptop while lounging in bed. Of course I first had to shovel the driveway for the 5th time today----but I'm love, love, loving this snow----hopefully a good sledding day tomorrow!

Resolution #2

2010-01-14T22:25:00.002-06:00

So my New Years Resolution #2 is to get back to the gym and back in shape.
I started going to the gym when Avery was just 7 months old--for over 3 years I went at least 4 days a week. I was in the best shape of my life!

But then, I fell off the wagon--don't know why, but I got sooooooooooo lazy. For the last year I'd be lucky to get to the gym once or twice a week, with 2 or 3 or 4 weeks of not going. I'm always tired and I've gained 15 pounds! I've never weighed this much in my life. I don't know if my metabolism is slowing down now that I turned 35, but I have NEVER had to worry about my weight in my entire life!

So, enough is enough! I needed a change, a kick start, so I'm going to boot camp twice a week. (at World Gym--I feel like such a traitor, but Mawson doesn't offer boot camp in the winter, so I had to do it!) This past week was the first week and yesterday I could barely roll over in bed I was so sore and stiff! But I love it--I love that feeling of knowing you've worked your ass off--that hurt is a good feeling. But twice a week isn't enough, so on top of going to boot camp I'm going to continue going to Mawson's at least twice a week. My goal is to go Monday and Friday mornings at 6:30 AM--which I'm hoping to begin after this weekend--and once or twice on the weekend. If anyone cares to join me--I'd love a buddy--I need someone to motivate me again!

New Years Resolution #2 is off to a good start as well--how are you all doing with your resolutions?

New Years/Decade Resolution #1

2010-01-10T17:17:00.009-06:00

I just realized that not only is it a New Year, but it's a New decade--this makes my New's Years Resolutions that much more important.

So far I'm off to a good start:

New Years Resolution #1: To reconnect with friends I haven't seen in awhile and keep connected with my best and new ones.

So Friday night Dale and I hosted our first ever dinner party for my friend Darcie's birthday. We are currently addicted to the food network---we don't get necessarily get our recipes from there, just some good hints, and techniques. Technique and presentation has especially become very important to my husband. The morning was spent at Cava Wines and Cuisine picking out the proper wines to serve and of course adding to the wine glass collection I started him on at Christmas time.

Then, there was no way we could serve the food on our gray/green Denby plates. Food only looks good presented on white square plates, so he spent over an hour searching for the right plates---nothing at Homesense, nothing at Home Outfitters, but finally he found some at Pier One. However, he didn't go away empty handed from Home Outfitters--he was able to pick up a couple of serving platters for the dip and some tiny serving spoons to go with it. I would have just served everything on what we had--but this wasn't good enough for my new gourmet husband!

He set the table--I'm surprised he didn't search the internet for the correct way to set things--but after about a half an hour, he was satisfied with the way it looked. He was a little disappointed that we didn't have a nicer table cloth, or candles or some type of centrepiece, but I'm sure that's soon to come!

With alot of prepping throughout the day, we were finally ready when our guests arrived--there was six of us in total.

Our first dish was our appetizer: Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps served with a sparkling Rosado wine. Apparently the sparkling wine opens up your tastebuds to get you ready for your meal. Eating a salad before a meal also achieves the same effect. This was the one dish that Dale made all by himself and it ROCKED. The taste was to die for and the chicken was so moist, it just melted in your mouth. This is one appetizer we will use again and again.

Then we moved onto the salad: Arugula, pear and Asiago cheese salad with a citrus vinaigrette. And yes, we made the vinaigrette from scratch--we even freshly squeezed the grapefruits and oranges. All the plating was done by my husband--apparently I really suck at it. Our friends liked this salad, but Dale wouldn't have it again--Arugula is very bitter and it's hard to mask that, so the only thing I would change is to probably use spring mix, rather than solely baby Arugula.

We knew our main dishes would be loved---everything here we had tasted before, so we knew it was good. I mainly did all the cooking on these ones as I was the one who had made it before, so I just knew how to do it.

Mine and Kari's Coconut Shrimp and Pineapple Curry Rice,

Pan-fried Asparagus,

And the best-ever....Stuffed Lobster Tails--this is the BEST LOBSTER I have ever tasted and I will never cook Lobster any other way ever again. I found this recipe a week ago and made it for Dale as I needed something else to go with the left-over coconut shrimp I had brought back from Kari's. He couldn't stop raving about it-- we wanted to have it again soon--thus we knew we had to do it for our dinner party. The recipe is posted below--you have to try it!

Our wine for the main meal was of course white--that's what is best with Lobster. I don't normally drink wine as I'm still trying to acquire a taste for it, but I really, really enjoyed the Bucci.

Finally to complete our meal: A simple classic Chocolate Mousse served in Martini glasses and topped with fresh whip cream, chocolate shavings and a mint sprig. I made this the night before, but accidentally bought semi-sweet chocolate instead of unsweetened chocolate--Dale wanted to redo it, but I told him to wait to see what it tasted like--it tasted quite good, so we went with it--a little sweet, so I'd like to make it again with the unsweetened chocolate to see what that's like.

It ended up being a very successful dinner party for us. Can't wait to do it again. I'm actually trying to talk my husband into doing it for me and a bunch of girlfriends, so that I can just sit and visit!

STUFFED LOBSTER TAIL --remember you may have to 1/2 or 1/4 the recipe depending on how much lobster you have.

□ 12 lobster tails, medium sized
□ 1 lb. fresh crabmeat or lobster meat
□ 1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs (I used Panko crumbs)
□ 1/3 c. olive oil plus 2 tbsp. butter
□ 1/4 tsp. salt and pepper (or to taste)
□ 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
□ 2 tbsp. paprika

Sauté crabmeat or lobster with olive oil, butter and bread crumbs. Taste and adjust seasonings. Set aside.

Broil (highest setting) lobster tails for about 5 minutes.

Once warmed, split each tail in half. Place stuffing in the middle of each lobster tail, top with bread crumbs and sprinkle with paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Broil or bake for about 15 minutes or until the lobster meat is cooked and flaky white and the crumbs are toasted.

Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.

Christmas wind-up

2010-01-05T22:24:00.005-06:00

With my New Years Resolutions to think about, I need to get my 2009 blogging done before I can do anything else. So without further ado--here is a quick summary of our Christmas Eve and morning.

Pretty much anyone who knows me, knows that all I really wanted for Christmas was a new laptop. With the kids getting older, I just didn't want to have to share the computer anymore. I'm selfish--I wanted my very own, that nobody else touches! However, I was saddened when all I saw under the tree was this great big box--nothing near the shape of a small little laptop.

But wait---there's a big blanket in here and a couple of cushions.....

And what is this---another wrapped present--it's sure shaped like a laptop box---could it be?

Yes it is! My very own laptop--so slim, so shiny, so portable, so MINE! What a wonderful husband I have--deceitful, but very, very wonderful!

Oh, and the kids ended up getting lots of loot too. My favorite were the electrified piggy banks we ordered off of the internet for them. Now I won't be finding coins in every nook and cranny in their rooms--we told them they don't come apart, so they won't be able to play with the money anymore!

Avery also got her Barbie castle and camper from Santa that she wanted so bad! And Santa completed Blake's dinosaur hot wheels set However, his favorite was the Super Mario Brothers WII game that he's been wanting for months now. I have to admit that we're all a little bit addicted to this game now!

Was it that Avery got the barbies, and Blake the hot wheels or was it the other way around?

So cute! Blake was wandering aimlessly around Avery playing with her camper, when I heard him say "we can play with anything we want, right Avery". Then he wandered around some more and then came and sat on the couch without saying anything. I looked at him and said "Blake, if you want to play with Avery's Barbies, you can" He looked at Dale and said "don't laugh, okay" and they proceeded to play with each others toys. I couldn't resist snapping some photos---I'm sure these will make an appearance later on in his life!

Hope everyone had a good XMAS---All the best in 2010!

2009-12-23T21:32:00.007-06:00

Well, it's the night before Christmas Eve and I'm falling a little behind on my posts. We were away this past weekend at Dale's mom and dad's to celebrate XMAS with them.

Remember when you had to sit at the Kids table!

