this is a picture of my husband:

Isn't he handsome?

Drawn by Matthew (age 2 and three quarters)

the original extreme makeover

Flashback Friday

This is the fall of 1993. I was living in Quebec City. My roommate Carey and I decided I needed a makeover.


The first one is "before". I was kind of plain and wore baggy shirts and wore my hair back in a ponytail. The second one is "after", feeling a little sassy in a tight bodysuit and my hair pulled up...some funky jewellery and makeup. I actually bought a long brown skirt to go with this bodysuit (does anyone still wear bodysuits, except maybe ballerinas, oh and babies?) but I like this picture better than the skirty ones. We went out dancing that night and had a blast.

Did I keep my new look? Not really. Although I did experiment a bit with some different looks that year, I pretty much went back to my old ways.

(and in case you were wondering, NO, I did not get any cosmetic surgery...everything is real! hee hee)

Book shopping

Caleb got some gift certificates for his birthday and we had some left over from Christmas, so I took the boys book shopping. What fun!

These are our new books. Can you guess which ones they picked out on their own and which ones mommy picked out for them?

It was just adorable to watch Caleb "read" Hokey Pokey Elmo in his stroller while we browsed the children's section. He was babbling and pointing and holding the book upside down. He stayed busy for probably 15 minutes just looking at his little book.

Matthew was just so amazed that he could buy more than one book. Usually we only buy him one (or we just look at them and don't buy any). We felt like a bunch of kids in a candy store... except it was bookstore and books are good for you. But candy, not so much.

The perfect birthday party

I think I may actually be getting older and wiser. I just might have planned the perfect birthday party for Caleb this year. We had it yesterday and I think it was perfect :)

A birthday party at the library. No need to clean my house for hours on end, only to have 10 charming children mess it up in an hour an a half.

Storytime Jane did a very special birthday/teddy bear themed storytime just for our group! (The library wasn't even open yet-we had the place to ourselves)

There were:
- rhymes
- stories
- songs and musical instruments
- a special puppet show about Caleb's birthday!
Then we ate a snack and opened gifts. I tell you, it was perfect.

(I'm not trying to brag or anything. I am just really happy that I thought of this and that it worked out so nicely.)

One year ago...

Flashback Friday.














Not toooo far back.

Just one year ago today, Caleb was born.
(I think he had more hair then, than he does now)

Happy birthday Caleb.

Happy Friday everyone!

this is me...

Do I look happy?
Do I look calm?
Do I look a little bit silly (with my hair flying out)?

This is the week that I am "supposed" to be going back to work. I mean, my official one year maternity leave is over. I am so happy with our decision to have me stay home a bit longer (until September). I am happy to spend this extra bit of time with my boys. I know it will be worth it.

Which is probably why I feel so calm lately. Just a sense of peacefulness inside. I think I know deep down that I am doing the right thing for our family at this time. I feel calm and confident.

And when you spend so much time with two little guys under the age of 3, you have to be just a little bit silly. I confess to dancing around the kitchen while making dinner, to putting a sock on top of my head while eating and to changing the words of songs just to get a little laugh from my "audience".

Can you tell all this from looking at my photo?

I am happy.
I am calm.
I am silly too.

happy early birthday!

We celebrated Caleb's birthday with our families last night because my sister is visiting and because some family is going on a winter holiday this week.

Tasting the cake before the guests arrived...

Showing you that the neighbour's house is for sale (Anyone interested?)...

The birthday boy and his mommy...

Eating cake for the very first time...
And just being a really cute birthday boy...

Sisters

Flashback Friday

Don't you just love sisters?
I do.
This is my sister and I.
I'm the older one.
Aren't we adorable?
I just hope my two little boys are as close as my sister and I.

I am so excited because she is flying in tonight!
Yay!

PS My e-mail is working and I had 13 new messages thanks to Susie's Question of the Day!

E-mail not working today :(

If anyone tried to e-mail me today, it's not working. This is what they told me:

We have been having problems with the e-mail server today.
It has been down for most of the day.
We are hoping it will be back up and operating again shortly.

So I'm not mad at you or being rude, I just haven't seen your e-mail yet.

If you didn't e-mail me, then don't worry about it.

But you could e-mail me. Because I like getting e-mail. Don't you?

I am hoping that when it is all fixed, it won't say "no new messages".

a conversation with a two and a half year old

Matthew: Caleb is my big brother.

Me: No sweetie, he's your little brother.

Matthew: No, Mommy. Caleb is my big brother.

Me: Actually, you're the big brother and Caleb is the little brother.

Matthew: Caleb used to be little, but now he's big.
He's my big brother.
You have two big brothers, Mommy.

:)

Pride and Joy

Pride and Joy.

Joy and Pride.

I think I have been the proudest and most joyful since becoming a mom. Don't get me wrong, I had a healthy self-esteem before becoming a mom. I am proud of my childhood, my accomplishments, my education and my relationships. But the moments of pure joy and deep down pride that I have experienced with my boys have been such blessings. (trying not to sound too cheesy-sometimes they drive me crazy, but I'm feeling extra sentimental today so bear with me)

Some of my proud and joyful moments so far:

• Delivering Matthew who happened to weigh 8lbs 15 oz. Very proud that I was able to do that! I guess I really didn't have much choice at that point. Also very joyful that my second baby, Caleb, came three and half weeks early and only weighed 7lbs 4 oz!

• When Matthew told his grandpa, "Jesus loves you, Grandpa!" So proud that he is already spreading the Good News (at the age of 2!) Such joy to know that he has already learned such an important lesson in life.

