happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo...

It was my birthday this week and we went on a little holiday to Saskatoon. We spent my birthday at the Saskatoon Zoo.

Here's a photo of the birthday girl (me!) This photo was taken just before we left the zoo (note Caleb's tired expression and soother) and just happens to be the only photo where my eyes are kinda open. Don't you hate when that happens?

One of the highlights of our trip to the zoo, was being able to jump in the puddles! Don't worry, this is just a puddle formed by the hose to water the plants. I wouldn't let anyone jump in puddles of elephant pee or anything. hee hee

Caleb thought the tiger was pretty cool!

I thought the tiger should come out from under there and pose for a picture. It's always so hard for me to get nice pictures at the zoo. The fences and cages always seem to get in the way. But that doesn't stop me from trying. Some Canada geese and a bison:

The best part was the little train that took us around the zoo for a tour. In case you're just tuning in, trains are very popular at our house. So a train that takes you around the zoo can only be good! Other highlights included:Rick upsetting a monkey, eating greasy, overpriced hotdogs for lunch and the choir of parrots who sang happy birthday to me.

(ha! I made that last one up, just to see if you were still paying attention!)

remember when

Remember when I told you that Caleb doesn't eat crayons anymore?

Well, here's proof:

Remember when I told you that Caleb got his haircut?

Well, here he is before his haircut:

(yes, my neighbours have a fake bunny in their front yard, don't yours?)

And here he is during his haircut:

And after his haircut, everyone was too grouchy and hungry so I didn't get any pictures.

Isn't that awful? What's the point of taking "before" and "during" pictures, if you don't even have an "after"picture?

Oh well. At least I have some of his precious little baby curls in a special envelope :) Does that count for anything?

saturday

Was my Saturday productive, as predicted by my fortune cookie?

Did I wake up early? Or did I sleep in?

Well, I woke up early.

But then I took a nap :)

I tidied up the house. I vacuumed. I even went to Church. I took the boys to the playground.

And then I fell asleep at 9 PM.

It's really hard to determine if that's productive or not.

Not too bad, I guess.


How has your weekend been?

fortune cookie

We went out for Vietnamese food tonight.

This was my fortune:





It's already 11:30 PM.

I guess I'd better get to bed.

Apparently, I have a big day tomorrow.

:)

stuff

Here's some stuff that we've been doing...

- Caleb got his very first haircut. He sat like such a big boy. And he got a big freezie when he was done. It was orange. The freezie, not his hair.

- I've been trying to squeeze in a little bit of exercise everyday. Even if it's just having races with the boys in the backyard. I've also done some exercise tv shows in my living room with the boys dancing all around me. Caleb prefers high impact. Matthew seems to enjoy yoga.

- I am not really thinking about going back to work too much. Although I know it's coming up in less than 4 weeks.

- Totally thinking about my little sister who just finished moving and hoping she is doing okay.

- This morning, at breakfast I was singing "Row, row, row your boat" and Matthew started talking about the spider in that song. And I said there's no spider in that song. Sure there is. So I got him to sing it to me:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Like a spider's dream.

:)

a great weekend, but...

We had a great weekend out at the lake, but I only took these three pictures all weekend.

Do you ever feel like you spend more time trying to photograph your kids than you spend enjoying your kids?

When we arrived at the lake on Saturday, it was cloudy and a bit cool. Since we couldn't go to the beach, we stopped at the elementary school in town and let the boys play on the playground equipment.

SNAP, SNAP, SNAP went mommy's camera.

And then, I realized that I was missing out on a great opportunity to play with my kids. So I put the camera away. I slid down the slide, I climbed up the steps, I teetered and tottered on the teeter totter. I hid under the bridge and pretended to be the troll from the Billy Goats Gruff.

And now I don't have any pictures of Matthew trying to catch fish in his new net. Or any pictures of Caleb eating two sandy peaches on the beach. You won't see a picture of Rick listening to the football game on the radio wrapped up in an old quilt. No pictures of Matthew snuggled up and fast asleep inside his Thomas the Tank Engine sleeping bag.

Not this time. And that's okay :)

our week

This is what we've been up to this week:
- celebrating Grandma R's birthday
- watching Elmo's Magic Cookbook
- playing outside
- having playdates
- reading Where the Sidewalk Ends
- also reading Hokey Pokey Elmo
- buying Christmas wrap at 50% off
- eating lots of fruit
- colouring (Caleb doesn't eat crayons anymore)
- peeing standing up (mostly just the boys)
- apparently not taking any pictures
- getting kisses from Caleb
- building sheds, inclines and fire stations (pretend ones, for the trains)
- trying new recipes (try this one, yum)
- enjoying our summer together

update

If you happen to be following the jean capri story, here's an update:

- I washed them (twice).
- I'm wearing them.
- Let's hope for the best.

;)

correction

I just recently realized that the photo of the capris that I purchased last week was incorrect.

I should have posted this photo instead.

Notice the dark wash.

In a related story, if you find a tag that looks like this inside your new Eddie Bauer dark wash jean capris,

you might want to wash your jeans before you wear them for the first time.

Or else you might feel like

from the waist down.