The kids couldn't wait to open their presents-you try to make them do it one by one, but it never works out that way!

Avery mastered the slinky in no time at all and Logan and Blake took their new sleds out for a spin.

Always lots of bush stuff to do in Meadowlake. Quadding...

Snowmobiling....Dana and EJ bought their kids a child snowmobile, so we had Blake take it for a spin. He loved it, but his mommy and daddy don't think a child should have something so expensive for XMAS. Sorry Blake that we're so cheap!

Once we got home, I was able to finally pull this craft out and get it done. I found this at the "Toys and Games" store at the Midtown and just could not resist it! I haven't done shrinky dinks since I was a kid.

Blake colored a couple of ornaments, but then soon lost interest----that was until it was time to bake them! Then he sat and watched every batch curl up and shrink. It really is quite mesmerizing.

Avery put together the tree almost all by herself and decorated it by herself too.

And of course, our December month wouldn't be complete without making and decorating sugar cookies. I had Dale run to Michaels in the morning and pick up the disposable decorating bags and a decorating bag holder. It sure makes things alot easier and alot less messy!

Oh, I bet Santa can't wait to have these cookies on Christmas Eve! Delicious!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Christmas Spirit

2009-12-14T22:22:00.002-06:00

I don't know where it's coming from this year, but I have so much Christmas Spirit it's actually becoming a little frightening. I think I've done more Christmassy things this year than any other.

Maybe it's because I started earlier this year than any other. We got our tree up right at the beginning of December. The house is decorated--and by, the way, with tacky decorations. There's nothing like a tree that is as colorful as a rainbow. I'd still like to get some of those foil decorations to put on the ceiling like I had when we were growing up. The outside of my house could use some more lights, but it got so friggin' cold, that hasn't happened yet. If I had my way, my house would look like National Lampoon's Christmas. Maybe next year.

Maybe it's because I started an advent calender inspired by my friend Jenn. Every night, I place 2 chocolate balls, a paper describing an activity that we'll do that day, and the kids vitamins (believe it or not, but I always forget to give them!). Blake is especially excited to open each drawer in the morning to see what we'll be doing that day. Some days it's as simple as playing a WII game (if we're pretty busy), but I mostly try to do a Christmas activity. Tomorrow I think it may be peppermint play-doh---I use Jenn's site alot to get some ideas!

Maybe it's because I was finally able to attend one of Saucy and Sassy's charm bracelet parties and made a beautiful Christmas charm bracelet for myself. It was way more fun than I had even imagined--thanks guys for doing this--can't wait for the next one!

Maybe it's because I watched "ELF" earlier this year and I just can't seem to stop quoting lines from that movie. I'm constantly singing at work---I sang my store assistant manager a song yesterday and he bought me a coffee. I made it up myself. It went like this "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, so a coffee would be delightful, but if you're too cheap to buy, then I'll cry, then I'll cry, then I'll cry!"

We had our pharmacy XMAS party Saturday night and I haven't had so much fun in so long. Again, it just has to be the Christmas spirit surrounding me. A quick recap: We had it at the Ramada Golf Dome--amazingly good buffet dinner, great desserts, fun little golf games, and lots and lots of great door prizes given out by the Ramada---free night stays, Sunday brunches, drivers, $100 gift cards for the golf dome, etc.. etc.. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone. We had a great host who had alot of extra prizes for impromptu things. I won 2 free drinks for yodelling, 2 free drinks for singing the gambler (over a mike in front of about 150 ppl-there were 3 other businesses there besides just us Safeway staff) a $100 gift card and about another $30.00 in buckets of balls. I even got to work the next day for 9 hours. But I was not hungover, and I hummed and sang all day long. I even had a grouchy customer first thing in the morning, but I just kept smiling, gave her a free Starbucks drink and said "get yourself something warm on the way out and Have a Merry Christmas!" I think she mumbled "Merry Christmas" back to me too.

Maybe it's because we started a new tradition by sponsoring a family through Brent and Penny's Adopt-a-family. Along with our close friends we will be buying gifts and food for a single mom with 3 daughters. A 17 year old who is special needs (cerebral palsy), a 13 year old and a 7 year old. We can give our kids so much and I can't believe that we didn't do this sooner.

Tell me about your Christmas Spirit!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

2009-12-08T22:59:00.002-06:00

But inside is so delightful....

When you write letters to Santa,

Just before you go and see him (then you can let him read them, just before you put it in the mailbox which just happens to be right there!)

And then you enjoy a late evening with good friends watching the Funniest Christmas show of all time while enjoying Kernels popcorn, Ketchup chips, hot chocolate (that you got from Santa) and of course Tim's coffee in their classic winter cup.

And remember...............

THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER IS SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR!

A Little Sumthin' Sumthin'

2009-12-06T23:01:00.004-06:00

Inspired by Saucy 's recipe and my good friends Karen and Kari who are always making such great cupcakes, I decided to try my hand at this delicious delicacy. I may never have delved into the cupcake world had the "Sound of Music" night hadn't gotten postponed and I could have made the 'Sachertorte', but Kari was coming over for supper and I NEED dessert so I thought "why not cupcakes". Oh, by the way--we still will get together for this movie--just let me know if you want to wait until after XMAS.

Now, these weren't just any cupcakes--no, I thought they needed something that reflected my personality and since they don't make any "country twang" in a bottle (they really should), I couldn't help but think back to Leica's Scraps and thought "well, they do make a little sumthin sumthin in a bottle" so here they are:

Tammi's Tim's coffee cupcakes with a little sumthin sumthin icing.

I have to admit, they were quite good for a first time, although that could be due to the 3/4 cup of Bailey's in the icing--next time I will make the coffee way stronger as you couldn't really make out a coffee taste--but you could really taste the Bailey's which I think is the most important ingredient of all! I'm going to make a few more for Dale's work and my work in the next couple of days, so if you're around my area and would like to try one, just pop in--I know I'll have extras.

Even though Kari should have been home preparing for her daughters birthday, she brought the WII Sing-it to show to Avery. Do you really think I could resist this---absolutely not! No country tunes on this one, but I so rocked it to Miley Cyrus. Honestly, I can't sing worth shit when you give me a pop song and a mike, but I still love it, love it, love it! Avery joined in with me and after that you could barely get the mike out of her hands. If I could just find a Disney Princess Sing-it, she would be set. Although she's loving Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" right now and this may be on the new Sing-it. Does anyone know?

Kari and I searched on the WII website after to see if we could find something more age appropriate for Avery, but all we found was this

So if anyone sees my husband before XMAS, you can all let him know what he can get me--then we could get together for a Karaoke night! Yee-haw!

The Tradition continues

2009-12-04T23:35:00.000-06:00

Last year we started a tradition of cutting down our own XMAS tree. I have NEVER had an artificial tree in my life (Dale had never had a real one--and I was NOT about to have an artificail tree, so Dale changed over to my way) and so we have always gone to Wilson's to buy a real one. Honestly, how much fun is picking a XMAS tree hanging from a ceiling like you're in a slaughter house. So, I was ecstatic when I found out about Mason's Family Farm last year. Last year there was alot more snow this time of year, so it seemed a little more festive, but since there wasn't any snow, nor the cold temp. this year, we were able to stay out alot longer to find the perfect one.

Close to the start, Blake found a really nice fir one. We normally do buy fir trees, but they are actually very difficult to hang ornaments on---they are just so perfectly shaped and such short needles, so when I spotted a nice natural Pine tree, I so wanted to have it.

Extremely sensitive issue when your 7 year old thinks that we are supposed to get the tree that HE wants. So, Blake got major attitude and our fun day was beginning to be not so much fun. But we kept our cool and just kept encouraging Blake to find just the right tree for our needs---long needles to hang the ornaments on and a nice full bottom to get lots of presents under it. His attitude finally changed after about 15 minutes when he realized that Avery and Daddy were trying to find us and he thought it was fun to run away and hid amongst the trees. Anyway, I led him all around the trees, in and out, again and again until we came back to the one that I wanted. By this time, of course, he couldn't judge where we were, so when I said "Do you see any good ones here Blake", he looked and hummed and then pointed to "my tree" and one next to it and said " these ones look good". I said "Wow, they sure do--do you think we should pick one of these?" So, after an 'eenie meenie minie moe' he ended up picking the one I wanted all along. He was so proud of finding the best tree and we kept telling him what a great job he did finding one and how great it looked-----so it turned out to be a good tree hunt after all!

