reach the top

They who reach the top, boys,
First must climb the hill.
-James H. Fassett


Caleb started climbing today.

No, really climbing.

Everything.

Up onto the sofa.

On top of the train table.

On Grandma's coffee table.

Yikes!

mother's day

I had a great day. Did you?

Here are some highlights (in no particular order, as you can see):

• the slideshow/video that Rick put together of me being a mom (awww, kleenex anyone?)
• my "mother's day" card (I wish I could have seen Rick's face when he realized that he accidentally bought a birthday card-hee hee. *)
• a new printer
• still having to change diapers, just not as many
• a nice long nap
• brunch at my mom's (how come my mom's waffles always taste better than mine?)
• visiting my mom and my mother-in-law
• a yummy supper at home
• just being thankful for all of my blessings

*In all fairness, the card was picked out by Matthew and it was quite lovely and was meant for mothers :)

newsflash

This just in...

Up until a few minutes ago, Caleb's vocabulary consisted of these two words:

ba...(pointing)
-translation: bunny, bear or ball (depending on what he was pointing at)

ga...(pointing)
-translation: everything else (depending on what he was pointing at)

Here's the newsflash....

Today at lunch Caleb said "nana" and pointed to the banana!

Yay! His daddy takes full credit since yesterday he fed him a WHOLE banana at snack time.

We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging :)

*If you're looking for me, I'll be washing smushed up banana off the highchair and the floors and the walls...

shopping

It all began Friday afternoon.

With shoes.

I hadn't bought shoes in such a long time.

And then I bought two pairs.

These ones:


















and these ones













The shopping spree continued on Saturday, when we finally bought a new sofa and loveseat. We had been shopping for over a year!

Here it is. The colour is a little bit off. But you get the idea.










I go grocery shopping this afternoon. Who knows what I'll buy next? Hee hee!

party girl

Flashback Friday... Kenosee Lake ~ May 1996 ~ girl's weekend

This is one of the last photos taken of me as a "party girl". Notice that I'm drinking out of a bowl? I forgot to bring a cup to the cabin that we rented and they didn't supply cups. Only dishes, cutlery and ... bowls. So I had to drink out of a bowl all weekend. Shortly after this weekend, Rick and I became more serious and I grew up, but it sure was fun to be a party girl for a little while.

hey mister knicker bocker...

boppity bop!

That song is stuck in my head. Can you guess who we saw today?

Matthew was even more excited than Caleb. But they both really enjoyed the show. Matthew danced around and Caleb clapped and pointed.

And I don't even care if Barney's not cool anymore, I'm not afraid to say I had a good time too.

:)

Hey mister knicker bocker boppity bop!

this weekend...

(a list, for all those who *heart* lists)

• we stained the deck (Rick) and the fence (both of us).
• we went out for Vietnamese food.
• we went swimming as a family.
• we had an early morning picnic on the deck (before it was stained) see photos below!
• we made alot of progress in the toilet training department.
• we tried to fly a kite (photo below)
• we played at the playground when the kite wouldn't fly.
• we were late for Church.
• we saw Grandpa jogging while we were driving to Church and Matthew said "He should really take his car".
• we watched flight 93 on A&E (obviously not the kids).
• we ate guacamole TWICE.
• we sure had a nice weekend.

hat

So cute.

Now if he would only keep it on!


Arrrrgggg!






(on a more positive note, at least he doesn't eat sand anymore)

super cool

Caution: if you already think you spend too much time on the computer, you might not want to visit this website:

Google Earth

Because it is super cool. You can get the free version. And then just type in your address or city at the top and get ready to be amazed. Rick was very impressed that we could see the deck that he built from way up there.

Check it out. Very cool. Unless you have something else to do ;)

done!

Thanks to my dear sister who challenged me to do all 12 "recipes" from the May Creating Keepsakes magazine! I had so much fun doing my layouts. And it was great to get caught up a little bit. And I loved seeing Faye's layouts, as well as Susie's (who joined in the challenge too)

Do you have any photos that you should really scrap, but would much rather scrap something else? Well, I did. I had a whole bunch of photos from last summer that I just kind of skipped over. Also, Caleb's album is 12X12 and I switched to 8.5 X11 and was really having fun with that. So it was great to just scraplift the layouts from the magazine and get some pages done, instead of trying to make each page a masterpiece. Although, I have to admit it took me significantly longer than 3 hours to complete all twelve.

But now I am done 12 layouts. Yay!

Here's a blog exclusive. Hee hee! I just finished this layout and haven't posted it on two peas yet. It's number 12.

phone a friend

Today I did something new.

Something fun.

Something spontaneous.

I phoned someone that I've never met before.

She has a lovely voice. We have so much in common. Time flew by and we talked for a half an hour!

My favourite part was when she had to play choo-choo train with her daughter. I don't know if you knew this, but we LOVE trains around here. Love them.

She had me at choo-choo.

:)

Now I'm just being silly.

For a good time, phone a friend.

play

Matthew could play outside all day. And I think he actually did today :)

He pretended to mow the lawn, just like his daddy (well his daddy really mowed the lawn, he didn't just pretend to) He made sandcastles. He chased the neighbour's cat. He went to the park and flew a kite. He raked the lawn with his little toy rake. He even wanted to eat his lunch on the deck, and we let him.