Even after a bath.

And a shower.

And some serious scrubbing.

oh what fun

Oh what fun it is..

to go to the beach

(please don't laugh at our rocky sand, this really is a beach)

and to grandma and grandpa's cottage.

photos taken Monday, July 17, 2006

guess who i met?

Can you guess who I met last weekend?

No, it wasn't Ali like someone I know.

And it wasn't Elsie like someone else I know.

Although he does have his own line of scrapbooking products.
*giggle giggle*

Give up?

This was our second meeting with Thomas the Tank Engine. Every July, Thomas (this small version of him) comes to the Western Development Museum which is only a 45 minute drive away. We went to see him last year and of course, we had to go back this year.

Matthew has been a huge Thomas fan for half his life. He stills remembers our trip to visit Thomas last summer. This year, we spent a bit more time visiting the museum. We also rode on a real steam train, got our pictures taken with Thomas and played with the Thomas train tracks. Grandma gave each of the boys some money to buy something from the gift shop and Matthew chose Toad and Caleb bought a Thomas book. We also bought them some Thomas t-shirts. It was such a great day!

happy

Happy 2nd Anniversary to my sweet sister (and her husband)

July 17, 2004 (it was soooo hot out that day)

By the way, that's not her husband on the right. That's me :)

sore muscles

I have sore arm muscles today.

Can you guess why?

Are my arms sore from carrying around a sixteen month old all day?

Are my arms sore from working out at the gym?

Are my arms sore from lifting the big double stroller in and out of the car?

Nope.

It's a shopping injury. Hee hee.

Yesterday I went shopping and there were such great sales that I had so many bags in my hands and clothes in my arms. I blame the sore arm on these pyjamas and these ones too that I had to carry around in my arm (along with two more pairs) while balancing the shopping bag from Eddie Bauer where I bought myself these jean capris. I really like shopping. But I love getting great deals.
(which I did)

I'd better go rest my arms ;)

moving on

Well the time has come for Caleb to say goodbye to a dear friend. I'm sure that he will still see him from time to time. I know that he learned many things from his dear purple friend.
But it's time for him to move on...

In other Sesame Street news, have you ever seen the Donald Grump episode? It's just too funny! Check out the hair on that grouch!

And while I was searching around for that I found this list of muppets based on celebrities which is fun and interesting too.

Now that I've written this all out, I realize that I may need a little more adult interaction. Can anyone else relate? Hee hee.

games in the park

Football
Little Caleb running away with the football. He's getting to be so much fun and really likes to be a part of the big boy games.

Hide and Seek
Hide your eyes and count to ten.

Where could Daddy be? Can you spot him?


There he is!

(Photos taken on Saturday, June 8 at Wascana Park.)

what we love

We love when Auntie Faye comes to visit.

We love going out for lunch with her and watching movies too.


We love giving her kisses.

We love taking her out to the park.

We love having snacks with her.

We love our Auntie Faye. (and the little baby growing in there too)

no need

No need to send anyone out looking for us...

We are just sick.

Ear infections.

Coughs.

Fevers.

Tired.

Grouchy.

Waking up during the night.

I'm trying not to complain...but it's getting hard not to.

REALLY GREAT NEWS!

Check out my sister, Faye's gallery.

I'm so excited!

bad news/good news

bad news- I haven't been able to go grocery shopping this week because Matthew is sick.
good news- My mom brought over an ice cream pail full of strawberries she picked for us and my dad bought us monster cookies.

bad news- The wait to see the doctor at the walk-in clinic was an hour and a half.
good news- We were able to leave for an hour, come home and rest and then go back.

bad news- Caleb has started waking up at 5:15 every morning.
good news- Yesterday, he and I went for a calming and peaceful walk at 5:25 AM. Of course I was tuckered out by noon. But it was a nice walk.

bad news- Yesterday was very hot and our air conditioner stopped working.
good news- Rick fixed it. We hope.

bad news- Yesterday, a friend called and told me she's moving away.
good news- Yesterday, another friend called me and told me she just moved back!

*Stay tuned for more good news, coming up soon.*

highlights

Here are some highlights from the Saskatchewan Suziebeezieland Convention:

- meeting Nadine for the first time and finding out we both look good in pink

- eating a hamburger the size of a pizza (I actually only ate half)

- my little Matthew telling Nadine about every toy he owns

- calling Suzanne on the phone and surprising her with the news of our "convention"

- hearing Suzanne say the word "popsicle", although she thinks we're the ones with an accent :)

- sharing my scrap space with a friend and creating side by side

- creating some surprises for a couple of our online friends.

Thanks Nadine for all the fun!

my wedding day

Flashback Friday
June 27, 1998

This is not the photo I wanted to use, but this is the memory I wanted to remember.

The photo I wanted is stuck in a big photo album that we paid a fortune for and also up on our wall beautifully framed by my dad (who does picture framing in case anyone is interested). I do not recommend trying to scan extra large photo albums or framed photos. It doesn't really work.

But I do recommend getting married. Marrying Rick was one of the best things I've ever done. He's the perfect match for me. And when you find that perfect person, you really need to hold and never let go. God brought us together and He has kept us together too.