Where did November go?

2009-12-03T22:50:00.006-06:00

I don't where November went to--it seems like we went right from October to December. I was so busy in November that I didn't really have time to post anything but our Scrap weekend. Here's a little bit of what else we did.

Most importantly, Dale's Grandma turned 94. She's living with Dale's parents now, but she's still very independent (and stubborn!--but we love her!) and I'm sure we'll see her around for awhile. She may take her medications all wrong--and won't listen to a word Dale and I say to her about it-- but she must be doing something right to still be kicking at 94.

I was also very, very busy organinzing for my party which took place on the 15th of November. I can't believe I never got any pictures of it, but I was so busy baking and entertaining and visiting and having so much fun that pictures just completely slipped my mind. So, if you didn't make it this year, you will have to come next year. Leica, didn't you stay for like 3 hours? You did know it was a come and go, right?

We also finally made it the the Santa Parade this year. The only other time we went was about 5 years ago when Blake was about 2 years old. It's either too cold or one of us is working that I just haven't got around to going again. The kids loved it--especially getting the candy, but they were actually quite interested in all the floats as well. Avery loved the horses and I think the Ruckers float was Blake's favorite. I have to admit, that I was a little disappointed in the floats---I just remember floats being so much more decorated when I was a little kid and I also just loved when they "threw" a bunch of candy from the floats instead of just walking around and handing it out. I also think that EVERY float should be blasting XMAS music from it and should be getting the crowd very involved. Am I asking too much?!? I guess the important thing is that the kids loved it and they don't have to know what I think. And because the kids loved it, we will try our hardest to go again next year.

We also had the opportunity to see Danica in the parade with her optimist twirling club. Of course, my pictures wouldn't be complete without kari sticking her ass out in a picture--you just have to check out her mad hatter pics to know what I'm talking about!

And yeah!, finally Santa--we will have to make it to the mall sometime to get pics--I don't think we did this last year!?!?

We also continued with our new tradition of cutting down our XMAS tree this year---see my post tomorrow and it's getting late and this one is getting too long!

MAD weekend!

2009-11-23T20:35:00.012-06:00

Leica's Saturday scraps was absolutely fantastic as usual! Our group decided to be MAD scrappers this time.....we thought we were going to have some stiff competition this time so we pulled out all the stops! Our table was decorated with a MAD floral arrangement by Kari, and a MAD cake made by Karen. We had a rabbit hole with MAD tree branches, jars filled with scrapbooking and other goodies, and of course we were all adorned in MAD outfits complete with hats that outlined all of our MAD obsessions. We just knew we were going to win....do you think we did?

Of course we did! However, I wish I could say we won over alot of stiff competition, but unfortunately we won by default. Not one other table was dressed up this year. I like to win, but, but hey a little competition would be great! We figure everyone is scared of us--I mean really, we win every year, but man do we plan and we deserve it!

Once again we had a great lunch supplied by Leica's mom....Mexican Fiesta this year (I know Jenn took pics of the spread, so check out her blog..maybe she'll post some pictures). We had a special treat this year for dessert.....the best cupcakes made by our own local Saucy lady. This is actually the first time I tried them...I had the S'mores and then went back and got a Strawberry one. Honestly, they're better than any of the stores around here!

Lots of fun getting together with friends I haven't seen in awhile and I actually got some scrapbooking done as well! Till next time my friends.

Weekend recap

2009-11-19T13:10:00.004-06:00

I'm so busy with weekends in November that I just don't seem to have time to blog. Last weekend was my XMAS shopping show that I put on for some local ladies. I spent some time getting that organized and it was SO worth it. I had so much fun putting it on---I think my kids had the best time--Blake was busy answering the door, passing out gift bags and serving food, collecting entry forms for the door prize draw---Avery, surprisingly was right there with him--she didn't play shy at all! They're already asking when we're doing it again. Some of the best wares were Saucy's vintage jewelry and Kara's polka dot piggy baby designs. I am so going to do this again next year if the ladies are up for it again!

I am now rushing to try to get ready for Leica's scraps weekend. Only one more day to go and I have nothing ready, but my costume for our theme---We are SO going to win again! I guess I'll be up late tonight after work to get my stuff together so I can actually do some scrapbooking!

Next weekend is my first charm party with Saucy. I'm so excited--my charms arrived in the mail the other day, so I just have to get them put together. I'm a little nervous too as I have never done this before--I hope my charms live up to expectations.

Finally, once I get through these next 2 weekends, I have to start getting ready for XMAS. I promised myself this year that we would sponsor a family, so that's first on my list. Finding and cutting a XMAS tree, decorating, baking, doing some XMAS crafts, oh and getting gifts, and I'd like to try to make this XMAS as traditional as possible, so if anyone has some good ideas for me--I'd be glad to hear them.

What a morning!

2009-11-09T14:49:00.002-06:00

Just got back from shopping with my friend Kari. We spent 4 hours at The Bay finding outfits for our modelling night on Saturday---Whew, it was exhausting. Sure glad I don't do this professionally--I think my job is much easier!

Anyway, we'll be modelling at the "holiday girl time gala" at The Bay on Sat. night from 6-9PM. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at The Bay.

Come and watch us fall flat on our faces as we try to walk in our heels!

2009-11-02T22:51:00.002-06:00

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating this year. Neither one could barely wait until it was time to go. I thought for sure we'd be out for at least 2 hours, but after maybe 30-40 minutes Avery was finished and Blake maybe lasted for 1 1/2 hours. They still got a good haul although I know that I'll be the one eating most of it. Blake sticks to his aero bars and hamburger gummies and that's all he'll eat. I've just discovered that Avery will actually eat alot more....smarties, kit-kat, fuzzy peaches, skittles, starburst, swedish berries---I'll definately have to monitor her candy intake! And we actually had the most kids we've ever had this year--around 60. We even had to dig into the kids stash for the last few kids as we ran out of our own.

Forgot to mention earlier that we finally made it out to Robertson Valley Farm this year to pick out our pumpkins. Usually I'm too late..by the time I think of it, they've usually closed for the season. We went with Kari and Damon and Danica....We pretty much let them pick out their very own pumpkins with barely any suggestions on our part. I think their favorite part was pulling the pumpkins back to the car. Damon lifted all the pumpkins into the wagon by himself---and believe me---they were heavy! Blake, being the lazy one, got Damon to pull him in the wagon along with the pumpkins. What a goof!

Are you ready??

2009-10-31T16:00:00.003-06:00

The pumpkins are carved....

The decorations are up....

The candy is ready to go....

Now all we have to do is wait!

2009-10-29T22:43:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is black and orange day at school, I thought I'd buy Blake a shirt and some iron-on decals at Michaels for something a little different.

Only problem is that I didn't have time to do it before I had to work tonight....

Thank goodness I have a darling husband who does it for me while I work. He's lucky that Blake likes to keep things simple---guess I'll be returning the halloween buttons that he didn't want to use.

Vegas Baby!

2009-10-20T22:02:00.006-06:00

Psych!--this is the money we used to fund our trip to Vegas this year. If you remember, I won this on our cruise last year and I've been able to sit on it all this time just waiting to spend it.

We weren't so lucky in Vegas, but we managed to come back with way more money than we expected. We pretty much broke even gambling--it helps when you play this machine and win $1000. Yup, about 5AM on my birthday (my 35th!!) I stumbled to this machine with Dale and said "lets play this one". We got the bonus spin and it landed on 1000X $1.00. We were pretty happy about that!

Vegas is always a blast and I must say this was probably one of the funnest times ever. The weather was gorgeous (over 30 degrees every day), the gambling was good, the gambling was good...can't say I did much of anything else. Shopped a little, ate the best steak in my life at this restaurant and had a great time here celebrating my birthday.

But now it's back to the real world until our next trip there. I really think some of you should join us next time!

Funnest day ever!

2009-10-09T22:27:00.005-06:00

First snow falls are the best.