Caleb still isn't feeling 100%, but he had a nice time outside too. He still tries to put rocks in his mouth, but not nearly as much as he did before. Today, Rick caught a ladybug and Caleb was so fascinated by it. He kept trying to pick it up and we were worried that he would try to eat it, but he didn't.

And of course, Daddy kept us all entertained...

But I think this might be my favourite picture of the day:

this week...

• I organized all the toys and put some away so I can rotate them every month. I've been wanting to do this for awhile and it felt so good to get it done.
• We've been seriously toilet training. Seriously. Some progress is being made and we are trying to have fun and stay positive.
• Caleb had the stomach flu (we think). Yuck.
• We celebrated my dad's birthday with pizza, salad and cake. Caleb knocked my mom's plate off the table. It was a total accident. She was lifting him up and his foot got caught on the plate: pizza and salad all over her lap.
• Rick is working on our income tax.
• I bought Simple Scrapbooks, Creating Keepsakes and my Today's Parent magazine came in the mail.
• My sister started a blog.
• Matthew's been playing with his word whammer that he got for Easter. He's getting pretty good at reading and spelling 3 letter words.
• Caleb's getting pretty good at walking. I think he walks more than he crawls now. He's so cute.

tag

Wavy-haired, Nadine tagged me (did you know Rick's niece used to call me curly-haired Michelle?)

5 things:

in my fridge
1. leftover turkey
2. homemade waffles (leftovers also)
3. cranberry juice
4. rotisserie chicken
5. 3 different kinds of milk (skim, 2% and 3%)

in my closet
1. 4 pairs of jeans (that fit)
2. stripey slippers
3. tons of sweaters
4. navy blue terry cloth robe
5. silver shoes with rhinestones (from Faye’s wedding)

in my purse (check out my circle journal layout on this topic)
1. wallet
2. bandaids
3. red lollipop
4. lip gloss (pink pout from Mary Kay)
5. butterfly compact

in my car
1. sippy cup
2. change in the cup holder (now I don't want any of you breaking into my car to steal it-hee hee)
3. Caleb’s winter hat
4. stroller
5. cd’s

on my TiVo (I don’t have tivo, but if I did...)
1. King of Queens
2. Thomas and Friends :)
3. Grey’s Anatomy
4. Just for Laughs Gags
5. ?

I tag
1. Faye (just post your answers in my comments)
2. Suzanne
3. Marie
4. Mi’Chelle
5. Shannon

on a lighter note...

I now have a new struggle...

The struggle to not eat every piece of Easter candy, cookie and chocolate in sight.

I think that's the problem. They're in sight. I usually am not much of a snacker or nibbler during the day. But we have this huge basket of Easter goodies on the counter and I just snacked and nibbled ALL day yesterday.

I know, I know. Put them away. I'll try.

Really, I will.

struggle

I've been struggling. Struggling with how to teach an almost three year old about Easter without scaring him. I've been worried about how he will interpret the suffering and death of our Lord. I've debated not explaining anything at all and then felt guilty for not sharing with him the most important story of our faith. We talked it over together as a couple and I prayed about it, asking God to help me explain this to him.

Yesterday, we read two books together:
The Tale of Three Trees
The First Easter And I realized that Jesus' resurrection is the real story to tell. That the suffering and death can be told, but not emphasized or dwelled upon with such a young child. I've realized that sharing our faith will not always be easy, but with God's guidance, we will be able to do it.

Happy Easter!

corn

Matthew: Mommy, did you ever have corn that's all attached up together?

?????

Me: OH. Do you mean corn on the cob?

Matthew: Yes. Did you ever have corn on the cob?

Me (giggling): Yes, I did. Have you ever had corn on the cob?

Countin' Down to Baby

Flashback Friday (clicking on it should make it bigger)






















Here's a retro layout. Hee hee. Waaaay back from 2003. Am I the only one who thinks it's funny
that my patterned paper went out of style before my maternity clothes?

I was just saying the other day that I wished I had some nice photos of myself while pregnant. Now, these photos definitely capture my evergrowing belly, they are not exactly what I had in mind. Can you see the one where I'm balancing my plate on top of my tummy?

Here's one that's a little bit more recent from my gallery at two peas from when I was expecting Caleb.

Happy Friday!

Swing/Rock

Did you think this was going to be a post about swing dancing or rock music?

Well, it's not. It's about of first walk to the park this spring.

We took the boys in the wagon yesterday for a walk to the park in our neighbourhood, wearing the matching jackets that their grandma made for them.

Now let me just stop to say that I am thrilled that they can go in the wagon together this year. I am also very thankful for the beautiful park in our neighbourhood. And I couldn't be happier that they have a grandma who loves them so much that she would make them matching jackets.















Swing and Rock.

Get it?

Grandma, there's a flamingo in your kitchen

It's April Fool's Day here.
And tricks are being played.

There has also been:

• a big chicken in our living room
• an elephant in our kitchen
• a boa constrictor on Caleb
• a bear right behind me

Has anyone else noticed that most of these animals are from the book Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Hee hee!

Happy April Fool's Day everyone!