It's been eight years and they've been wonderful.

Happy Early Anniversary Sweetie! I love you.

the grandma I see everday

You call her "the grandma I see everyday".

And you do see her everyday, but she is so much more.

She is the grandma that we call when we have a silly question.

She is the grandma who drops everything to come look after her munchkins.

She is the grandma who takes you superstore to buy chocolate chips and then makes cookies with you.

She is the grandma who bakes 4 cakes for your birthday.

She is the grandma who rocked you and your brother to sleep when you were babies.

She is the grandma who prays for us each day.

She is the grandma who comes over so your mommy can take a nap.

She is the grandma who is your mommy's best friend.

She is the grandma we can't wait to see everyday!

*We'll see you later today, grandma* xoxo

I might be just a little too proud...

of this train cake I decorated for the kid's party:

(thanks Grandma for doing the baking)

But don't worry, I am humbled by my lack of cake photography skills.

It all evens out.

:)

on the day you turned three...

your breakfast toast was cut into star shapes (I also managed to form a letter "M" for you with some of the leftover pieces) ,


you were a little bit sick ,

you took a morning nap, which you never do anymore ,

you played in your new pool ,

- your grandmas and grandpas and uncle Mark came over for supper ,

- you had a spiderman cake from dq and when it was time to blow out the candle you spit all over the cake ,

you built bridges in the living room with pillows from all over the house ,

you practiced playing tee ball with your new "baseball thing" ,you laughed and you played and you made us so proud.

* And now we're gearing up for the kid's party tomorrow. Wish me luck.*

flashback thursday ?

I know the flashback day is supposed to be Friday, but it's my blog and I can do what I want.

June 15, 2003
The day Matthew was born. Did you know that he was born on Father's Day? What a great first Father's Day gift! It's pretty hard to top that one.

This is the very first photo of him. He was such a big baby-8lbs 15oz. Don't you think I should be able to round up to 9lbs?
There's a story behind this photo.

It's a polaroid. I'll explain...

We had a rough labour and delivery. I don't think it's ever easy, but it had been a long day. The baby (we didn't know the gender) was experiencing fetal distress and a team was standing by.

"It's a boy!", they said when the work was done (how's that for glossing over the details?) But I already knew before they told me because I saw him right away. A boy! It was 7:44 pm and I knew my nurse's shift was supposed to have ended at 6:00. She had stayed and helped out right till the end.

He was immediately handed to the team and checked over. We were told that he would be taken to neo-natal. I held him for maybe a minute and he was taken away. Rick stayed with me. We were talking about the experience and wishing we could hold him some more. We couldn't even remember if he had hair or what colour it was (I think he had been wearing a little hat)

Not long after that, my sweet nurse, Kathryn returned with a photo. This polaroid of my baby. I appreciated that so much. She had stayed much later than she was scheduled to. It was a few hours until I was able to go to neo-natal to see Matthew (stitches, fainting, etc), but I had this picture to look at.

He spent 2 days in neo-natal and what a roller-coaster that was. When Rick went to see him for the first time, they asked him "Is your's the big one?" I guess they don't get too many 9 lb babies in there (I rounded up)

Everything worked out. But I still feel very fortunate to have this special photo from a very special day.

Happy 3rd Birthday Matthew Baby!

it hasn't been so terrible

Today marks the last day of Matthew's "terrible twos". It hasn't been that terrible. Although, I must admit they were a little trickier than the ones.

As I reflect on the past year, I realize how much he has grown and how much his life has changed. The photo below was taken on his 2nd birthday, almost a whole year ago. He was just new to being a big brother back then. He was kind and gentle and so very sweet to his baby brother.

I used to think that the terrible twos only happened to other peoples' kids. Was I in for a surprise! We've had our share of tantrums and grouchy days. We've had meltdowns and frowns. We've had tears and frustration. All of that is part of growing up and becoming an independent little person.

And he is becoming such a good little person. Kind and sensitive beyond belief. When he goes to his grandparents and asks for a cookie, he always asks me if I want one too. When I thought about leaving Caleb with my mom while Matthew and I went on a playdate, he said "I think Caleb would like to come play too. I'd miss him".

We are beginning a new adventure. The threes! Some people tell me that the threes are even harder than the twos. I've already seen some early 3 year old characteristics come shining through. I love how creative and imaginative he has become. He can pretend to be a pirate, a mole in a hole or a fire chief. He builds bridges, houses and nests out of blankets and pillows. I am in awe of his natural curiosity and have started to answer an endless supply of "how come?" questions.

I love this little guy. I will miss having a two year old, but I know that the next year will be just as exciting with new milestones to achieve.

And don't feel too sorry for me. Only 8 and a half months until I have another 2 year old on my hands. And I'll get to go through it all again :)

(photo taken June 15, 2005)

I am...

I am...

- working on my circle journal entry
- taking care of a little boy with strep throat (possibly two)
- planning a birthday party
- trying to remember that Father's Day is this weekend
- not going to dry my dishes today
- looking for a new printer/scanner
- loving my new leather sofa
- drinking 2 liters of water a day
- happy and tired at the end of a busy day

Goodnight!