SnowAngels...

Snowball fights...

Snowcastles (at least that's what the kids called it)...

Making sugar cookies with good friends....

Having the kids destroy the snowman you built by pummeling it to death with their feet and then throwing its head out on to the street to watch the cars run over it!

As Blake said tonight before bed.."This was the funnest day ever!"

Oh, Kari I still wish we would have gotten a video of Damon and Blake doing "The Macarena" on the couch and laughing their heads off over it. There's nothing like the genuine gut laugh of a child to make your day.

VICTIM

2009-10-07T12:38:00.010-06:00

I have just experienced my first taste of maliciousness that I didn't really know existed in my small little blog world.

I have been a victim of a very hurtful comment in response to a comment that I left on KAGS blog. You can check it out under the comments on this post.

I wasn't even going to acknowledge it as it seems very trivial to what I'm dealing with right now, but things like this don't sit very well with me and until I acknowledge it, I can't rid myself of it.

So, to my friends who follow my blog, please don't think that my comment posted on KAGS blog was meant to be hurtful to anyone. My good friends that know me, know my personality and know that when I comment anything, it is very lighthearted in nature. I don't always leave the "LOL's" or "ha-ha's" because when I comment on my friends blogs, I know they understand me.

So for you "Anonymous" commenter, perhaps you should think twice before you leave such comments. I'm not going to satisfy you with a rude comment back, but I will satisfy you by letting you know that what you commented achieved its ultimate goal---I was hurt, I cried and I question my desire to leave comments on my friends blogs in the future.

However, I will offer you some advice for the next time you comment----- you may want to be a little more mature and leave your name---hiding behind "Anonymous" is very cowardly.
Perhaps you should visit Saucy's blog here and take the "Blog with Integrity" pledge!

I will miss you Ted Carino!

2009-10-06T21:53:00.003-06:00

I learned this past weekend that my dear friend from pharmacy school, Ted Carino was killed in a car accident. These are some of my memories of him and a reminder to myself to live life to its fullest.

I miss you Ted!

I just have to Brag!

2009-09-29T21:14:00.002-06:00

I am an auntie again to two new beautiful twin girls.
They were born on Sept. 23rd.

Introducing Amelia Jayde(pink) and Mollie Shae(yellow)

Of course their big sister Sadie (who is only 2 1/2 yrs. old by the way--good luck my dear sister!) is just as thrilled with their arrival.

Aren't they all just the cutest things!

Food for thought

2009-09-29T11:31:00.001-06:00

I heard this years ago and thought it would be very applicable today:

Why is Saskatchewan so windy?....................

Because Alberta blows and Manitoba sucks!

Summer Highlites part 1

2009-09-28T22:17:00.007-06:00

Now that summer is officially over and fall has begun, I guess it's about time I posted some of our summer memories.

The best part of our summer is always the week we spend at Kimball Lake with our friends. Even though the weather wasn't the greatest this summer we lucked out again and probably had the nicest week of all of July.

Some of my favorite moments:

Me finally getting the courage to try and ski on one ski. It took me about 5 times falling flat on my face, but I finally got it. It rocked--so much easier to slalom on one ski than it is on two. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Blake actually agreeing to try and water-ski. Our friends had bought some skiis for the kids and I never ever thought that Blake would actually try it. Of course we had to bribe him with 2 scoops of ice cream, but it worked! He didn't actually get going--he just kept falling backwards, but he tried it...he tried it....he tried it!

Helping Avery collect seashells and watching her play with her new plastic animals in the sand. Great deal from the Giggle Factory. Stuff all you can into a plastic tube for 3.99. Avery took them to the beach almost every day.

Helping Blake construct a series of roads in the sand. Every year it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This is the first thing we have to do when we get to the beach. And of course, it wouldn't be any fun if there wasn't tubing involved. This has become Blake's most favorite thing to do at the beach.

Camping wouldn't be complete if we didn't have a little nap on the beach after a night of sitting by the campfire, playing cards and drinking...a little.

But my most memorable and favorite part of going to Kimball Lake is the smiles it puts on our kids faces!

New Look

2009-09-14T21:54:00.000-06:00

I just have not had the desire to blog this summer. I would log on, look at my friends blogs and then just leave. Had the time, just didn't have the energy or motivation. I decided to re-motivate myself by updating my blog look. Well, it's worked as I have spent the last few nights constantly searching for new backgrounds and headers. However, this has left me no time to actually post anything.

I'm actually quite proud of myself--I found this website to learn about making my blog 3-column and adjusting the margin width. I then found this website with alot of links to other sites for different backgrounds and headers.

I still have no idea what my blog will look like in the end as I still haven't decided what I want. Not quite sure if I want a background and matching header or just a header. I think I'll be able to make a decision once I know how to customize the look of whatever header I choose. I can't figure it out. I downloaded paint.net, but after playing around with it for awhile, I still have no idea what I'm doing. If anyone can provide some step-by-step instructions, I'd appreciate it....oh and by the way, I DO NOT have photoshop, so unless you know a free download for one, I can't use it. I guess I'll keep searching the net, however I am getting extremely searched out..so if you can help...

Canada Day

2009-07-08T22:43:00.000-06:00

We spent the morning fishing at Blackstrap--much better fishing than at East Trout Lake, however the weather was alot warmer! We caught about 25 Walleye--3 were big enough to keep. Avery even reeled a small one in all by herself! Didn't get alot of pictures as was too busy fishing, but Dale did snap this one right before we left. We were pretty patriotic too--we were all wearing Canada Day T-shirts (covered up by sweaters), the kids had flags and we even hung a large flag on our boat. Avery even kept singing "Oh Canda we stand on guard for thee", "Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee" over and over and over and over again. Believe it or not, it was actually less annoying than her asking us every minute (literally!)--"Did you catch one yet mommy", "Did you catch one yet daddy", "Did you catch one yet mommy".......

Fathers Day weekend

2009-07-07T21:42:00.000-06:00

We decided to take a last minute fishing trip for Fathers Day. We didn't want to go to any crowded popular resorts so we decided to rent a cabin at Eagle Bay Resort at East Trout Lake. This is the same place where Dale caught his first fish when he was 6 years old--a 21 pound 4 ounce jackfish. His dad even made him reel it in all by himself! It's on our wall if you don't believe me! Anyway there was one cabin left--Cabin one--the first one built--all the others are much newer, but I loved this one--it had such a rustic charm!

We started our first night cooking hot dogs over the fire.

The next morning we got up at 6:30AM to get an early start at fishing. We had to figure out the spots on the lake so we didn't actually start fishing until after 9. Then of course, it started to rain--but we fished right through it (nice to have the canopy on the boat!) Stopped for a couple of hours for lunch and went back out for another 5 1/2 hours--all in total we must have fished for about 9 hours that day. Well, Dale and I did---the kids don't have a whole lot of patience to sit there and wait for the fish to bite--so a portable DVD player and their Nintendo DS's kept them plenty occupied. Good thing we brought them as the fish were NOT biting at all.

I was the only one who caught one big enough to eat. Good thing too as we were really counting on catching something for our meal that night. Not a pickerel, but a jackfish doesn't taste all that bad!

Sunday we only got about 3 hours of fishing in before it started to rain. It just kept raining all day long with absolutely no breaks. We were well prepared though. A couple of new board games, cards, movies and puzzles kept us busy till late in the evening.

The best part for the kids was the owners dog "Cody". He was so friendly and the kids loved him. Here they are letting him share the rest of their ice cream cones.

Avery's soccer

2009-07-04T22:12:00.000-06:00

These are some pics of Avery at her soccer tournament. When she first started at the beginning of May, she started out so shy that I had to run with her for the first couple of games. She must really love soccer because it didn't take her long to leave me behind and just jump right in and play. I'd have to say that this is the best she's ever taken to any group activity so far. She's so different from Blake---Blake likes to play because he likes to be with his friends--he's not very aggressive and not really passionate about sports--he likes to participate, but doesn't try his hardest. Avery on the other hand is right in there and running as hard as she can wherever the ball goes. She got so many goals this year that I can't even remember how many she got!

Time to catch up!