• Today...when Caleb took his very first steps. Such joy in his face as he balanced himself, and very unsteadily took three steps towards his daddy. Such pride in himself. Our sweet baby becoming a toddler. A special moment, to say the least.

Pride and Joy.

I feel it deep down.

Moments like these, that's what it's all about.

Guess who?

Flashback Friday (thanks Susie)

Guess who this is..












Give up? It's me.

1975
15 months

That's what it says on the back.
I definitely see some similarities with Matthew.
The eyes, the smile :)
Isn't that cool, when you can see yourself in your babies?
Or your babies in yourself?

Mommy & Caleb Day

Today was our day.

Matthew was dropped off at grandma's to do "big boy stuff" like drive Uncle Mark to gymnastics and go to McDonald's. Baby Caleb and I decided to go to the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

Caleb is at such a fun stage right now; he enjoys exploring the world around him and takes delight in the little things we tend to take for granted as we get older.

It was such a wonderful experience to explore the gallery with an eleven month old. He started out in his stroller, but we soon realized that most of the exhibits are difficult to view from that vantage point. Out he came and he enjoyed being carried around to look at the different sculptures, smile at them, wave to them and then point me in the direction of the next one he wanted to see up close.

Our favourites were the life size baboon by David Gilhooly, the cows by Joe Fafard and the preserve pantry by Vic Cicansky. The Vic Cicansky one's are particularly interesting since he is Rick's Mom's cousin and we actually got a piece of his artwork (the pickles pictured at the top) as a wedding gift. All these were in the Regina Clay exhibit.

We came home, had a quiet lunch, then watched Baby Neptune together.
*Please note the extra bulky sweaters--it's FREEZING today!*

Now he's napping and I'm thinking about joining him :)

a happy day

A happy Valentine's Day here...

roses from my hubby,

chocolate covered pretzels from my mom,

chocolates for my hubby (from me of course!)

books for the little ones,

a playdate with a sweet little friend,

and a few toys and treats from grandma.

Not so great photos...

Caleb smiled, but not Matthew...

Matthew smiled, but not Caleb...

Nobody smiled...

They both smiled silly goofy smiles...

Better luck next time Mom :)

one thing

So I was filling out Matthew's preschool registration (which my husband and I think may be longer than our university applications were!) and this was one of the questions...

What is one of the things you like most about your child?

Tough question. What would you say? It's so hard to narrow it down to one thing when there are so many little things and just as many big things that I absolutely love about Matthew (and Caleb too, of course) Where do you begin?

This is what I wrote on the registration form:

Just one?!? We like the fact that Matthew enjoys learning new things. He is like a sponge, soaking up new information everyday. We love that.

Somehow it doesn't feel like I said enough...

Hello

Hello.

My name is Caleb.
And today I am eleven months old :)

Everyone says I look alot like my daddy.
But I also look a bit like my big brother and mommy.

I still don't have very much hair.
But it's starting to come in and guess what?
It might be curly!

I getting so smart too.
If anyone asks me where the teddy bears are,
I always point to them with my finger and smile my cutest smile.
Some people swear they have heard me say "bear" in my own baby way.
I'm glad someone can finally understand me.
Ask me what a bunny does, and I'll bounce up and down. I know.

I'm starting to get sick of that mushy baby food. I much prefer toast, peas, canteloupe and teething cookies. And I can drink out of a sippy cup too.

I love exploring my environment. These are my favourite things in my environment:the toilet, the tv, my big brother's train table and the garbage can.

I am snuggly and sweet and so so smiley.

And today am am eleven months old. Nice to meet you.

What would you recommend?

If you were at the library for storytime and it was time to get your kids ready to go, what would you recommend?

Would you put your jacket on before you get them ready?

Or after?

Because if you put your jacket on before, you might be thinking "Now that I'm all ready, I'll just whip my children into their jackets/snowsuits and after a quick stop to check out our books and videos, we'll be on our way."

But if you put your jacket on before, you might also find yourself with a two and a half year old who has a tantrum in front of all your friends and Storytime Jane.

And if you are still wearing that darn ski jacket meant for a cold Saskatchewan winter, you could get very hot and sweaty inside that jacket, especially if the tantrum involves throwing himself on the floor and refusing to leave.

So what do you think you would recommend?

I would have to go with putting your jacket on after.

But that's just me :)

A rainbow

Forgot to post this yesterday....

It's a rainbow :)

Mommy and Matthew Day

In an effort to spend more time with the boys individually, I have instituted Mommy & Me Day (which is usually Wednesday) My mom watches one of the boys at her house and I do something special with the other one. And actually the other boy gets to have Grandma & Me Day (so everyone wins!)

Today was Mommy & Matthew Day.

First we went to the school where I used to teach to pick up a preschool registration form. Matthew enjoyed looking at the fish in the big fish pond and when I said it was time to go, he told me he wanted to look in some rooms first. So I took him on a mini-tour of the school. We saw the gym, the library, a few classrooms and some of my former students.

We came home and had a picnic in the living room. What did we pack?
pickles
cheese & crackers
juice
granola bars
and monster cookies

















Our tummies full, we went downstairs to play firefighters. We needed to get in character so we tried to find every firefighter book we own. We found three (I'm sure there are more, but oh well)
We read them all and then got dressed up in our new firefighter costumes (I bought them on sale after Halloween, but just pulled them out today)

I was the fire chief :)

We didn't know what to use for hoses so we used Matthew's toy golf clubs. Well what would you use?

After putting out so many fires, we did what all firefighters do: we painted and then had lunch.

Then it was time to pick up Caleb because he needs to nurse before his afternoon nap. So technically it was Mommy & Matthew Morning. But it was still lots of fun!