2009-07-03T21:56:00.000-06:00

We finally arrived at the end of all the kids activities. No more soccer, ball or swimming for the rest of the summer. Now to relax and enjoy the hopefully soon to be nice weather. Both the kids were in a soccer tournament on the weekend of June 14th--of course the hottest weekend we've had so far. Great to be near water--not so great when you're playing soccer. The kids were so hot and didn't have much energy left by the end. This was just a mini FOS tournament so there was no winning or losing--everyone got a medal at the end. These are some pics. of Blake--he's #2.

Dale's new toy

2009-06-08T21:25:00.000-06:00

We decided to take the plunge this year and buy ourselves a new fishing boat. Dale grew up fishing and he's hoping that Blake will love it as much as he does. So far so good...the last couple of years we've taken the kids out, both of them loved it..even Avery..she always wanted to touch the fish! Blake couldn't wait until Dale brought the boat home. As soon as it arrived, Blake hopped in and barely got out all evening.

He spent most of his time sitting right up front yelling to anyone who passed by the open garage.."hey you look at my new boat". He was so proud! When I brought the camera out, he wanted me take a picture of him everywhere inside of it.

What a nice surprise!

2009-05-24T21:46:00.000-06:00

When I went to work Thurs. night, I was greeted by this pretty little bag. My coworkers said some girl named Saucy dropped it off. I was excited, I knew it was the Starbucks card I had won from her wonderful Bloggedy Blog Blog.

What I didn't know was that she had dressed up this nice little gift with a little bit of her own flair. What a wonderful way to start work! You too, could be so lucky. Just click here to read her blog and enter her contests for some fabulous prizes.

Thanks again Saucy and an extra special thanks to Loopy for picking the number 3!

Blake's got a loose tooth..a wiggly jiggly loose tooth

2009-05-22T21:23:00.000-06:00

and it fell out! Yesterday morning at about 11AM. I had picked him up from school as he had been complaining that his "eye hurt". Usually a sign that he's getting a migraine. So, I brought him home for some Advil and a nap. When he came out of his room a while later, he was holding his tooth. With his headache now gone, he was super excited that he finally had another tooth fall out. His first 2 bottom ones fell out over a year ago. He couldn't wait to get back to school and tell all his friends. You see, they sing the "loose tooth" song and then they get to bring home the tooth journal and write in it.

Last night he put the tooth in his tooth fairy box anticipating what she might bring. She brought $5.00, which I thought is pretty good, since I only got 25 cents when I was little. Well, at 6:30 AM this morning he marched into our room with his box, opened it, shook out the $5.00 bill and said "is that it?"

I have a feeling the tooth fairy won't be so generous next time!

Fire's burning, fire's burning, draw near, draw near..

2009-05-18T19:50:00.000-06:00

Last night we headed over to Kari's for an evening of marshmallow roasting. What a nice surprise when we arrived. A blanket all laid out with treats for the kids. A bucket full of ice and beer for the men and a nice tall bellini all ready for me!

The kids have a blast with Damon and Danica. I'm sure the neighbours 20 doors down heard them running around and laughing/screaming! Even though Blake and Avery don't eat "fried marshmallows", they always wanted to roast them for Damon and "kanica"--as Avery likes to call her. What a wonderful night--we'll have to do it again real soon! Thanks Kari and Jason!

Free giveaway

2009-05-13T22:38:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite bloggers is giving something away again! Check her out here! If you read her once---you'll be hooked for good.

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Dale worked today, so it was just me and the kiddos. I'm not sure if I remember actually having a mothers day when we have been all together. I'm sure Dale is usually working and when I mentioned it to him he responded with "Oh well, isn't it about you spending time with the kids anyway." I''ll remember this on Father's Day when he starts talking about going golfing!

So this day ended up being more about the kids, then about me. I cooked them pancakes this morning which I haven't done in a very long time. Then after we got groceries, I decided we needed to do something which didn't require me having to entertain them all day (hey, come on--it's mothers day, I'd like some relaxing time!)

So I packed a picnic lunch and headed out to Crickel Creek.

The kids always have a blast playing on all the inflatables they have..

and then we got ice-cream and played a round of mini-golf (Actually they had ice-cream and played mini-golf....I only had 2o dollars cash on me and they don't have interac or VISA, so I had just enough for them to jump, eat and play...oh, the sacrifices we make)

We spent over 3 1/2 hours out there today and it was hot! I never expected it to feel so hot today--We actually got a little too much sun on our arms, but I wasn't planning for a "sun-screen" hot day. Well, anyway we headed home, where Avery zonked out on the couch and I prepared supper for when Dale got home. Not much different from any other day...........

or is it?............................

Its sure not every day that I get such wonderful, thoughtful and loving gifts from them...and that is what makes this day so special for me.

2009-05-08T21:19:00.000-06:00

While some of us are getting lost in "Twilight", I myself am spending my days getting lost in real literature. Getting my continuing education units finished before the end of the month so I can get re-licensed. Sassy probably understands this--I'm pretty sure doctors have to do the same thing.

Miss Independent

2009-05-02T20:28:00.000-06:00

Avery had 2 "big girl" moments today. This morning was her 2nd crack at swimming lessons all by herself. We had tried last spring, but she just wouldn't get in the water without me. Well, we put it off for a year and today was her first lesson. She sobbed for most of it, but she stayed in the pool for the whole 1/2 hour with a little bit of stern, but helpful encouragement!

Then this afternoon, she stayed with Blake at a birthday party all by herself. (and this was a party for 7 year old boys--she got to stay because the older sister goes to the same daycare as Avery and they get along great together.) She just gave us a few hugs and kisses and then we took off for the driving range for a couple of hours and let them be. The mother said she did great and didn't ask for us once!

A True Friend

2009-04-29T21:01:00.000-06:00

A true friend is someone who will put aside their life when you need help.....

Thanks Kari.....

For being that true friend!

Saucy's blog

2009-04-28T21:31:00.000-06:00

Check out this blog--great giveaways and awesome cupcake recipes!

Running Wild

2009-04-21T22:11:00.001-06:00

Yup, it's that time of year again. This is my favorite time of year for early morning workouts. Not about to do another boot camp yet, but my good friend Kari and I are starting our own little running group tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM. Nothing like pounding the earth on Earth Day! What are you doing to stay active and healthy?

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T21:41:00.000-06:00

Coloring eggs on Good Friday..

We then decided to spend Sat and Sun in Regina so we could visit Dale's Grandma. We arrived early Sat, so we took the kids to play at Chucky Cheese and have lunch. We then went to the hotel to do some swimming and watersliding. We decided to have supper with a few of Dale's relatives on Sat night, so that we could spend Sunday at the Science Centre. Well, it didn't work out that way. During the night on Sat. I woke up with the stomach flu. The Easter bunny was still able to come Sat. night and the kids had their hunt in the hotel room. Some time--I think around 6AM Blake said "The easter bunny doesn't have a card for the room." Dale said "he has magic powers, now go back to sleep." They thought it was pretty neat that the Easter bunny knew where they were. I was still able to enjoy watching them from my cocoon in bed. I thought that if I just got a few more hours of sleep, I would be okay to go to the Science centre, so Dale took the kids for breakfast and back to the pool, but I still felt like crap. So, we packed up and went home. The kids didn't know what they were missing, so they didn't really care, but it sure sucks when you have something planned and then you get sick..esp. when you have to be in the car for 2 1/2 hours just to get to your own bed!

I was feeling much better today, so the kids and I headed to the zoo for the 1st time this year. We decided to bike there--I love that we live so close! Avery made it all the way there without too much whining. Blake was excited that there were maps to look at now and Avery couldn't wait to see the new lions. Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without a trip to concession!

Last Dance

2009-04-01T17:00:00.000-06:00

Avery finished her last dance session last week and as with every session, they always do a short recital for the last class. These are just a few of some close-ups of her waving to us and giving us a thumbs up telling us that she's "ready"

I actually got some great action shots of her dancing next to her friends, but I didn't want to post the pics of the other girls without talking to their mom first.

Just before we left the house, Avery decided to strut down the steps acting all Diva-like. She kept running back up and doing it again. Of course nothing can compare to the first time and since I wasn't expecting it, I didn't capture it. I did however get her on video the subsequent times--I think she was purposely running back up the stairs, so she could keep showing off for the camera! For someone so shy, she sure can suprise me sometimes!

2009-03-31T18:00:00.001-06:00

Lots of fun scrappin' with the girls at Leica's scrap event. This year we were Retro Housewives and of course we won for the best dressed table/theme. (so maybe it may have been by default since we were kind of the only ones really dressed up). Anyways we had a blast! Can't wait for next year, but I may have to be a little bit more prepared and dress a little warmer. Hard to scrap when you're shivering so much!

He's 7 !!

2009-03-31T18:00:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that I now have a seven year old! Blake celebrated his birthday at the bowling alley again this year. He originally wanted it at FuddRuckers, but I told him that if he wanted it there he could only invite 5 or 6 friends, but if he wanted alot of friends, he needed to have it somewhere else. He decided that he wanted to have alot of friends, so we invited 16 boys--12 of the them were able to come! It actually wasn't all that bad--I was surprised at how well they all behaved, but next year I think we'll have to keep it a little smaller--I'm getting too old for this!

Of course, he needed to have a Mario cake..

Here he is after he got a strike..

Of course Miss Avery had to pose for a picture as well...

And then on his actual birthday, Dale and I gave him our present....
A tackle box with tackle (Dale picked it out, go figure!). Blake was so excited, he loved opening up all the tackle/hooks and placing them in just the right spot in the box. His Grandma gave him some money and when we first asked him what he wanted to do with it he actually responded "put it in the bank" (I teach him well!) But then Dale had to open his mouth and say to him "don't you want to take it and buy some toys or something with it" So Blake changed his mind and said he wanted to buy more tackle with it---well, I let him go to Toys R' Us and he picked out hot wheels set for 30.00 and the rest went in the bank!

So Far Behind

2009-03-30T21:38:00.000-06:00

Don't you hate those days that you have off of work, when you think you're going to get sooooo much done and then you do nothing. Yup, that's me! I can never get on the computer when I'm home with the kids, so I always have to wait until they're in bed. This past weekend I thought I'd get caught up on blogging, putting my scrap stuff away (no, I still have not unpacked it!), laundry, ironing, etc, etc, etc....What did I do---nothing, well not nothing...I did sit on the couch watch a bunch of TV and stuff my face with chips and now I'm left feeling guilty and trying to get caught up on all the stuff I should have finished in the last couple of days. I'm starting with my blogging...so I'm going to sit here until I have all my posts done and then I won't have to worry about it for the next few days!

she's so funny!

2009-03-17T13:52:00.000-06:00

Avery and I were sitting on my bed and I was eating a muffin.
Avery says to me "do you want 2 or 3 or 4 muffins?
I said "Oh, I can't eat 4 muffins. Mommy would get fat if she ate 4 muffins"
Avery (pointing to my maternity photos on the wall) said "Like that?"
I said (pointing to one picture): "Blake's in mommy's tummy in that one" and "you are in mommy's tummy in that one"
Avery said "because you eat me?"

2009-03-12T21:15:00.000-06:00

Have made a couple of great purchases from the internet lately that I wanted to share with you. This first one was Blake's birthday invitation. I searched and searched and searched for somewhere in Canada for Mario themed birthday supplies and NO-ONE carries them. I was willing to pay for the invites, but I am going to make my own plates as I can't justify paying 30.00 US just for shipping a few plates.. I purchased these invitations from this website:
I highly recommend this.. she was very prompt in communicating with me and processed my order faster than I could say "Mario". Great product and she has lots of different themes.

The second place is this website: ordered the cutest aprons off of here and again she was wonderful! Very, very, very fast service and extremely friendly. Can't wait to try the free tea she also offered to send us.

Sleep Tight

2009-03-11T21:06:00.000-06:00

Blake was sick today. He was complaining yesterday after school that his head felt "hot" and I thought that he may be getting a migraine, so I gave him some Advil and he was totally fine after that. Ate a good supper and played hockey. But then he woke up at 2:30 AM and said he was hot again...I felt his head..and he was burning up. While I was going to get him some Advil he ran to the bathroom and threw up. Dale ended up sleeping with him and said he was fine the rest of the night. He was fine in the morning, so we sent him to school. At 10AM, his teacher called me at work and said he was burning up and was crying. This is one time, where I love that Dale and I work shift work..even though he was supposed to work 11-7, he changed his shift to go in at 3-10 and I was able to stay at work until 2. He was fine for the rest of the afternoon although we kept him dosed with Tylenol and Advil (I should get a royalty for advertising these companies!) which kept his fever down. He didn't eat much, but he never threw up again...still wondering if he has a virus or if he did have a migraine. Not common to have a fever with a migraine though and lots of kids have been sick in grade one. I'll have to keep this episode in mind while I following his headache history.

Hockey night.

2009-03-07T22:11:00.000-06:00

Blake played at the Blade's game tonight. Even though they only get to play twice for 5 minutes each time, he has alot of fun. He definately isn't passionate about hockey, but he loves playing in tournaments and games like these, so he skates pretty hard.

Avery enjoyed most of it too, especially getting her picture taken with the "monster." I wouldn't hear the end of it until we tracked him down and got a picture.

Mmmmm!

2009-03-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

I love fruit pizza and I must admit I'm very good at making one. Doesn't this just make you think of summer and barbecue weather. Just sit back and close your eyes and pretend you're taking a bite. Whatever you do, don't open your eyes and look out the window!!! I don't think Jack Frost wants us to ever see summer!

Goalie Time

2009-03-02T19:36:00.000-06:00

Blake finally expressed his desire to try and be goalie during one of their hockey practices. Every kid gets a turn, but Blake has always said he's never wanted to do it. Well, apparently he changed his mind so we got him all geared up. I honestly thought there was no way he'd fit into the equipment, but Dale practiced getting it on with him at home first and I was surprised that it didn't look bigger on him than it did.

He had a hard time skating in it (especially trying to get back up on his feet when he'd fall), but again I was surprised at how fast he could actually go carrying all that extra weight. He tried really hard and actually stayed out there for the entire hour (Dale and I thought he'd want to get out of all that equipment after awhile). He had fun and certainly proved all our thoughts wrong!!

A little bit of spring

2009-03-01T19:42:00.000-06:00

Avery and I wanted to share a little bit of spring with you in hopes that this winter will soon end.
A beautiful eggshell and pipecleaner tulip bouquet. My little princess likes to pose now whenever I take her picture.

Sledding Fun

2009-02-24T23:01:00.000-06:00

Just when I thought that winter was soon to end, it starts snowing on us again. Today was miserable and I don't think that tomorrow will be any better. At least it was nice on the weekend. Kari and I took the kids sledding for the first time at Diefenbaker. Even though the wind was fairly cold on top of the hill, it was still a pretty nice day.

Damon and Blake loved it. Usually Blake's ready to leave after a few runs, but today he didn't want to leave. He only wanted to ride with Damon and after Damon took a pretty nasty fall going down by himself, he thought it was alot more fun riding with Blake as well.

Blake thought it was pretty funny when they would fall off the sled at the bottom. He especially liked it when Damon would fall off and he would stay on. (Damon was pretty protective of Blake and would try his hardest to keep Blake from falling off)

There were lots of ridges and bumps, but Danica was nice and comfy on her blow-up sled. It was Kari and me and Avery who suffered the most. Once Avery and I hit a nasty bump and jarred our butts, that was it for Avery. She stayed at the bottom of the hill and ate snow. I think she even tried to eat the sled as before we knew it, she was crying and her tongue was bleeding. We still don't know what she did, but we think she licked the metal.

Speech Therapy

2009-02-17T22:22:00.000-06:00

We had a call yesterday from a private speech therapist that was able to fit Blake in today on a cancellation. I jumped right on it--I had to work, but Dale was available to take him before his shift. Apparently Blake LOVED HER and Dale said she was excellant--he didn't want to go see her, but after he didn't want to leave and asked if he could come back after lunch. Whew! What a relief. At 70 bucks for 3/4 of an hour it's nice to know it'll be worth it. I guess we know where we'll be spending our bingo winnings. Thanks alot Public School System--I guess I should let them know that I'll be pulling my son out school for an hour to pursue his speech needs!

2009-02-13T22:40:00.000-06:00

This..

+

+

+

=

one nice big glass of relaxation!!

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

Here is what Blake and I did for his Valentines day party tomorrow. Thanks to Sassy for the idea!

messy, messy, messy

2009-02-11T21:42:00.000-06:00

This is supposed to be my scrap room. Our trip to Ikea last fall was supposed to get me organized and scrapping again. Apparently...not so much. My goal is to get this disaster cleaned and organized before our fabulous scrap event in March. Do you think I can do it! Keep checking back...I'll let you know when it's done!!

2009-02-10T20:49:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was the first time this winter that we were able to build a snowman. The winter has been so horrendously cold that the snow has been so icy and just fallen apart. Finally it was sticky enough to roll. We usually make a snow family, but the snow was still a little icy underneath the first layer, so we had to settle for one. The kids even colored him with red and blue water. Little Miss Avery didn't hesitate to pose with him for a picture--I didn't even have to ask!!

Happy Birthday Princess!

2009-02-09T20:31:00.000-06:00

My little princess turned 4 a couple of weeks ago. My mom and sisters set up a celebration for her on the cruise...

Then we celebrated with her friends at Enchantaland...

and finally she had a little celebration at preschool.

Geez..what is she going to expect next year!!??

Veggie Races

2009-02-04T12:43:00.000-06:00

Dale and Blake participated in the veggie race just before I went to play bingo (and won the jackpot--did I mention that yet?)
Anyway they had to carve the potatoes and carrots and put them together any way they wanted to make a car. Here they are with their finished product. "The Blakester". Blake actually won for most original creation. I have to tell you that I don't really know how as there were some pretty funky cars out there--some people carved an 'M' out of the carrot and had Mickey Mouse ears; others had spoilers. However, we think it's because it actually looked like a 6 year old did it and not just their dad. They said it was because the carrots were on the side and it actually was the only car that had that. So, he got a pretty nice looking pin for that win.

Then it was time for the races--here they are setting up for their first race...

Here they are winning their first race.

Blake made it all the way to the finals--in this picture the guy is asking Blake if he has any words for his opponent. Blake didn't know what to say, but I told him to say "Good luck" and he did. It was pretty adorable.

Well, even though Blake made it all the way to the finals--he didn't win. It was fairly close but Blake had to settle for second.

The Ports of Call

2009-02-03T21:56:00.000-06:00

St. Maarten was our first stop. Lots of shopping, but Dale and I had no interest in buying jewellry and local souvenirs, so we headed straight to the beach. Extremely hot and I must admit we all got a 'little' sunburned. The kids had a blast in the sea. It was very wavy, so we had to keep a good eye on them but they thought it was hilarious to be pushed up on the beach by the waves. Avery was especially in her glory finding and collecting seashells. New ones were washed up all the time with the waves.

Can you beleive she even let someone braid her hair!!

Next stop was St. Thomas. Once again it was off to the beach. We went to Magen's Bay--apparantly at one time one of the 10 nicest beaches in the world. It was beautiful and much calmer that St. Maarten. The kids could wander in quite far without us worrying about them. The cloud cover that day provided some much needed relief for our burns.

Last stop: Castaway Cay--disney's own private island. We were so lucky to have such nice weather this day as there had been a cold freeze passing through Florida which we thought we might hit. But it was probably the best beach day of all. We got to meet captain Jack Sparrow and his boat. (The Flying Dutchman??-can't remember the name now). There were lots of characters throughout the island, but we had already met all of them by now. Once again it was a day filled with swimming, sandcastle building and the occasional drink for mommy and daddy! A great way to spend time in the middle of January!!

The "Disney Magic"

2009-02-02T21:36:00.000-06:00

Here is our ship the "Disney Magic". It was so big--10 levels. Our stateroom was on level 2. We were pleasantly surprised at the size of them. We had a king bed, bunkbeds and 2 bathrooms. One with a sink and bathtub/shower and another one with a sink and toilet. Once you unpack and put everything in the drawers and closets, there was ample room for the 4 of us.
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This is our first day on the ship enjoying the "bon voyage" party.

The pools were on the 9th level. Every morning at 10AM, they would show a movie on the Ariel view television. We'd sit in the hottub or in "goofy's pool" watching "Cinderella" or "The Little Mermaid" or whatever they'd have scheduled for the day.

Blake enjoyed going down the waterslide in "Mickey's Pool" and it was shallow enough that we didn't have to hang on to Avery the entire time. We actually only spent 2 mornings at the pools--the rest of the days we were docked at the ports. In the afternoons, we put the kids in the clubs for an hour or so, while Dale and I spent a bit of time at the adult only "Quiet Cove" pool.

There was lots of other things to do as well. The kids especially like playing ping-pong and deck shuffleboard!

and of course, there's always bingo!!

Disneyworld

2009-02-01T21:21:00.001-06:00

Thought I'd better get something on here before you all think I never did go away on vacation. I've just been so busy since we got back, that I haven't had much time to go through the photos. Anyway here is a slideshow of all the 'fuzzy's' we met.

Checking in

2009-01-24T09:47:00.000-06:00

Here I am sitting in the Orlando Holiday Inns hotel checking on our flight status for our trip home tomorrow. Yup--2 weeks is up. It's been a blast and I can honestly say that it has not flown by. Usually it seems like a vacation just flies by, but this time I actually feel like we've been away for 2 weeks...but this is a good thing. We fully enjoyed every minute and I am not looking forward to going back to the weather back home. I checked and it said it was -45 degrees! Well, I will post some pics when I get back but for now I have one word for you...

JACKPOT....

Yes, I won the bingo jackpot on the cruise line. It was the second last night and the money hadn't been won yet. There was probably around 500 people playing and it was the last blackout bingo game. The jackpot needed to be won and I WON IT. I can't believe it!! It was no small change either--let's just say that I'd be able to send the four of us on another vacation next year--I'll tell you how much when I get home.

For now-I'm going to enjoy the sunshine a little longer at the pool.

2009-01-09T20:59:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been awhile and it's going to be awhile again.
In just a couple of days we will be heading

here.

Then after five days, we will be boarding this cruise line for another 7 days.

After 2 weeks we'll be home, hopefully to warmer weather. Hope you all have a good couple of weeks. I know we will!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T23:02:00.000-06:00

We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will spending it together-just the four of us. We will open our gifts from each other and then wait for Santa to come the next morning.

We already had our Christmas celebration with Dale's family last Saturday. His parents take off to Phoenix for the winter, so we always have an early celebration with them. I cooked this 25 pound turkey and I have to say it was the best I have ever done. Got rave reviews about how moist it was! The secret is to rub it with the Epicure Turkey Rub mixed with a little Kosher salt and then dry-brine it in the refrigerator all night long. Loosely cover it with aluminum foil when it's cooking-don't cover it with a lid!

This was the first year we did Christmas crackers with the kids. They had alot of fun trying to get them apart!

Blake and Avery got some of their favorite gifts from Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Dana. Avery absolutely loves the Wowee Alive Lion cub. She has to take it everywhere with her.

Finally a picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. Avery finally warmed up this year and had no problem spending time with them without us. She was always calling for Grandpa to play with her. Maybe she's finally turning a new leaf just in time for the new year!

Soon it will be Christmas Day

2008-12-18T21:53:00.000-06:00

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-07T22:28:00.000-06:00

Today was the start of a new family tradition for us: cutting down our own Christmas tree. We always have a real tree every year, but usually we just go to Wilson's, pick one out from the crowded space, pack it in the truck and go home. This year I wanted a little more Christmas spirit, so we went out to Mason Family Farm which is near Kenaston. The kids were very excited--the first thing Blake asked me was "do we get to yell 'TIMBER'? We arrived about 10AM--the weather was beautiful-we still had to dress nice and warm, but it was one of the nicest days we've had in a week. The kids started to trek down the rows of trees and Dale was armed with his manly hand saw. (which they supply, by the way)

Avery checked out a few of the smaller trees, but I was surprised she never said she wanted one. She usually always wants the "cute, baby one"

It didn't take us too long before we found the perfect one for us. Blake helped Dale with the saw and got his wish "TIMBER!"

I started to help the kids drag it back to the truck (mainly because I wanted to be in a picture too!) The kids kept tripping over deep snow banks, so Dale dragged it the rest of the way. They then took this opportunity to play in the snow and make snow angels.

Dale even let Blake drive back to the barn

where we then got a treat of hot chocolate and cookies and a nice picture to finish it off.

We then proceeded home to decorate it to get our final result:

It was such a great day. The kids had a blast and can't wait to do it next year!

Hooray for both of us!!!

2008-12-06T16:41:00.000-06:00

Today Blake scored his first ever goal in hockey--it was a pretty proud moment for both father and son! Blake was beaming ear to ear and his good friend Mackenzie gave him a great big hug after. Because he skated so hard this game he got the "super sport of the game" certificate. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but maybe next time I'll be able to get a phenomenal picture with my....

brand new camera lens. I decided to splurge before XMAS and purchased myself the NIKON 70-300mm version. Now I just have to learn how to take good pictures!!

Get moving!

2008-12-04T19:10:00.000-06:00

We bought this Wii game for the kids quite awhile ago. When they first got it they played it quite a bit, but then it was put aside and forgotten.

The other day, Blake pulled it out and they started to play it again. I forgot how much the kids move when they play it. They get pretty exhausted. They especially like the sprinting game and the log jumping game. Such good exercise during these cold days right now.

Free lunch

2008-12-04T00:30:00.000-06:00

My friends always want me to share my stories of "how I seem to get things for free" or something to that effect. I don't even know what to call it.

Well, I have a story to share. Today, Avery, Dale and I went to Earl's for lunch and we ended up getting our meal for free. I honestly don't even know how it happened and I wasn't even meaning for this to be the end result, but perhaps my friends could use this to their advantage.

We got seated right away, our waitress came right away, we got our food right away (and it was phenomenal, by the way). Sound good right? I know, so how did we get it for free? Well, we never saw much of our waitress after she gave us our meals. She came once the whole time we were there and this was to clear Dale's plate away and ask if he wanted more water--this was about 10-15 minutes after his water glass was empty and he had finished eating. So, anyway we finished and we wanted to pack up the rest of Avery's meal and pay so we looked around for our waitress and we didn't see her anywhere. A host saw us looking around and came over to see if he could pack the meal up. I said "yes, please and we'd like to pay as well." He said he would let our waitress know. When he came back with the doggie bag he asked if she'd come by yet. I said "No, and we really haven't seen much of her the whole meal." So he said he would grab a manager and have her get our bill for us. While the manager was printing our bill, our waitress finally came by to clear our plate and I told her that someone was already getting our bill for us. When the manager came back to the table, I gave her my credit card and $5.00 and told her to "please give this to the cooks, as they deserve it more than the waitress did today." She asked me what was wrong. I told her"nothing went wrong, it's just that the waitress was only by our table once, she never asked us if our meals were okay, or if we needed anything else. The food was excellent--the sandwich was one the best sandwiches I had in my life, so I wanted to give the tip to the cooks instead of the waitress." She took my bill back and said that she would adjust it for me. She then came back and said that she decided to pick up our entire tab. I told her she really didn't have to do that--nothing really went wrong, but she insisted, so I thanked her and reminded her to give the tip to the cooks.

You see, I wasn't complaining and expecting that she give us a discount or anything. I just wanted to give the tip to the cooks, which I have done a few times before this. What do you think?

sleepin' like a baby

2008-12-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Blake has always gone to bed really well. Once teeth are brushed and books are read, he usually falls asleep as soon as his head hits his pillow. Lately though, he keeps coming out of his room wanting to sit with us for awhile. We're debating about whether we need to push his bedtime hour later. The other night he came out a couple of times, but then proceeded back to his bed. We were just sitting in the living room watching TV and never heard from him again. However, when we were heading to bed we almost tripped over this small lump of blankets laying in the hallway. We never even heard or saw him come out. I think he's going through a phase of needing to be close to us at night. I can't even go downstairs until he's asleep, or he'll keep running downstairs to see if I'm still here. He gets comfort from hearing us move around--kind of reminds me of me when I was little.

Dear Santa

2008-12-01T18:53:00.000-06:00

December 1st usually marks the day that we begin to start celebrating XMAS. We usually get our XMAS tree around this time and decorate the house, but this year our work shifts didn't allow for it, so the tree and decorations will come next weekend.

So, instead I thought I'd steal some ideas from my good friends. I have never had the kids write a letter to Santa, so this afternoon we decided to give it a try. I pulled out the Sears XMAS catalogue and told them to cut and glue what they wanted. Blake really only wanted to find the picture of the Nintendo DS, but he did manage to find a couple more things when I prodded him. After that he was done--he really didn't want to even do it, but I told him Santa wouldn't be able to bring him anything unless he writes a letter. Maybe if we can continue this tradition year after year, he'll get more excited about it.

Avery was very excited to do this. She even tried to write Santa on her letter. I think it came out something like this: AitiiiA. She then proceeded to cut out what she wanted, but she needed me to glue it on the paper--"it's too sticky!" We had one meltdown when I accidentally ripped a small tear in one of her pictures when I was gluing it, but we got back on track and ended up with some typical Avery 'wants'. (princess stuff and pets)

I was lucky that there were 2 XMAS shows on TV tonight as well. The first was 'Shrek The Halls' and then the classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

We then finished the night off with our first chocolate from our Advent calenders. This is something that Blake loves to do, but the funny thing is--he never eats the chocolate, he just likes to open up the flaps and then passes his chocolate off to Avery, who I might add, willingly accepts it.

Dancing Queen

2008-11-30T21:38:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday, Avery had her last dance class and thus a cute little recital to show off to the parents. It was so much better than last year. Even though Avery can be so shy, she never has any problem getting up on the stage to do this--I can't figure it out. She did everything her teacher taught them to do. I think this just may be her thing. Looks like I might have to shell out the big bucks to put her in one of those dance studios!

2008-11-21T21:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the first time I stayed with Avery at her preschool. It was pajama day, so there were some special activities planned, but I did get a taste of what her morning is like when she's at school. I would have liked to post more pics, but they all had other kids in them.
Avery was so good. She always listened to her teacher and did exactly what she was supposed to. She pointed and counted the number of days. She sang the songs and did the actions along with her teacher. And even when they were practicing for their little XMAS poem, she was the only one who did the whole thing. I was so proud of her.

I love my days off!

2008-11-19T21:23:00.001-06:00

I have had 2 days off in a row now. I decided to cut back my shifts to 3 and 4 a week and this was the first week that it happened. Yesterday I put Avery in daycare and spent the afternoon with Blake at school. He loves when I can come. When I was walking him to school this morning, he asked me if I had the day off at work today. When I replied that I did, he asked me "Are you coming in my classroom today then?" I wish I could have, but I can't keep pawning Avery off all the time.

Avery and I had a lovely day today. Her speech therapy was cancelled, so the two of us took a nice leisurely trip out to Costco for the morning. Even though the snow had already begun falling, the roads were still good, so no major events there. Once we got home, she decided that her 'blankie' needed washing. This is a major event. I usually can never get her blankie into the wash without her shedding some pretty big tears over it. So she helped me put it in the wash with the rest of the sheets and that was that. She even checked it over after it was all dry to make sure it was completely clean.

I then got the pleasure of taking Avery to her first dentists appointment. Well, I had taken her once before a couple of years ago, but they didn't do much. I thought for sure this was going to be quite the trying task, but she surprised me! I did have to lay down with her, but she opened her mouth when she was supposed to and even let the hygienist polish and floss her teeth! They even used the water and suction on her. I guess she is becoming a big girl after all.

We then picked Blake up from school and since quite a bit of snow had fallen, the kids stayed outside to shovel the driveway. They did a pretty good job, until they got cold, so guess who had to finish it. (no, not Dale-he was working and since I'm such a good wife, I did it myself--after I got a pork roast, potatoes and a veggie casserole in the oven) I can be pretty domesticated when I have the time to be.

Well back to work tomorrow. I am going to spend the morning with Avery at preschool tomorrow--you know us moms--everything has to be fair!